“With deep research, readable prose, an interdisciplinary scope, and a judiciously balanced critique, Koza probes the disturbing impact of eugenics on the influential early 20th-century psychologist and educator Carl Seashore. This is history with a long reach, revealing the stubborn lineage of attitudes about race, ability, disability, education, and testing.”
—Carol J. Oja, Harvard University
— Carol J. Oja
“Fifteen years in the making, encapsulating 30 years of eugenics research, focusing on Carl Seashore, one of the last overlooked giants of American eugenics and brought together by an exceptionally ethical historian who never fails to see her subject as fully human. Koza lays bare the dangerous logic that pervades American education and promotes eugenics and genocide today.”
—Barry Mehler, Ferris State University
— Barry Mehler
“In this deeply researched and carefully argued book, Julia Koza documents how principles derived from eugenics shaped the work of Carl Seashore, a pioneer in American music education and standardized testing. Openly prejudiced against women, people of color, and homosexuals, Seashore influenced generations of musicians who either met his criteria or were, in his words, ‘destined to fail’ and therefore unworthy of training. A chilling reminder of the racialist currents that underlie our present-day pedagogy and admissions policies. Anyone involved in music education, K through Full Professor, should read this brilliant, disturbing book.”
—Susan McClary, Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music, Case Western Reserve University
— Susan McClary
“Written with literary eloquence and the finest archival skills of a historian, Koza provides a major contribution for understanding the historical conditions that make possible an American life rife with racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, xenophobia, and disabilities. The book explores the architecture and topography of eugenics through the biography of the psychologist Carl Seashore as it is tracked, traced, and stitched in the intersections of science, aesthetics, psychometrics, perceptual studies, standardized testing, and education. While the present polarizations of American society may seem to some as a horrible aberration in a long history, the argument powerfully details the minute ways in which eugenics and racialization are deeply engrained in the infrastructures to differentiate the subject, the body and knowledge.”
—Thomas S. Popkewitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
— Thomas S. Popkewitz
"Destined to Fail is an important and timely volume that peels back the layers of a shameful history of racism and eugenics that laid the foundation for what should have been the most democratic and inclusive area of human endeavor, music education. Koza has bravely revealed the underside of the field."
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
— Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“This book is a 'must read' for music education historians and those interested in the foundations of American music education. It is thoughtful, thorough, well written, and brilliantly assembled, and it should become one of the distinguished scholarly texts in the field.”
—Estelle R. Jorgensen, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
— Estelle R. Jorgensen, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Winner of the American Educational Research Association Division B: Curriculum Studies Outstanding Book Award for 2021 (AREA)
— American Educational Research Association
“Fifteen years in the making, encapsulating 30 years of eugenics research, focusing on Carl Seashore, one of the last overlooked giants of American eugenics and brought together by an exceptionally ethical historian who never fails to see her subject as fully human. Koza lays bare the dangerous logic that pervades American education and promotes eugenics and genocide today.”
—Barry Mehler, Ferris State University
— Barry Mehler
“With deep research, readable prose, an interdisciplinary scope, and a judiciously balanced critique, Koza probes the disturbing impact of eugenics on the influential early 20th-century psychologist and educator Carl Seashore. This is history with a long reach, revealing the stubborn lineage of attitudes about race, ability, disability, education, and testing.”
—Carol J. Oja, Harvard University
— Carol J. Oja
“This book is a 'must read' for music education historians and those interested in the foundations of American music education. It is thoughtful, thorough, well written, and brilliantly assembled, and it should become one of the distinguished scholarly texts in the field.”
—Estelle R. Jorgensen, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University
— Estelle R. Jorgensen, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
"Destined to Fail is an important and timely volume that peels back the layers of a shameful history of racism and eugenics that laid the foundation for what should have been the most democratic and inclusive area of human endeavor, music education. Koza has bravely revealed the underside of the field."
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
— Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“In this deeply researched and carefully argued book, Julia Koza documents how principles derived from eugenics shaped the work of Carl Seashore, a pioneer in American music education and standardized testing. Openly prejudiced against women, people of color, and homosexuals, Seashore influenced generations of musicians who either met his criteria or were, in his words, ‘destined to fail’ and therefore unworthy of training. A chilling reminder of the racialist currents that underlie our present-day pedagogy and admissions policies. Anyone involved in music education, K through Full Professor, should read this brilliant, disturbing book.”
—Susan McClary, Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music, Case Western Reserve University
— Susan McClary
“Written with literary eloquence and the finest archival skills of a historian, Koza provides a major contribution for understanding the historical conditions that make possible an American life rife with racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, xenophobia, and disabilities. The book explores the architecture and topography of eugenics through the biography of the psychologist Carl Seashore as it is tracked, traced, and stitched in the intersections of science, aesthetics, psychometrics, perceptual studies, standardized testing, and education. While the present polarizations of American society may seem to some as a horrible aberration in a long history, the argument powerfully details the minute ways in which eugenics and racialization are deeply engrained in the infrastructures to differentiate the subject, the body and knowledge.”
—Thomas S. Popkewitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
— Thomas S. Popkewitz