The university is being transformed and can be transformed. This doubleness informs this book. "Transforming" in "transforming higher education" can be read as adjective, suggesting that higher education is being transformed by the social and political situation in which it is enmeshed. "Transforming" can also be read as a gerund, implying the critical activity of changing the university, as signaling a creative and political act of radical possibility. The essays in this book address the transformation of higher education and the transformative possibilities of its current conditions. Only by viewing the university as a historical construction can we assess the dangers and opportunities of the new conditions of higher education, and chart a reasonable course for the future. The essays in this book are critical of recent developments in universities and higher education. Most of us come from public universities, and all remain committed to a democratic higher education that we see threatened by recent developments. There is a danger that the combination of economic crisis, market ideology, and global pressures will continue to structure the debate about higher education in ways that freeze out the transformative and politically critical possibilities of the university. Part I of the book examines the historical transformation of the university as it has changed into its current form. Part II examines both the transformation of the university into a neoliberal institution and makes the case for the more political and radical idea of transforming the university in opposition to how it has been transformed in recent years. Part III offers a number of studies aimed at illuminating possibilities for transforming the university in a more progressive, democratic direction.

A turning point in twentieth-century American history, the war in Vietnam raised profound questions that affected every aspect of life in the United States. A dramatic case study of the political passions, spiritual pain, and cultural divisions produced by the war, "What's Going On? California and the Vietnam Era" provides for the first time a balanced and personal look at the Vietnam years in California, revealing their impact on American life and culture. Wallace Stegner believed that California 'is like the rest of the United States, only more so', and in this book we discover the truth behind that sentiment. Conceived in tandem with the Oakland Museum of California's innovative national touring exhibition of the same title, this absorbing collection of essays captures the essence of a unique time and place. The exhibition itself centers on events between 1965 and 1975 and examines the legacy of those years on the state today through some 500 historical artifacts - documents, news accounts, photographs, film clips, musical excerpts, and personal stories presented in multiple formats. These accompanying essays delve deeper into the themes raised by the exhibit, looking into such topics as the relationship between Cold War politics, the Vietnam War, and California's economy; social activism from the Right and the Left; the rise of the feminist, African American, Chicano, and veterans' movements; Vietnamese refugees; media images of the war; and the legacy of those years on the entire nation.