Advocacy in the Classroom

In this collection of essays that originated at a conference sponsored by a group of national academic organizations, the issue of pedagogical advocacy, as well as authority in the classroom, is addressed from a wide range of opinion and practice by 42 graduate and undergraduate professors (and one secondary school teacher). Because the issue involves questions of academic freedom, political correctness and cultural diversity, there are fundamental disagreements as well as large areas of convergence among the contributors here. Viewpoints range from Gertrude Himmelfarb's wariness about postmodernism and its ""denial that there is any such thing as knowledge, truth, reason, or objectivity"" to Louis Menand's arguing for pedagogical passion that ""must always characterize the good teacher."" This well-organized, provocatively diverse collection should promote dialogue and discussion among academics. Spacks is professor of English at the University of Virginia. (Jan.)