Politics and Processes of Scholarship

Joining the debate about the role of scholarship and research at American universities, this book examines contemporary academic issues, such as the evolution of postmodern concepts of scholarship, scholarship in the late age of print, and incentives for promoting grant writing and scholarly publishing. Contributors, including provosts, faculty development professionals, administrators, editors, and scholars, debate the impact of the German system of research-based graduate study and its faith in the ideal of pure research on American scholarship. Several contributors contend that the legacy of privileging pure research over applied research and pedagogy provides an inadequate model today. Teaching, conducting applied research, and writing works for broad audiences are undervalued, they claim, at many universities. As scholarship becomes more specialized, scholarly writing has become so specialized that few outside the specific discipline can read or understand it.

This volume continues the challenge to the concept of pure research and atheoretical teaching. Contributors demonstrate how postmodern theories and social and economic problems are working to explode the myth of disinterested research. The book goes on to analyze how academics can grapple with the social, political, moral, and pedagogical issues confronting society. It also considers the impact of new technologies, such as online databases and electronic journals, on scholarship. Current research suggests that only 10 to 20 percent of the nation's faculty produce the scholarly literature. This volume explores the changes that could help faculty find their voices as scholars, researchers, and grant writers.

JOSEPH M. MOXLEY, a Professor of English at the University of South Florida, has edited, authored, or coauthored six books on writing, including Publish, Don't Perish (Praeger, 1992). He offers academic writing workshops for faculty at numerous universities, including the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Memphis, and Stetson University College of Law.

LAGRETTA T. LENKER is codirector of the Center for Applied Humanities and Director of the Division of Lifelong Learning at the University of South Florida. She currently serves on the editorial board of Continuing Higher Education Review, and is the coeditor of three books, including Gender and Academe: Feminist Pedagogy and Politics.