The Politics of Survival in Academia: Narratives of Inequity, Resilience, and Success

by Lila Jacobs (Editor), José Cintrón (Editor), Cecil E. Canton (Editor), George D. Spindler (Foreword by), Maria Chun (Contribution by)

Overview

This volume presents the personal accounts of African American, Asian American, and Latino faculty who use 'narratives of struggles' to describe the challenges they faced in order to become bona fide members of the U.S. Academy. These narratives show how survival and success require a sophisticated knowledge of the politics of academia, insider knowledge of the requirements of legitimacy in scholarly efforts, and resourceful approach to facing dilemmas between cultural values, traditional racist practices, and academic resilience. The book also explores the empowerment process of these individuals who have created a new self without rejecting their 'enduring' self, the self strongly connected to their ethno/racial cultures and groups. Within the process of self -redefinition, this new faculty confronted racism, sexism, rejection, the clash of cultural values, and structural indifference to cultural diversity. The faculty recounts how they ultimately learned the skillful accommodation to all of these issues. It is through the analysis of survival and self-definition that women and faculty of color will establish a powerful foothold in the new academy of the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461645184
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/19/2002
Series:	Immigration and the Transnational Experience Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	642 KB

About the Author

Lila Jacobs is a professor at California State University, Sacramento and the coordinator of the Urban Leadership Program. JosZ Cintr-n is professor of education at California State University, Sacramento. He is co-director of the Migrant/Optimal Learning Environment (OLE) Project. Cecil E. Canton teaches criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 Chapter 1. Redefining the Self: From AFDC to Ph.D
Chapter 4 Chapter 2. From Slaveship to Scholarship: A Narrative of the Political and Social Transformation of an African-American Educator
Chapter 5 Chapter 3. Hanging In: The Journey to Good Enough
Chapter 6 Chapter 4. Disabling Institutions
Chapter 7 Chapter 5. Reflecting on the Games of Academia: A View from "the Porch"
Chapter 8 Chapter 6. Academic Adversity and Faculty Warriors: Prevailing Amidst Trauma
Chapter 9 Chapter 7. A Chinese American Woman's Struggle for Success and Self-Discovery in the Academy
Chapter 10 Chapter 8. Transnational Linkages in Asian American Studies as Sources and Strategies for Teaching and Curricular Change

Editorial Reviews

The stories told in this book serve as a reminder that subtle forms of discrimination, which cannot be fully captured by quantified research, are powerful and deserve attention.

Educational Researcher

The stories told in this book serve as a reminder that subtle forms of discrimination, which cannot be fully captured by quantified research, are powerful and deserve attention.--Educational Researcher

From the Publisher