
Normative Tensions
Academic Freedom in International Education
Kevin W. Gray(Editor)
Lexington Books (Publisher)
Published on 1. June 2022
Book
Hardback
202 pages
978-1-7936-2033-0 (ISBN)
Description
The expansion of Western education overseas has been both an economic success, if the numbers of American, European, and Australian universities setting up campuses in Asia and the Middle East is a measure -- and a source of consternation for academics concerned with norms of free inquiry and intellectual freedom. Faculty at Western campuses have resisted the new satellite campuses, fearing that colleagues on those campuses would be less free to teach and engage in intellectual inquiry, and that students could be denied the free inquiry normally associated with liberal arts education. Critics point to the denial of visas to academics wishing to carry out research on foreign campuses, the sudden termination of employment at schools in both the Middle East and Asia, or the last-minute cancellation of courses at those schools, as evidence that they were correctly suspicious of the possibility that liberal arts programs could exist in those regions. Supporters of the project have argued that opening up foreign campuses brings free inquiry to closed societies, improves educational opportunities for students who would otherwise be denied them, or, perhaps less frequently, that free inquiry will be no more pressured than in the United States or Western Europe. Normative Tensions examines the consequences not only of expansion overseas, but the increased opening of universities to foreign students.
Reviews / Votes
Many academics who invoke freedom assume that it exists in an abstract realm apart from all social circumstances. The essays collected in Normative Tensions give the lie to that assumption and demonstrate how non-academic pressures--political, social, financial, cultural--work to shape and constrain the freedom academics can exercise both in this country and abroad. A salutary lesson. -- Stanley Fish, Florida International University This ought to be one of the most important books on higher education published in 2022[.] * Asia Sentinel * This collection explores the implications underpinning the internationalization of Western education in response to contemporary pressures faced by institutions of higher learning chasing dollars and rankings. From the introduction onward, the book is very readable and informative, and the brief history of academic freedom in this initial section nicely sets the stage for the balance of the essays. The book adeptly explores the complex nexus of globalization and academic freedom across seven chapters. The first few chapters address government control of academia, while another explores restrictions on student learning. The final two chapters directly consider the state of academic freedom on foreign campuses, and the concluding chapter proposes a concise definition for this construct and adeptly distinguishes between such freedoms as they play out in both teaching and research. None of the contributors shy away from challenging questions, and the contexts of China and the Middle East offer fertile ground for considering these issues. Both newly minted and veteran faculty alike will benefit from the perspectives of the contributing authors, especially those in academic units that deal directly with international topics, scholars, and students-virtually everyone across the academy in the US today. This book is recommended for graduate students, faculty, and professionals. * Choice Reviews *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
3 b/w illustrations;2 tables;
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
429 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7936-2033-0 (9781793620330)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2022
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€90.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2022
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€90.99
Available for download
Persons
Kevin W. Gray teaches philosophy at Fordham University.
Content
Introduction by Kevin W. Gray
Chapter 1: Academic Freedom in Xi's China: A Text Mining Study of Cultural Contestations by
Kenneth C. C. Yang and Yowei Kang
Chapter 2: The Interaction of Academic Freedom and State Sovereignty by Syd Waters
Chapter 3: Higher Education in Turkey: Academic Freedom and Resistance by Sevgi Dogan
Chapter 4: Is Philosophical Thinking Possible in Higher Education in the American(-style)
Universities in the GCC? By Sevket Benhur Oral
Chapter 5: An MSU-within-MSU: Mandarin-Speaking Undergraduates Writing "Chinglish" by
Sheng-Mei Ma
Chapter 6: Innocents Abroad? Liberal Educators in Illiberal Societies by Jim Sleeper
Chapter 7: Academic Freedom and the Social Context of Universities by John Ryder
Chapter 1: Academic Freedom in Xi's China: A Text Mining Study of Cultural Contestations by
Kenneth C. C. Yang and Yowei Kang
Chapter 2: The Interaction of Academic Freedom and State Sovereignty by Syd Waters
Chapter 3: Higher Education in Turkey: Academic Freedom and Resistance by Sevgi Dogan
Chapter 4: Is Philosophical Thinking Possible in Higher Education in the American(-style)
Universities in the GCC? By Sevket Benhur Oral
Chapter 5: An MSU-within-MSU: Mandarin-Speaking Undergraduates Writing "Chinglish" by
Sheng-Mei Ma
Chapter 6: Innocents Abroad? Liberal Educators in Illiberal Societies by Jim Sleeper
Chapter 7: Academic Freedom and the Social Context of Universities by John Ryder