An all-star cast of philosophical thinkers about higher education, more than half women, offers new essays exploring major ethical problems facing American higher education today. Among the crucial topics discussed are free speech on campus, challenges to the tenure system, the proliferation of adjunct faculty, historical injustices, affirmative action, admission policies, opportunities for applicants from the working-class, faculty and administrative responsibilities, student life, threats to privacy, treatment of those with disabilities, the impact of technology on teaching and learning, curricular controversies, the impact of unions, philanthropy, sports and intercollegiate athletics, and the aims of liberal education. The authors are leading researchers and teachers, many with extensive administrative experience, and they are members of the faculties at public and private institutions throughout the country. The essays are jargon-free and address the most pressing problems for higher education, weigh alternative policies, and assess future prospects for overcoming present challenges. Philosopher, scholar, teacher, and novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein provides a foreword to this unique collection.
Steven M. Cahn is professor emeritus of philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he served for nearly a decade as provost and vice president for The Office of Academic Affairs, then as acting president. He is the author or editor of nearly seventy books. Most recently he wrote Saints and Scamps: Ethics in Academia, 25th Anniversary Edition; From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor; Teaching Philosophy: A Guide; and Navigating Academic Life: How the System Works. He edited Morality, Responsibility, and the University: Studies in Academic Ethics; The Affirmative Action Debate; Moral Problems in Higher Education; and served as general editor of the fifteen-volume Rowman & Littlefield series Issues in Academic Ethics.
A timely and provocative anthology by leading philosophers, created by an editor with a life-long interest in good teaching and ethical administration in higher education.--Gregory E. Pence, University of Alabama at Birmingham Steven Cahn is a giant when it comes to academic ethics. This is a must-read for everyone in academe.--David Levinson, President Emeritus, Connecticut State Community College
