In Universities at Risk, a group of leading scholars in education, ethics, politics and medicine, among other areas, probe the forces that are threatening the integrity of post-secondary education, from both within and without.

This book delves into the subject of corporate sponsorship, exploring the influences of powerful industries -- tobacco and pharmaceutical companies, for example. The book also discusses the struggle for credibility and threat to free inquiry when special interest groups, right-wing think tanks, and discredited popular movements (such as intelligent design) infiltrate academia. Chapters on the middle eastern studies and First Nations universities look at external politics that inhibit intellectual freedom. The more insidious trends toward corporatization and "managerializing" the university also come under scrutiny.

This timely book concludes with a discussion about why preserving academic integrity -- despite the clamorous voices of the forces threatening it --is so vital to public interest.

Contributors include:
Brian Alters
Gary Bauslaugh
Mary Burgan
Joanna Cohen
Rosemary Deem
Shadia Drury
Brenda Gallie
Donald Gutstein
Marcus Harvey
David Healy
Michael Higgins
Sheldon Krimsky
Kevin Mattson
Arthur Schafer
Blair Stonechild
Jon Thompson
Pat Walden