Academia all the Lies - Abstract
Academia All the Lies is an X-ray of the academic ivory tower. It exposes the successful method, which has decayed over time, and the culture of lying, denial and fixation that has taken over institutions of higher education across the world.
It unfolds the inflation of scientific publications, which results in an alarming decline in the quality, relevance and reliability of science; the degenerated and dated Quality Control of empirical research; the transformation of faculty members into submissive and worn-out employees in an outdated production line; the outrageous wasting of budgets and resources; the rankings obsession that drags governments and institutions into a whirlwind of self-deception; The cynical monopoly and unabashed greediness of scientific publishing corporations; the lack of professionalism in managing institutions; the exploitation and deception of adjunct lecturers and research students; the waning attractiveness of an academic career; the transformation of the humanities into a pile of politically correct mumbo jumbo; the devaluation of the academic degree; the stubborn adherence to antiquated teaching methods and missing out on the Internet revolution; the disconnect between the curricula and the needs of society and the job market; and the marketing and branding ploys that are used to lure young people to sign up for expired institutions and courses.
But this book is not just a depressing snapshot of stagnated intellectual elite, which shuts its eyes in the face of changing times and betrays its social mission. Alongside the harsh criticism, Tamar and Oz Almog propose a course of recalculation and transition to a fresh model of research and education, tailored to the 21st century.
The COVID-19 crisis, which is shaking and will continue to rattle the education and science systems, will shortly make the prophetic prediction of the Almog's a reality - in which everything we have known to date about education and science will change dramatically.
"Academia: all the Lies," which was first published in Israel and elicited widespread public discourse, is a must-read for future students and their parents, employers, media, and policymakers. It is also a must-read for anyone who is engaged in science and education or dreams of a career in the field.
Academia all the Lies - Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Survival at All Costs: The Economic Crisis
3. An Avalanche of Papers: The Crisis of Scientific Publishing
4. The Great Science Robbery: The Crisis of Access
5. Archaic Peer Review: The Quality Assurance Crisis
6. The Measurement Madness: The Rating Crisis
7. To a Lesser Degree: The Crisis of Higher Education
8. Liberating the Arts: The Crisis of the Humanities
9. The Lost Paradise: The Crisis of the Academic Career
10. The End of the Age of Academia: A General Diagnosis and Prognosis
11. Endnotes
Academia all the Lies - Media Coverage
Introduction
The Times of Israel (Alison Fisch Katz)
Juedische Allgemeine (Anat Feinberg - German; English)
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"Das provokante Buch bietet eine spannende und anregende Lektüre, für Dozenten ebenso wie für Studierende – und das nicht allein in Israel und den USA mit ihren ganz eigenen akademischen Modellen, sondern wegen der Reformen in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten gleichermaßen auch in Deutschland." [Professorin für Hebräische und jüdische Literatur an der Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg (Juedische-allgemeine]
English: "The provocative book is an exciting and stimulating read, for lecturers as well as for students - and not only in Israel and the USA with their very unique academic models, but also in Germany because of the reforms in recent decades".[Prof. Anat Feinberg, Juedische-Allgemeine]
Academia all the Lies - Lectures and Articles
Introduction