Professors and Their Politics

Neil Gross is a professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia and author of Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care? and Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher. Solon Simmons is an associate professor in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and author of The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press.

Professors and Their Politics has value for all professionals associated with American higher education. The various studies in the book make a case for why progressive values are dominant among those who enter vocations associated with colleges and universities, as well as how these values shape research agendas, hiring practices, and treatment of students. If their conclusions are correct, and the various authors have provided data to support verifiable conclusions, the political life of the academy is a sign of its vitality, not a cause of its crisis, and the vitality of the academy includes more support for diversity of thought, especially among students, than common stereotypes assume. This volume makes an important contribution to understanding the culture of contemporary higher education. -- Merrill Hawkins Reflective Teaching

• IntroductionPart I: The Lay of the LandChapter 1. The Social and Political Views of American College and University ProfessorsPart II: Explaining Professional LiberalismChapter 2. Political Liberalism and Graduate School Attendance: A Longitudinal AnalysisChapter 3. Nations, Classes, and the Politics of Professors: A Comparative PerspectiveChapter 4. Political Bias in the Graduate School Admissions Process: A Field ExperimentPart III: The Student Experience Chapter 5. The Effect of College on Social and Political Attitudes and Civic ParticipationChapter 6. "Civil" or "Provocative"?: Varieties of Conservative Student Style and Discourse in American UniversitiesPart IV: Formative Periods Chapter 7. Naturalizing Liberalism in the 1950sChapter 8. Challenging Neutrality: Sixties Activism and Debates over Political Advocacy in the American UniversityPart V: Institutional Change and its LimitChapter 9. Activism and the Academy: Lessons from the Rise of Ethnic StudiesChapter 10. Rationalizing Realpolitik: U.S. International Relations as a Liberal FieldChapter 11. The Merits of Marginality: Think Tanks, Conservative Intellectuals, and the Liberal AcademyConclusionAppendix. Sample Student EmailsReferencesContributors Index