The Floating University

“With its expert writing and construction, The Floating University is both a pleasure to read and a model of how to connect cultural and imperial histories. Pietsch paints a lively portrait of elite American thinking about knowledge and world affairs in the Jazz Age.” -- Christopher Endy, author of Cold War Holidays: American Tourism in France ""Following a group of raucous American students around the 1920s globe, Tamson Pietsch uncovers the deeper meanings of the forerunner to today's Semester at Sea. Premised on the rising world power of the United States, this experiment in experiential education reinforced global social hierarchies even as it challenged the institutionalization of intellectual authority. Pietsch's masterful investigation of the 'floating university' will prompt readers to reflect on the knowledge claims of our own era. This is the best book of the 'America and the world' genre that I have read in a long time."" -- Jay Sexton, author of A Nation Forged by Crisis: A New American History ""Underfunded, under-recruited and poorly run, the ‘Floating University’ circumnavigated the world over a seven-month period, generating appalling headlines almost everywhere it went. . . . Wholly aware of just how farcical the Floating University might now appear, [Pietsch] successfully demonstrates the value of taking it seriously as a subject of study. In her hands, it becomes a way of understanding a world in flux and a period of momentous change for universities."" * Literary Review * ""Nevertheless, the Floating University was widely regarded as a failure at the time, and it has been almost forgotten since. Over and above the hostile press coverage, Pietsch argues, this is because universities such as NYU largely won the battle to prioritise academic over experiential knowledge. Her book offers a highly entertaining account of a bold, ambitious, though undoubtedly flawed educational experiment, which sheds light on wider debates about knowledge and expertise."" * The Critic *