The Great Unraveling: The University in Decline

This book addresses the corporatization of higher education, including topics such as administrative usurpation of the curriculum, the diminishing role of faculty in governance, the increase in contingent and adjunct faculty, and the rise of STEM courses at the expense of the liberal arts. The book also concerns many issues of interest on campuses, such as trigger warnings, safe spaces, interdisciplinarity, identity politics, and the value of humanities education.

This book addresses a number of issues resulting from the corporatization of higher education, including administrative usurpation of decision-making about the curriculum, the diminishing role of faculty governance in matters of curriculum design, the erosion of academic freedom, the rise of contingent and adjunct faculty members with little job permanence and few benefits, and the rise of STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at the expense of the liberal arts. Other issues of interest on modern campuses are also discussed: trigger warnings, safe spaces, the complexity of the issue of free speech at universities, identity politics, the digital humanities, the value of a humanistic education, the pressures on universities to create course programs that lead to job market success, and the failures of interdisciplinarity.

J. Battersby is an Emeritus Professor of English at The Ohio State University. He has published numerous books and articles on the subjects of literature and critical theory. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.