This case points to the problem of the gendered precariousness of academia. While "a casual observer of academic environments might come to the conclusion that women's problems in higher education have been solved," a second look reveals that "while women in positions of power and authority on American campuses have increased, they…

John Dewey's pragmatism and progressive education sought to nourish the democratic principles of critical thinking and collective social action, which he saw as central to democracy and threatened by what Jürgen Habermas would call the rise of "instrumental rationality." Dewey was concerned that traditional approaches to education…