Radical Hope

Higher education has seen better days. Harsh budget cuts the precarious nature of employment in college teaching and political hostility to the entire enterprise of education have made for an increasingly fraught landscape.Radical Hopeis an ambitious response to this state of affairs at once political and practicalthe work of an activist teacher and public intellectual grappling with some of the most pressing topics at the intersection of higher education and social justice.Kevin Gannon asks that the contemporary universitys manifold problems be approached as opportunities for critical engagement arguing that when done effectively teaching is by definition emancipatory and hopeful. Considering individual pedagogical practice the students who are the primary audience and beneficiaries of teaching and the institutions and systems within which teaching occursRadical Hopesurveys the field tackling everything from impostor syndrome to cell phones in class to allegations of a campus free speech crisis. Throughout Gannon translates ideals into tangible strategies and practices (including key takeaways at the conclusion of each chapter) with the goal of reclaiming teachers essential role in the discourse of higher education.