Synopses & Reviews
Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and--even more significantly--undergraduates and their parents.
--Thomas Hart Benton, The Chronicle of Higher Education
How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the 2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.
aThomas Hart Benton, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Marc Bousquet is the most trenchant theorist of the current academic labor situation, and How the University Works is the best study of academic labor conditions in the U.S. since the 1970s. It is thoroughly and creatively researched, theoretically bold, often mercifully frank, and frequently poignant in its arguments and findings.
aVincent B. Leitch, General Editor of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees a including the vast majority of faculty a really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a majorfigure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education a a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher educations corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university. ALSO OF INTEREST Author interview with Cary Nelson Author Blog on The Chronicle of Higher Education Call to Arms for Academic Labor--Review by Inside Higher Ed Author's Blog View the Table of Contents
Read the Introduction
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”-Inside Higher Ed,
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”
- Inside Higher Ed
Review
"Not only the most persuasive political argument, but also the most sophisticated theoretical analysis of the university's labor system."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
“How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the [2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.”-Thomas Hart Benton,The Chronicle of Higher Education
Review
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
"This is an extraordinarily important book, buttressed with a tremendous amount of convincing detail."
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”
“Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and—even more significantly—undergraduates and their parents.”
“How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the [2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.”
Review
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”-Inside Higher Ed,
Review
“Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and—even more significantly—undergraduates and their parents.”-Thomas Hart Benton,The Chronicle of Higher Education
Review
“How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the [2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.”-Thomas Hart Benton,The Chronicle of Higher Education
Synopsis
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees—including the vast majority of faculty—really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education—a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
Uncovers the labor exploitation occurring in universities across the country
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees--including the vast majority of faculty--really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education--a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees—including the vast majority of faculty—really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education—a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the study of Jewish civilization throughout the world. Globally, over 1,300 universities and colleges offer courses on some aspect of Jewish civilization. Some universities in areas which had little contact with Jewish heritage, such as the former Soviet Union, the Pacific Rim, and Africa, are increasingly introducing such studies into their course offerings.
This volume addresses the challenge of developing courses of study about Jewish civilizations appropriate for different peoples in many parts of the world at the same time. The more than 60 selections cover a broad range of conceptual, historical, thematic, pedagogic, and administrative areas and address the basic issues which confront university Jewish civilization studies. Such concerns as the incorporation of Jewish studies into general disciplines, the re-introduction of Jewish civilization studies into non- Western organizational university structures, and the place of Israeli universities in serving an ever-increasing number of universities abroad are addressed as the contributors elucidate the objectives, progress, achievements, and still unfulfilled goals of these programs. Of special utility is a world register of Jewish studies programs which provides a comprehensive global profile of institutions engaged in teaching Jewish history and civilization.
About the Author
Marc Bousquet is Associate Professor of English at Santa Clara University and the founding editor of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor. His previous books include Tenured Bosses and Disposable Teachers and The Politics of Information: The Electronic Mediation of Social Change.