Saints and Scamps

I fell in love with this book in 1988 and have re-read it often. I always view it as a brief retreat, as if returning to a friend who will give you advice that you know is good and true. Over the years I have made it my tradition to give this as a gift to new faculty, deans and Trustees. I am thrilled that it is now in the 25th anniversary edition. It will continue to grace the book collections of essential reading of my friends and colleagues. This is the book I wish I had when I started my academiccareer. In a cogent and well written manner, Dr. Cahn gets to the heart of our profession, reviewing our major responsibilities to our students, colleagues and society. His experience as a provost and professor provide numerous real-life challenges forthose of us who toil in the fields of academia. The simple truth is that we are engaged in a multifarious endeavor as we balance competing needs and agendas. Dr. Cahn gently, but with firm conviction, helps us deal with the complexity of our duties through a review of the axioms of the profession and our ethical responsibilities. Although I have never met Dr. Cahn, through this book he has been a good mentor. -- Thomas H. Powell, President Mount St. Mary's University
Steven M. Cahn's Saints and Scamps is a sound, highly readable rumination on the ethics of higher education. It should be read by everyone engaged in teaching and scholarship. -- Diane Ravitch, New York University
Saints and Scamps is still just as fresh, pertinent and irreverent as it was the first time around. Cahn is skeptical rather than cynical. He doesn't suffer educational fools gladly. And his commonsensical advice to students and their teachers is still worth pondering. -- Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University
An eminently sane and sagacious discussion of university life, the art of teaching, and the standard that should prevail for staff and students alike. . . . Much good sense in a handy package. * Kirkus *
Cahn's book is a lively, highly relevant examination of enduring principles of faculty ethics. He ably unites lofty principles with practical concerns and advice. I recommend this 25th anniversary edition as required reading by both newly minted and experienced professors. -- Molly Corbett Broad, President American Council on Education
Praise for the Previous Edition: Should be read by academic administrators, faculty, and graduate students, as well as the general public. * Library Journal *
Diogenes lay down your lamp; the search for an honest man is over. Steven M. Cahn is he. His new improved edition of Saints and Scamps is a must read for anyone who cares about American higher education. Particularly those paying tuition! It's obligatory for all responsible trustees, presidents and deans. A copy should accompany every PhD awarded by all graduate schools from New York to Honolulu. -- Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus, The George Washington University
I fell in love with this book in 1988 and have re-read it often. I always view it as a brief retreat, as if returning to a friend who will give you advice that you know is good and true. Over the years I have made it my tradition to give this as a gift to new faculty, deans and Trustees. I am thrilled that it is now in the 25th anniversary edition. It will continue to grace the book collections of essential reading of my friends and colleagues. This is the book I wish I had when I started my academic career. In a cogent and well written manner, Dr. Cahn gets to the heart of our profession, reviewing our major responsibilities to our students, colleagues and society. His experience as a provost and professor provide numerous real-life challenges for those of us who toil in the fields of academia. The simple truth is that we are engaged in a multifarious endeavor as we balance competing needs and agendas. Dr. Cahn gently, but with firm conviction, helps us deal with the complexity of our duties through a review of the axioms of the profession and our ethical responsibilities. Although I have never met Dr. Cahn, through this book he has been a good mentor. -- Thomas H. Powell, President Mount St. Mary's University
One is greatly cheered to see this new edition of Saints and Scamps, a delightful and instructive compendium of acute observations about the academic life, brimming with the knowledge and wisdom of an author who has not forgotten the difference between the two. Cahn’s decency and intelligence are everywhere in evidence, cutting through the pseudo-savvy cynicism and gamesmanship that pervade modern academic life, and recalling us to the fundamental nobility of our work—the quality without which it becomes empty and pointless. This book should be required reading for every aspiring graduate student, every university president, and everyone in between. -- Wilfred M. McClay, University of Oklahoma
Hailed as one of the best works on the subject of academic ethics when first published in 1985, Cahn’s (philosophy, Graduate Ctr., CUNY) book has been 'lightly edited' and appended with five papers for this 25th anniversary edition. Cahn originally sought to emphasize the obligations college professors assume in their careers, covering all aspects of teaching, from office hours and grading to departmental responsibilities and publishing. These obligations have remained relatively unchanged over the last quarter century. Unfortunately, so has the level of many professors’ ethics. This edition is an effort to raise the consciences of a new generation of professors and stem the increase of academic malpractice. While it may be too late for those who have already acquired unethical teaching habits, perhaps this updated version will be better used by today’s education students and novice instructors. Cahn’s work is still relevant. Even parents, students, and taxpayers will find this an accessible read. * Library Journal *