Power, Race, and Gender in Academe: Strangers in the Tower?

by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim (Editor)

The eleven essays collected in this volume describe individual African American, Chicano and Chicana, Native American, Asian American, gay and lesbian, and white female experiences in academe. Representing a wide variety of fields and career paths in the profession, the authors explore topics such as marginalization, alienation, and persistent discrimination; the obstacles women and minorities face in advancing their careers, as well as strategies for overcoming those obstacles; the backlash against affirmative action; and the implications of gender, sexuality, race, and power in the classroom. While many of the essays give strikingly personal accounts of their authors' struggles, the collection as a whole reveals the complexity of academe's response to the challenge of faculty diversity. Power, Race, and Gender in Academe is an excellent resource and teaching guide for junior faculty members as they enter the profession. The volume includes thoughtful discussions of hiring and tenure practices, classroom and service evaluations, and other departmental procedures and their effects on a multicultural faculty.

212 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Lim is a professor in the English Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has also taught internationally at the National University of Singapore, the National Institute Education of Nanyang Technological University, and was the Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong where she also taught poetry and creative writing. She has authored several books of poems, short stories, and criticism, and serves as editor and co-editor of numerous scholarly works. Lim is a cross-genre writer, although she identifies herself as a poet.

Reviews

[PC · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting social commentary, and extremely intelligent about causes of social injustice and criticism of popular arguments.