What Criticism Teaches: The University Conditions of Non-Economic Life

This lecture is part of the Sawyer Seminar event series At Risk U: the Past, Present & Future of Academic Freedom. The series explores the emergence of risk management as a deeply ingrained organizing feature and priority of modern US universities and considers its implications for academic freedom and democratic governance.

Drawing on humanistic methods and with the guidance of a diverse group of scholars across multiple disciplines and interdisciplines, the series supports an inquiry into how risk management took hold, challenge its organizational importance, and explore and assess its implications, particularly for academic freedom and democracy.