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Schrecker, E. The Lost Soul of Higher Education: Corporatization, the Assault on Academic Freedom, and the End of the American University. New York, New Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1595584007. Pages: 304.
Based on a series of essays previously published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, by this leading McCarthy-era historian, this book presents two key fronts in what the author perceives to be the present battle over American higher education, particularly in regard to the question of academic freedom. On the one hand, higher education has been victimised by attacks for decades from outside pressure groups. At the same time, the rapidly changing structure of the academy itself represents a significant threat. The decline of university budgets and the increasing encroachment of private-sector influence and business-friendly priorities are but two examples of such structural challenges. The overall message is that American higher education is a system in peril, at risk of being unable to effectively educate a new generation of citizens.