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Landscapes of Betrayal, Landscapes of Joy provides a rare glimpse
into the world of teenagers, from beach parties to bedrooms, from
the math class to the midnight movies. In this fascinating
ethnography, Herb Childress demonstrates how our buildings and
landscapes (and the institutions that shape them) systematically
shortchange our kids, eliminating opportunities for challenge and
growth and encouraging their passivity. After examining the places
to which the kids were devoted, where they worked hardest, and
where they were at their best, Childress offers ideas for change.
Navigating academia can seem like a voyage through a foreign land:
strange cultural rules dictate everyday interactions, new
vocabulary awaits at every turn, and the feeling of being an
outsider is unshakable. For students considering doctoral programs
and doctoral students considering faculty life, The PhDictionary is
a lighthearted companion that illuminates the often opaque customs
of academic life. With more than two decades as a doctoral student,
college teacher, and administrator, Herb Childress has tripped over
almost every possible misunderstood term, run up against every
arcane practice, and developed strategies to deal with them all. He
combines current data and personal stories into memorable
definitions of 150 key phrases and concepts graduate students will
need to know (or pretend to know) as they navigate their academic
careers. From ABD to white paper--and with buyout, FERPA, gray
literature, and soft money in between--each entry contains a
helpful definition and plenty of relevant advice. Wry and
knowledgeable, Childress is the perfect guide for anyone hoping to
scale the ivory tower.
Class ends. Students pack up and head back to their dorms. The
professor, meanwhile, goes to her car . . . to catch a little
sleep, and then eat a cheeseburger in her lap before driving across
the city to a different university to teach another, wholly
different class. All for a paycheck that, once prep and grading are
factored in, barely reaches minimum wage. Welcome to the life of
the mind in the gig economy. Over the past few decades, the job of
college professor has been utterly transformed—for the worse.
America’s colleges and universities were designed to serve
students and create knowledge through the teaching, research, and
stability that come with the longevity of tenured faculty, but
higher education today is dominated by adjuncts. In 1975, only
thirty percent of faculty held temporary or part-time positions. By
2011, as universities faced both a decrease in public support and
ballooning administrative costs, that number topped fifty percent.
Now, some surveys suggest that as many as seventy percent of
American professors are working course-to-course, with few
benefits, little to no security, and extremely low pay. In The
Adjunct Underclass, Herb Childress draws on his own firsthand
experience and that of other adjuncts to tell the story of how
higher education reached this sorry state. Pinpointing numerous
forces within and beyond higher ed that have driven this shift, he
shows us the damage wrought by contingency, not only on the adjunct
faculty themselves, but also on students, the permanent faculty and
administration, and the nation. How can we say that we value higher
education when we treat educators like desperate day laborers?
Measured but passionate, rooted in facts but sure to shock, The
Adjunct Underclass reveals the conflicting values, strangled
resources, and competing goals that have fundamentally changed our
idea of what college should be. This book is a call to arms for
anyone who believes that strong colleges are vital to society
Landscapes of Betrayal, Landscapes of Joy provides a rare glimpse
into the world of teenagers, from beach parties to bedrooms, from
the math class to the midnight movies. In this fascinating
ethnography, Herb Childress demonstrates how our buildings and
landscapes (and the institutions that shape them) systematically
shortchange our kids, eliminating opportunities for challenge and
growth and encouraging their passivity. After examining the places
to which the kids were devoted, where they worked hardest, and
where they were at their best, Childress offers ideas for change.
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