We are constantly confronted by competing and contradictory narratives
concerning the importance of education. On one hand, a steady mantra
stresses success in the new economy requires at least a college
degree—and evidence shows that workers with a college degree earn more
and get better jobs over their working lives. On the other hand, the
educational system in the US is under assault as public sector funding
at all levels is cut, teachers as public sector workers are demonized,
and by everyone’s assessment the US is rapidly moving towards a society
where a select few receive an elite education and the rest are being
left behind. The editors of Critical Sociology are looking for
scholarship that delves into the nature and consequences of
education—both within the US and comparatively. At a time when costs to
students in public universities in the US double while state
governments cut allocations, we read that Germany has decided higher
education for all will be free of fees and tuition costs. Are any
colleges educating underserved students without leaving them with
crippling debts, and if so how? Students and teachers in Colorado
resisted revisionist changes to the high school curriculum, are these
strategies for institutions of higher education? What is the future for
the next generation in the US? How can we understand the logic and role
of education (and not pedagogy) under advanced capitalism in the
neoliberal era?
Some suggestive topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
* 600,000 students in the US attend colleges where the dropout rate is 85 percent
* many students amass debt but leave without a degree, facing a life of indentured work
* by some estimates three quarters of all college instruction is done by casualized faculty
* school budgets are driven by administrative and not instructional costs
* slashed public sector support for education shift costs onto students
* corporate logic (failed and successful) reshapes governance and decision-making
* faculty are silenced under rules of "civility"
* faculty should avoid "disturbing" students with content that may raise challenges
* graduate program recruit students without funding and few job prospects
* institutions fail to recruit underserved faculty and students
Potential contributors should send a proposal containing a tentative title, a short (100-150 word) abstract, and contact/affiliation details to critical.sociology (at) gmail.com by 1 December 2014; please put EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM in your subject line. All authors will be notified by 15 January and first drafts of papers will be due by 15 June. We plan on having a session at the annual Critical Sociology one-day conference after the SSSP annual meetings in Chicago, where authors will discuss their draft papers and get feedback.
Depending on the number of submissions, we anticipate producing an edited volume to augment the journal symposium. Contact David Fasenfest, Editor, at the email above with any questions.
Some suggestive topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
* 600,000 students in the US attend colleges where the dropout rate is 85 percent
* many students amass debt but leave without a degree, facing a life of indentured work
* by some estimates three quarters of all college instruction is done by casualized faculty
* school budgets are driven by administrative and not instructional costs
* slashed public sector support for education shift costs onto students
* corporate logic (failed and successful) reshapes governance and decision-making
* faculty are silenced under rules of "civility"
* faculty should avoid "disturbing" students with content that may raise challenges
* graduate program recruit students without funding and few job prospects
* institutions fail to recruit underserved faculty and students
Potential contributors should send a proposal containing a tentative title, a short (100-150 word) abstract, and contact/affiliation details to critical.sociology (at) gmail.com by 1 December 2014; please put EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM in your subject line. All authors will be notified by 15 January and first drafts of papers will be due by 15 June. We plan on having a session at the annual Critical Sociology one-day conference after the SSSP annual meetings in Chicago, where authors will discuss their draft papers and get feedback.
Depending on the number of submissions, we anticipate producing an edited volume to augment the journal symposium. Contact David Fasenfest, Editor, at the email above with any questions.
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