Academic Duty

Caught between the Scylla of diminishing funding and the Charybdis of market forces, the American university today finds itself at a watershed of institutional change. Critics point to personal scandals and financial conflicts of interest as evidence for drastic reform, while scholars themselves often defend academic freedom at the price of academic responsibility. In his visionary new book Academic Duty, Donald Kennedy examines many of the troubling issues facing higher education. A former president of Stanford University and no stranger to the culture wars, Kennedy explores the larger forces at work behind academic misconduct. It's a sympathetic account that nonetheless illustrates the ethical problems modern-day academia faces, from the conflict between teaching and research to the troublesome financial links between business, government, and the academy, including those private profit-making ventures that sometimes grow from academic research. Illuminating the often-contradictory goals and values of the modern university, Kennedy urges academics to move beyond politics in this resounding call for personal and institutional responsibility.