The knowledge explosion of the second half of the twentieth century has perhaps only been exceeded by the growth in published materials. The result has been an increasing tendency to specialize and to do so in an ever more focused fashion. Faculty must conceive of their research in narrow terms in order to master the literature and be able to add on persuasively to existing knowledge. The consonance between teaching and research is not only a logical inclination but also makes life easier for faculty, for example, not having to read in areas in which one is not doing research. Specialization, however, leads to atomization and isolation.
Faculty have fewer issues that they can seriously discuss with the bulk of their colleagues.
The result is the deeply subversive, but all too strident, call for career preparation, as though that were the function of an undergraduate education. The university is not a trade school, and cannot become one without losing its very soul. Engagement, relevance, specialization, and practicality conspire together to challenge the essence of the university. All attempts to make the university more of a proximate reflection of society must be resisted.