Skip to main content

Academic Dissent

US Higher Education Protest Literature, 1985–2015

Academic Dissent cover

Academic Dissent

US Higher Education Protest Literature, 1985–2015

Quantity
Pre-order. Available Nov 12 2026
$115.88 RRP $144.85 Website price saving $28.97 (20%)

Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available

Description

Through close readings of university fiction, college films, sculptures, and life writing by academics, Derek DiMatteo defines a distinct genre of academic protest literature that reveals how contemporary scholars and artists confront the increasing corporatization of higher education in the USA.

This project analyzes representative works by Mohsin Hamid, Jane Smiley, Alex Kudera, John Singleton, Justin Simien, Margaret De Lima, and Michael Dubson among other writers that protest against academic capitalism's deleterious effects on the public good, BIPOC students and faculty, contingent faculty, and international students. DiMatteo argues that these works should be categorized as protest art within the cultural arm of a long-simmering higher education protest movement. Using protest literature as a lens to argue for a re-evaluation of university fiction as a serious contribution to the higher education reform movement, Academic Dissent adds a cultural dimension to the field of critical university studies and defines the characteristics of academic protest literature, creating a space for education protest within the larger field of American social protest literature.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Introduction
1. Framing Higher Education Protest Literature
2. Knowledge Production and the Public Good
3. Contingent Labor and the Protest against Invisibility
4. Debating Affirmative Action and Inclusion
5. Commodification and Protest in Novels about International Students
6. “Quit Lit,” or Narratives of Departure
Conclusion: The Need for Academic Protest Literature
Works Cited

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Nov 12 2026
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Pages 1
ISBN 9781978767690
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 2 b/w illustrations
Series Education and Popular Culture
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Related Titles

Environment: Hukd Staging