Inspirational Book for Academics

A few months ago, I had an opportunity to review a book that inspired me to remember why I became an academic. Read this book! Here is a excerpt from the review (I only include the first and last paragraph):

The Academic community: A manual for change, Donald Hall puts forth a persuasive call to action, arguing that, “…unless we [faculty] also explore the extent to which we are responsible for our own behaviors, attitudes, and life situations, we will often remain complicit within the very hierarchies and norms that oppress us” (p. 4). The “hermeneutic circle” – a dialogue that engages issues and concepts on the macro and micro level -- foregrounds the argument of the book and situates faculty as having a agency in the ways in which our departments and institutions function. During a time when higher education is facing dramatic budget cuts, the diversifying of faculty work, and questions in their role as a public good, Hall provides a framework for how faculty, can use their power to create change within academic departments. Specifically, Hall notes the ways that faculty can engage colleagues, students, and the public to better understand the role of collegiality and the importance of higher education to the public. Hall provides an argument for how and why faculty should become change agents while also acknowledging contextual and political challenges within higher education.

Despite these minimal shortcomings, this book is a worthwhile contribution to the literature on organizational change in higher education, leadership, and the ongoing discussions of how to promote and engage faculty. Much of what is highlighted throughout this book reinforces the literature on collaboration and non-positional leadership (see Astin & Leland, 1991; Kezar & Lester, forthcoming; Safarik, 2003; Wolf-Wendel, Twombly, Tuttle, Ward, & Gaston-Gayles, 2004). The basic principles of the conversational process outlined in chapter three, for example, is well supported by the literature on collaboration. More importantly, this book serves as a call to action and a reminder that we, as faculty, can work to change the conditions that are most oppressive or that prevent us from being successful in teaching, research, and service. All faculty could benefit from reading this book as well as Hall’s first book on creating change in higher education – The academic self: An owner’s manual. Not only does it provide many inspiring anecdotes and practical examples of how we can engage in change activities, it reminds us of the reason that we entered higher education – to educate students, conduct research to inform the public, and to reinforce the mission of serving the public good. It is all too easy to get caught up in the overwhelming nature of our faculty work, departmental politics, faculty incivility, consumer-driven students, and misplaced institutional priorities. Sometimes, we just need a reminder that we are part of an ongoing dialogue and that we have a unique agency to change our academic departments and institutions.