This critical appraisal of North American doctoral programs contends that the degree is a seriously flawed academic institution. Recent scholarship and personal experiences are utilized to illustrate the contention that doctoral programs are inflexible, cumbersome, restrictive and wasteful, and, in most fields, do more harm than good. The history…

The author calls for a radical revision and restructuring of doctoral programs in the humanities which have, he claims, surpassed in productivity the needs of our society and, in terms of their intellectual objectives, become mere exercises in sterile academic liturgy. (Author/SJL)

The national investment in graduate education is addressed in proceedings of the 1982 meeting of the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States (CGS). Proceedings of the CGS business meeting are also included. The keynote address by Howard R. Bowen, "Educational Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," is provided. Transcripts of the…