Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
This article examines the effect of political maneuvering on higher education and how institutions and faculty might respond by designing more accessible university pathways. In the lead up to the 2024 election, conservative attacks on liberal arts programs and a liberal retreat from universal college access left students, parents, faculty, and institutions in an increasingly precarious position. However, by understanding the “cruel optimism” (Berlant, 2010) built into the promise of education, we can begin to engage with the primary political critique of higher education—that degrees and their (presumably woke) curricula do not result in social and economic mobility, despite evidence to the contrary (Carnevale, Cheah, & Van Der Werf, 2020). But what are the promises of education? What should they be? How could we design an educational experience that responds to these critiques while also continuing to promote the values of a liberal education? Implementing “nonequal design” (Boyle & Rivers, 2016) allows institutions and faculty to design diverse and inclusive educational environments that respond to the complexities of student experiences.
Recommended Citation
Hollinger, A. (2025). The politics of access, or a university for everyone. Open Words 16(1), 13-24.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
First Page
13
Last Page
24
Publication Title
Open Words
Comments
Copyright the authors and editors. Articles are published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license