Rhodes Scholars, Oxford, and the Creation of an American Elite / / Kathleen Schaeper, Thomas J. Schaeper.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Schaeper, Thomas J.,; Schaeper, Kathleen,
• Place / Publishing House: New York ;, Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2010]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (438 p.)

Each year thirty-two seniors at American universities are awarded Rhodes Scholarships, which entitle them to spend two or three years studying at the University of Oxford. The program, founded by the British colonialist and entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes and established in 1903, has become the world's most famous academic scholarship and has brought thousands of young Americans to study in England. Many of these later became national leaders in government, law, education, literature, and other fields. Among them were the politicians J. William Fulbright, Bill Bradley, and Bill Clinton; the public policy analysts Robert Reich and George Stephanopoulos; the writer Robert Penn Warren; the entertainer Kris Kristofferson; and the Supreme Court Justices Byron White and David Souter. Based on extensive research in published and unpublished documents and on hundreds of interviews, this book traces the history of the program and the stories of many individuals. In addition it addresses a host of questions such as: how important was the Oxford experience for the individual scholars? To what extent has the program created an old-boy (-girl since 1976) network that propels its members to success? How many Rhodes Scholars have cracked under the strain and failed to live up to expectations? How have the Americans coped with life in Oxford and what have they thought of Britain in general? Beyond the history of the program and the individuals involved, this book also offers a valuable examination of the American-British cultural encounter.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 RHODES, SOUTH AFRICA, AND OXFORD -- Chapter 2 GETTING STARTED -- Chapter 3 THE SETTING -- Chapter 4 YANKS AND BRITS -- Chapter 5 THE SCHOLAR-ATHLETES -- Chapter 6 PROGRAMMATIC CHANGES -- Chapter 7 INTERWAR YEARS Society and Study -- Chapter 8 INTERWAR YEARS Fighting the World’s Fight -- Chapter 9 POSTWAR PROBLEMS AND ADJUSTMENTS -- Chapter 10 THE COLD WAR AND THE SILENT GENERATION -- Chapter 11 BILL CLINTON AND FRIENDS -- Chapter 12 NEW VOICES, NEW FACES I Blacks and Other Minorities -- Chapter 13 NEW VOICES, NEW FACES II Women, Gays, and Lesbians -- Chapter 14 CAREERS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS -- Chapter 15 THE OXFORD FACTOR -- Chapter 16 THE RHODES AHEAD -- APPENDIX: U.S. Rhodes Scholars, 1904-2006 -- SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX