Multiplicity, Belonging, and Free Speech in US Higher Education

New realities in US higher education present a multifaceted crisis for students, faculty, administrators, and society at-large. In this original and practical book, Naomi Zack provides incisive diagnoses of pressing problems and prescriptions to reinstate and support US higher education as an intellectually and ethically valuable institution.Among the problems addressed in this open access book are the US Supreme Court ban of affirmative action; falling enrollment and low retention; downsized and defunded humanities; the unjust situation of adjunct instructors; college firsts confronting social class; student mental health and microaggressions; disruptive free speech; the mind-numbing effects of AI; campus dangers and insecurity; and anti-intellectual ideological political pressure. The new ideas and policy changes proposed here result in a new model of belonging for the multiplicities of race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, and nationality––and more––in current and future college communities.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Lehman College, CUNY.

Naomi Zack is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Lehman College, CUNY. Her recent books are Ethics and Race: Past and Present Intersections and Controversies, The American Tragedy of COVID-19: Social and Political Crises of 2020, Progressive Anonymity: From Identity Politics to Evidence-Based Government, and Reviving the Social Compact: Inclusive Citizenship in an Age of Extreme Politics.