What Does Neoliberalism Have to Do with Teaching Research Writing?

• Main Author: David B. Downing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2014-10-01
• Series: Radical Teacher
• Online Access: http://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/radicalteacher/article/view/168

Ask any progressive educator the question posed by my title, and you won’t have to wait long for an answer: everything.  From the size of the class, to the quality of the computer lab, to the costs of textbooks, to the demographics and the class schedules of the students, to the workload and the compensation of faculty assigned to teach them—it is just so easy to name a few of the obvious material factors signaling the neoliberal economy’s effect on how we teach required service classes like research writing (or any course, for that matter).  By and large, we share basic understandings about that history, so I am not going to rehearse it here.