More and more Americans look to higher education to guarantee their income in increasingly precarious economic times, yet they seem equally willing to attack universities regularly. While both colleges and their professors are widely distrusted and criticized, Americans also point to higher education as their most valuable and durable product in the global economy. Why--and how--is higher education in America under fire?
The contributors to this outstanding collection attack this dilemma from all perspectives; the writers include leaders from four disparate national organizations devoted to national education: Teachers for A Democractic Culture, the National Association of Scholars, Union of Democratic Intellectuals, and the American Association of University Professors. "Higher Education Under Fire" also features two extended discussions sections in which the contributors are questioned--and question each other--about the importance of democracy, meritocracy, affirmative action, cultural relativism, and "identity politics" to the future of higher education. In the rash of recent books on higher education, none offers such a combination of economic and political analysis, or such a comprehensive sense of the challenges that face teachers and scholars in the humanities at the close of the twentieth century. "Higher Education Under Fire" speaks to combatants of the culture wars, as well as all concerned spectators.
Industry Reviews
"[This book] makes a useful addition to debates on post-secondary education in the U.S. because it takes on a wide range of issues and includes discussions among speakers representing different points of view....Unlike popular Manichaean attacks on academia, "Higher "Education Under Fire offers a complex, nuanced diagnosis of the threats and opportunities confronting a vital but troubled American institution."
-"Booklist, 12/94
"This is a book that should be read carefully by anyone who cares about the future of higher education. It investigates the tensions between democratization and elitism in our concept of higher education and asks whether we will ever fully support the goal to which we often give lip service--a high-quality education open to all qualified persons. No mere rehashing of the PC debates, "Higher Education Under Fire connects differences over the curriculum to the current crisis in funding and thus helps us understand why it is actually difficult, in many places, for teachers to teach and students to learn. The authors represent a wide range of political positions, and one of the book's most distinguished virtues is its commitment to civil debate among people who differ--a hopeful sign in an area too frequently dominated by self righteous slogan-mongering."
-Martha Nussbaum, Brown University
"It is a book that teachers ought to read if they have any interest in what is hyped as The Crisis in The Humanities."
-"Chronique
"In the rash of recent books on higher education, none offers such a combination of economic and political analysis, or such a comprehensive sense of the challenges that face teachers and scholars in the humanities at the close ofthe twentieth century [as "Higher "Education Under Fire]."
-"Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society
"This is the first collection devoted to higher education in our era that has dared to be comprehensive, controversial, and indisputably clear about the crisis of knowledge facing our nation. Its topics range from federal policy to 'identity politics, ' from controversies over Composition 101 to feeding frenzies in the national press. Along with the remarkable recorded exchanges included in the book, the essays and the editors' introduction open a window on our culture that is profoundly enlightening. For anyone who has asked what higher education has been doing over the past twenty-five years, this collection will be a useful answer. No book has registered the recent work of the academy with so much energy and engaged intelligence."
-Houston A. Baker, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
