This volume brings together leading thinkers who offer reflections on the place of Western civilization in the academy, at a time when there is indifference or even antipathy toward the study of the West at most institutions of higher learning. Alternative narratives—including multiculturalism, diversity, and sustainability—have come to the fore in the stead of Western civilization. The present volume is designed to explore the roots, extent, and long-term consequences of this educational climate: How and why did undergraduate education turn its back on what was once an important component of its mission? To what extent has such change affected the experience of undergraduates and the ability of colleges to educate citizens of a constitutional republic? What are the likely individual and social outcomes of such a shift in educational priorities? The volume’s theme is, and will continue to be, the subject of national scholarly and media attention.

The word civilization, which is a relatively recent application from eighteenth-century, when came into currency, is generally invoked more with a rhetorical flourish than argued in philosophical perspective. But history of knowledge considers its true object is the study of human mind, to know what his mind has believed, thought, and felt in diverse periods of its progression in the history of a civilization. Mirza Iqbal Ashraf, as a research scholar of Islamic and Western philosophies identifying the “Four Explosions of Knowledge” from ancient to modern time of history of knowledge, offers the readers in Progression of Knowledge in the Western Civilization uniquely within philosophical perspective that the Western world is a civilization of knowledge. This also means, whereas it is important to understand today’s world so that we can deal with our contemporary period’s civilizational challenges, it will be incomplete if we do not assess that modernity is born from the progress made by the knowledge of the past thinkers. But knowledge does not arrive fully formed; it requires many minds, specifically those minds which are free from the civilization’s religious, cultural, and geophysical trappings. In the Progression of Knowledge in Western Civilization, Ashraf has expounded that even in modern time, no knowledge is complete without visiting the knowledge of the past, especially of the great thinkers of Classical Greek period, the scholars at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, and the famous centers of knowledge at Cairo, and Cordova of Arab Spain. In this book, the author has discussed when some other regions of the world might be familiar with philosophy and science, in one way or another, why such a treasure of knowledge emerged particularly in Greece that became a foundation of voluminous work of literature in almost every field of knowledge, and how it amazingly became the foundation of the history of progression of knowledge in the Western civilization, which is timelessly flourishing until today.

Drawing on data collected in a specially commissioned public opinion survey as well as other recent research on higher education, Rothman, Kelly-Woessner, and Woessner, create an incredibly readable presentation of both the similarities and differences between those running our universities and those attending them. The authors manage to remain impressively neutral; instead they give us a fuller perspective of the people on our college campuses.

Over the past several decades, higher education has been transformed by the entry of faculty of color and women into the university system. Through detailed institutional ethnographies of three very different universities, Privilege and Diversity in the Academy explores how this diversification has dismantled and reconfigured relationships of privilege and diversity in higher education. Authors Maher and Tetreault use examples from a top-ranked private university, a comprehensive urban university, and a major public university to illustrate how privilege is enacted, resisted, and transformed as changes occur in the student bodies and faculties of these schools. In their analyses, they identify the institutional structures that facilitate the success of a diverse faculty and make valuable observations about patterns of institutional change and resistance.

Critical Race Theory in the Academy explores the deep implications of race and its effects on the expanse of the American social fabric and its fragile democratic process. This volume contributes to a more effective, powerful, and insightful theorization of racism across the social spectrum while furthering the movement for greater equity in higher education and beyond. The audience for this book is broad and should be of great interest and value to all Americans who fight against racism which is focused on the destruction of Black people and other people of color. Ideally, educators, scholars, and practitioners will be compelled to engage the ideas within this volume to break down the color line and challenge the problematic master narrative in education and other aspects of society. Critical Race Theory in the Academy offers current applications, debates, theories, strategies, and evolutions about critical race theory (CRT), with particular attention to CRT’s intersections with the field of higher education and beyond. As a part of the CRT corpus, this volume details some of the most relevant and current topics deployed in varied disciplines of the academy, confronting the complex interplay of race, racism, education, and social justice in the twenty-first century. Specifically, the authors explore topics from health disparities, politics, religion, literature, music, social work, psychology, sports, distance learning, media bias, affirmative action, to education policies, practices and scholarship. The chapters in this volume should help navigate the tensions in the academy and beyond to work toward alleviating institutionalized racism. Praise for Critical Race Theory in the Academy: "The field of Critical Race Theory is enriched by this important collection of new and original scholarship. Vernon Farmer has brought together a dynamic and eclectic mix of radical voices, from multiple disciplinary backgrounds, including both established and early career scholars. The result is a volume that constantly challenges and surprises the reader." David Gillborn Professor of Critical Race Studies University of Birmingham UK Founding Editor of Race Ethnicity & Education "Critical Race Theory in the Academy has excavated the terrain of critical race theory to unearth multiple perspectives that are central to defining the fundamental contours of the field. Each essay enhances the ways in which we read and understand the complexity of critical race theory. It will be an invaluable resource for building a critical academy." Aileen Moreton-Robinson Queens and University of Technology, Australia Author of The White Possessive: Property, Power and Indigenous Sovereignty "Vernon Lee Farmer has done it again and for the final time. He has pulled together a star-studded cast of academics of color to address an essential concern of the academy. Throughout his career, Farmer has demonstrated the uncanny ability to identify matters that require attention, and attacked them with vigor. In doing so, he provided us with high impact resources that are beneficial to the professional trajectory of scholars of color. This book is no different, and we all should race to the bookstore to add this instant classic to our personal library." Jerlando F. L. Jackson Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Former Editor, ASHE Reader Series on Higher Education "Critical Race Theory in the Academy adds substantially to our understanding of the roles that race, racism, and social justice play as we tackle the myriad problems of pre-K through higher education. For those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the issues in higher education -- from curriculum to the lack of diversity in the professoriate -- this work provides helpful insights that can enrich conversations and problem-solving across sectors of society." Freeman A. Hrabowski, III President University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland

"... comprehensive, well-written, and useful... A must... " -- Choice "... interdisciplinary... with exciting contributions from the humanities and the social and natural sciences." -- Quest "... a treasure of rich and challenging scholarship that covers many fields... " -- Religious Education "The helpful insights from a wide range of disciplines -- Economics to Literature -- accumulated here in a focused manner should be useful to all scholars interested in Women's Studies." -- Kathryn Allen Rabuzzi, Syracuse University, Religious Studies Review "... exciting, state-of-the-art essays across a wide variety of fields." -- Gender & Society Nationally recognized scholars assess the impact of over a decade of research on women. Originally intended merely as a corrective -- filling in a missing part of the story -- the cumulative effect of this body of scholarship is to pose paradigm shifts for the traditional disciplines.

"Jewish Philosophy and the Academy reflects in broad terms on the current state of Jewish philosophy in the university. This generation of university teachers lives at a unique historic junction. It is the last to be taught by the giants of European Wissenschaft des Judentums and the first to experience the remarkable expansion of Judaic scholarship in Israel and abroad." "Emil Fackenheim suggests that if we are indebted to Athens for the philosophical method, we are also indebted to Jerusalem for the ethical content of philosophy, which is both an intellectual and a moral challenge. This dual challenge shapes the diverse papers in this volume."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved