This title presents a uniquely human perspective on the quest to explore space and to understand the universe through the lens of the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It considers early stories about the universe in various cultures; recent space fiction; the origins and cultural rationale for the space age; experiences of humans in space and their emerging interactions with robots and artificial intelligence; how humans should treat environments and alien life; and the alternative f...

Mutative Media is a sweeping examination of how communication technologies have contributed to changes in people’s thoughts and actions, and thus in the power structures of societies, in the past, at present, and in four alternative futures.We start by surveying what is generally known about the emergence of human language and speech that has enabled humans to extend their organizing abilities beyond that of other hominids. We then review research on the emergence of signs...

The accelerating technological transformation in learn- ing has necessitated an ability to search and differentiate among the one billion web pages, libraries, databases, books, newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and opinion columns available online. This volume focuses on the normative challenges that the current technological transformation presents to all professionals engaged in higher education. Part I concentrates on the current social and technological trends. Dav...

In 2011, the first edition of Campus Confidential sparked a lively debate about what is really going on inside our colleges and universities. The media and readers alike welcomed this readable, honest book. University authorities didn't. They took the authors to task for spilling the beans. In this second edition, Ken S. Coates and Bill Morrison pick up where they left off, adding new and up-to-date information for students and their parents to consider.Among the questions...

Corporate social responsibility has been defined as 'the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society'. Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) just window dressing or is it a contradiction in terms? In this Very Short Introduction, Jeremy Moon shows that CSR holds much more value than it first appears, and shows how it has come of age in recent years. Illustrating the sorts of CSR investments companies make, the ways in which they practice CSR, and the challenges t...

How design can transcend the logics, structures, and subjectivities of capitalism: a framework, theoretical grounding, and practical principles.The designed things, experiences, and symbols that we use to perceive, understand, and perform our everyday lives are much more than just props. They directly shape how we live. In Design after Capitalism, Matthew Wizinsky argues that the world of industrial capitalism that gave birth to modern design has been dramatically ...

A provocative look at the troubled present state of American higher education and a passionately argued and learned manifesto for its future.In Crisis on Campus, Mark C. Taylor—chair of the Department of Religion at Columbia University and a former professor at Williams College—expands on and refines the ideas presented in his widely read and hugely controversial 2009 New York Times op-ed. His suggestions for the ivory tower are both thought-provoking and rigorous...

The New Public Service: Serving, not Steering provides a framework for the many voices calling for the reaffirmation of democratic values, citizenship, and service in the public interest. It is organized around a set of seven core principles: (1) serve citizens, not customers; (2) seek the public interest; (3) value citizenship and public service above entrepreneurship; (4) think strategically, act democratically; (5) recognize that accountability isn’t simple; (6) serve, rather t...

A former Ford Foundation director takes a critical look at the role of for-profit companies in philanthropy—and exposes the troubling risks and downsides.A new movement is afoot that promises to save the world by bringing the magic of the market to philanthropy. Nonprofits should be run like businesses, its adherents say, and businesses can find new sources of revenue by marketing goods and services that benefit society. What could be wrong with that?Plenty...

More people than ever are going to graduate school to seek a PhD these days. When they get there, they discover a bewildering environment: a rapid immersion in their discipline, a keen competition for resources, and uncertain options for their future, whether inside or outside of academia. Life with a PhD can begin to resemble an unsolvable maze. In Behind the Academic Curtain, Frank F. Furstenberg offers a clear and user-friendly map to this maze. Drawing on decades of experience...

A detailed examination of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the shift in governance strategy they represent.In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals built on and broadened the earlier Millennium Development Goals, but they also signaled a larger shift in governance strategies. The seventeen goals add detailed con...

How cities can build on the “sharing economy” and smart technology to deliver a “sharing paradigm” that supports justice, solidarity, and sustainability.The future of humanity is urban, and the nature of urban space enables, and necessitates, sharing—of resources, goods and services, experiences. Yet traditional forms of sharing have been undermined in modern cities by social fragmentation and commercialization of the public realm. In Sharing Cities, Dunca...