Academe Degree Zero: Reconsidering the Politics of Higher Education

Demythologizing contemporary higher education has become a priority for committed twenty-first century academics. Today, the economic and political dimensions of universities are among the most hotly and highly contested topics in higher education--particularly among humanities scholars. It is currently not uncommon to find standing-room-only sessions at MLA (Modern Language Association) or ACLA (American Comparative Literature Association) meetings for presentations on the corporate university or the fate of tenure, while sessions on traditional literary topics see sparse attendance. Indeed, one of the major ramifications of the rise of cultural studies in the humanities is the normalization of meta-professional scholarship among committed scholars. Literary theorist and philosopher Jeffrey R. Di Leo has for many years been one of leading voices in the burgeoning and pioneering field of meta-professional humanities scholarship. Through numerous essays, and many edited books and journal issues, Di Leo's cross-disciplinary humanities work has consistently been at the edge of current thinking, and has been at the forefront of efforts to lay bare contemporary academic life. Academe Degree Zeroconsists of a collection of ten essays that identify and critically examine a number of important meta-professional issues facing higher education today. These issues include: the nature and limits of anonymity in academic discourse, the ways in which affiliation and prestige temper academic judgment, and the role of collegiality in academic life. Collectively, the essays in this book provide a snapshot of academic identity and relations in a time of major technological and economic transformation, most notably, the increased use of electronic media in higher education for both the dissemination of scholarship and classroom instruction, and the corporatization of higher education.