This multidisciplinary volume highlights the transformed nature of the relationship between higher education and society in the 21st century. In particular, it argues that the development of the global university, especially in the non-western world, has transformed the traditional understanding of the relationship between higher education and society. This has important implications for the relations of state, as education has not only become an object of national development policy but for many states an important export. The history of the university reflects the decisive social transformations which have given definition and identity to both new nations and modern societies. In the post-war period, universities in the industrialized world underwent a radical shift. The mass expansion of higher education ensured that universities were no longer centers designed to train youth to assume the leadership positions held by previous generations. Instead universities were to become centers where job skills could be imparted and knowledge produced, refined and used in the newly emerging Cold War economies, and where students could develop the skills necessary for employment in a changing world. Rather than focusing on the refinement of future leaders, the task of the university became linked to the development of economically exploitable technical knowledge. A shift of comparable magnitude is now ongoing in the nature of higher education itself. Globalization has led to the growth of knowledge communities around the world, mirroring the rise of centers for global finance in previous decades. In the Middle East and Asia the demands of the knowledge-based economy have led to the opening of new indigenous universities and branch campuses and partnerships with established European and North American universities. Education City in Qatar, for instance, has received or been pledged more than 200 billion dollars since its inception. The growth of new indigenous universities has altered the traditional role of the university further, increasing the emphasis on courses which are close to the marketplace. These new partnerships have contributed to the creation of what is now referred to as the global university.

A.J. O'Conner and J.J. O'Conner just graduated from Ohio University. Intrigued by the hauntings at Ohio University, they go on a round country trip in search of the most haunted road in each of the 48 contiguous states. Not convinced that they will find much of anything, they find out that they bit off more than they can chew when they realize that the stories, myths, and legends behind each of these roads are anything but mythical. Their objective is to venture down the most haunted road in each state. Their goal is simple, survive.

How far would you go to prevent being homeless? For Zach Campfield, it would be doing the activity that made him homeless in the first place, gambling. Living in a town where the homeless population is treated poorly, Brock Thomas is different. He wants to help out Zach in any way possible. What Zach does not realize is that Brock is doing the exact opposite. Zach will find out where his journey will take him. It all starts with just one dollar.

Is Oakstown not safe anymore? That's what the Oakstown mayor thinks in Domino Effect 5 The Fallout of Oakstown. One night the Oakstown Hospital took care of many pregnant women while the mayor made an announcement on the TV that Oakstown isn't safe anymore and will be blown up and irradiated. Twenty-three years later, the mother who saw this main premonition, Maggie Ivey; her son Thomas Ivey is going on a trip to what once was Oakstown with seven of his friends. But instead of Maggie having these visions, it is her son who is having these visions. While these eight people go back to Oakstown for the trip, they all start to die off one by one in the order they would have died. But how is this even possible since they weren't even born yet? How is it not Maggie and the other mothers who are supposed to be dying? And most importantly, how will each of these people fare on this radioactive trip? Well the book explains all of that. You will just have to read it and find out on your own.

Domino Effect 4 Inferno is about an Oakstown Boy Scout Manager named Michael Heath and his son Vernon Heath going out into the forest in Oakstown Park for a hike in the woods with the other Oakstown Boy Scouts. Later on that day, Michael seems to become very weird and then panics telling everyone that there will be an inferno and they need to escape. Everyone was wondering what was wrong with him, but listened to him and they all escaped from the woods. Moments later, WOOSH, the forest went up in flames. Then, all of the boy scouts and leaders started to die off one by one in the order they would have died in Michael's premonition. In Domino Effect 4 Inferno, you will be thrilled, you will be on the edge of your seat, and you will be wondering what is going to happen next the entire way you read. Then, once you get to the end of the book, you will read an aftermath that will literally change the meaning of Domino Effect, forever.

Domino Effect 3 Sink or Swim is a story about Kelly Alderson; the wife of Danny Alderson from Domino Effect 2 Grab Death by the Horns, and Kelly's son Brad Alderson. Kelly has a premonition of the Oakstown tunnel caving in as they were about to go in it. She then warns her son along with 10 other people about what will happen. One of those people include Joe Freeman; father of Bobby Freeman from Domino Effect 2. The pressure from Hurricane Irenabel, mixture of Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Isabel that both hit Richmond, Virginia, causes the tunnel to cave in, but all the people Kelly warns are saved as they all listen to her, run away from their cars, and run out of the tunnel as it caves in. A year later all of those people start to die off one by one in many gruesome accidents which cause those people to die. Kelly tries to warn all those people about what will happen to them but they don't listen to her and end up dying later on in bizarre accidents.

Death Strikes once again in Oakstown. Oakstown University students are on winter break and the main character Bobby Freeman goes to the Oakstown Coliseum to watch a bull riding competition with his friends. While in the coliseum, Bobby has a premonition of one of the bulls named Tsunami going crazy and killing everyone that was there. After that, Bobby managed to save everyone who was supposed to die in his premonition. Afterwards, the bull escaped the walls of the Oakstown Coliseum and went off into the wild. Days after Bobby saved those people he saw dying, those people start to die off one by one in bizarre deaths. These deaths include impalements, decaps, and even one death in a city outside of Oakstown. In this, Bobby and his friends are playing a deadly game with someone who knows how to kill better than anyone else, Death himself. Can Bobby and his friends finally end Death's shenanigans once and for all, you will have to figure it out yourself. Death has returned for another round.

After graduating from Oakstown High School, Trevor Van Pelt, along with his girlfriend Karen Dickson, and his friends John Crenshaw and Suzy Moore all go to the beach for beach week. Then all of a sudden, while at the beach, Trevor has a premonition of a tragic tsunami that washes away and kills everyone who was on that beach. Because of his premonition, he manages to save a bunch of people from their pending doom. Later on in the book, after the memorial, everyone that was in Trevor's premonition start to die off one by one in the order they would have died in his premonition. He tries to tell the people that are next about it, but they don't listen to him and they react badly about it; they eventually die. Death does this through the whole book until everyone is gone. Is there a way to stop his sinister plans? You will have to find out.

Full Count is about a man named Andrew Davidson who overcomes tragedy as he attempts to become a part of the Westmoreland Wildcats, his home Semi-Pro Baseball League team. Along with the help of his wife Cassidy and his son Henry, he doesn't think he will be where he is at right now.

You won't even want to know what happens when a family of three rolls over a casket with a dead body inside of it. The family know as Larry, Katelyn, and Chris Graves get in one hell of a pickle. While on vacation at Solomon Beach, the body that the family of three rolls over eventually comes back to haunt them while they are on their vacation at a flea bag motel. While getting to the motel, they run into a drug addict and alcoholic named Brian. Once the demonic presence of Grant Solomon knows who ran over his casket while he was inside it, he knew what he must do. He must give the Graves's one hell of a good time during their vacation.