The Closing of Academic Departments and Programs: A Core and Periphery Approach to the Liberal Arts and Practical Arts

Abstract

Did the liberal art disciplines at American universities have the highest failure rate between the 1970s and the early 2000s? Important theoretical traditions indeed believe that the liberal arts are the most threatened disciplines in the academy, while other theories have differing views. This paper reexamines the vulnerability of academic disciplines by assessing new data. It focuses on the closing of academic departments and programs, and it uses event history analysis to show that practical arts departments and programs failed at a much higher rate than liberal arts departments and programs. In doing so, this paper raises important questions about how American universities are changing during a time of budget cuts and retrenchment.