Historian Ellen Schrecker presents a perspective on how and why the leaders of American universities embraced the corporate mindset that had come to dominate the neoliberal political climate of the late 20th century. She examines the current state of the academy in which universities have become engines of economic growth, along with students viewed as customers, faculties engaged as capsulized employees, and successful researchers considered entrepreneurs. The lecture will discuss implications of this profound shift in the institutional missions of American colleges and universities.
About the speaker
Ellen Schrecker
Dr. Ellen Schrecker is a professor of history at Yeshiva University. Widely recognized as a leading expert on McCarthyism, she has published many books and articles on the subject, including MANY ARE THE CRIMES: MCCARTHYISM IN AMERICA, THE AGE OF MCCARTHYISM: A SHORT HISTORY WITH DOCUMENTS, and NO IVORY TOWER: MCCARTHYISM AND THE UNIVERSITIES. In 2004 she published an edited collection of essays, COLD WAR TRIUMPHALISM: EXPOSING THE MISUSE OF HISTORY AFTER THE FALL OF COMMUNISM. The recipient of fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute, the National Humanities Center, and the Frederick Ewen Academic Freedom Center, Dr. Schrecker has also written about academic freedom and, from 1998 to 2002, edited ACADEME, the magazine of the American Association of University Professors.
Additional Resources
Rebecca Schuman’s Slate article “I Quit Academia,” an Important, Growing Subgenre of American Essays
Terran Lane’s “On leaving academe”
David Haglund’s “NYU Neatly Embodies Everything Wrong With Higher Education in America”