Full Description
At a time when universities are being defunded by governments and vilified by ultra-conservative pundits, defining their value has never been more urgent
For decades, efforts to quantify the value of universities in dollars and cents led to the corporatization of institutions that are meant to serve their students and society by creating knowledge and teaching—not by turning a profit. Now more than ever, the role of the university in advancing discovery, democracy, equity, and in contributing to its students' success is under siege and needs to be defended.
Knowledge Under Siege picks up where Spooner and McNinch's Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education left off and analyzes today's volatile higher education landscape—one where hostility towards the academy is a growing trend across the globe. Bringing together leading international voices, including Gloria Ladson-Billings, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Christopher Newfield, Kevin Kumashiro, and many others, the book considers how universities are facing unprecedented threats that include defunding, criticism of and the dismantling of initiatives to diversify the academy, academic gag orders, and efforts to undermine tenure and academic freedom. It asks how institutions can resist these incursions while working towards becoming engines of social mobility for a diverse student body (not merely serving the most privileged) and graduating critical thinkers who aspire to build a better world.
There is a consensus in higher education that universities must remain autonomous so that our societies can better understand both our history and our rapidly changing world. Knowledge Under Siege is a call to action to fight for our institutions and make them self-reflexive spaces where truth and learning continue to thrive.
Contents
Foreword • Gloria Ladson-Billing
Preface • Marc Spooner and James McNinch
Introduction: A Renewed Hope • Marc Spooner and James McNinch
SECTION ONE. UNIVERSITY AND ITS ROLES
What are Universities For? • Jonathan R. Cole
Universities are Playspaces • Whitney Blaisdell
Universities in a Democratic Society • Joel Westheimer
SECTION TWO. CRITICAL UNIVERSITY STUDIES
Relations of Power in Worldwide University Science • Simon Marginson
For What and For Whom Are Universities? • Consuelo Chapela
From Neoliberalism to Authoritarianism: Universities, Metrics, Regulation and Surrender to Governmental Control • Liz Morrish
Resistance and Redirection in the Managerial University • Peter S. McInnis
SECTION THREE. RE-FRAMING THE RESPONSIVE UNIVERSITY
Higher Education and Academics Must "Step Up" • Kevin K. Kumashiro
Reimagining the Pedagogy of Truth • Sheila Cote-Meek
Complicities, Margins, Resistance: Colleges, Plantations and Bearing Witness • Piya Chatterjee
When Should Universities Take a Stand? • Shannon Dea
SECTION FOUR. IMAGINING OUR COLLECTIVE FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF UNIVERSITIES
The University's Four Futures; or, the Real Humanities Crisis and its Cures • Christopher Newfield
Is Hope Practical? Re-making Universities in an Era of Climate Crisis • Tom Sperlinger
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi: What Are Universities For • Linda Tuhiwai Smith
sîpâ waskwâhk (underneath the birch tree): ê-iskocêsihkêhk (creating sparks for a fire)—The Need for Indigenous Knowledge in Universities • Tammy Ratt
Conclusion: A Call to Hope • James McNinch and Marc Spooner
Afterword: The Future of Universities, Knowledge, and Democracies • Malinda S. Smith
Index
