In this searing indictment, Dr. Nolan Higdon uses deep research and personal narrative to reveal how forty years of corporatism hollowed out higher education. Transcending partisan talking points, Higdon delivers a dramatic takedown of both Republicans and Democrats, arguing that neoliberal institutions, where “student success” replaced actual learning and social justice rhetoric shielded managerial control, provided the infrastructure for the MAGAcademy.
As a state-sanctioned model, the MAGAcademy lets markets, not scholars, dictate what is considered valuable knowledge. It weaponizes federal funding to enforce a conservative agenda, replacing critical inquiry with patriotic education and surveillance. Featuring a Foreword by Henry Giroux, Higdon offers a radical roadmap to reclaim the “Civic University” and save the American mind from corporate capture.
Advanced Praise:
“Higdon weaves together personal experiences and decades of scholarship into a narrative that is sharp, brave, and, at times, thrilling”
- Caroline Luce, University of California, Los Angeles
“Higdon’s MAGAcademy is a must read for anyone concerned with the future of education and critical scholarship not to mention democracy itself.”
- Mickey Huff, Ithaca College
“Once again, Higdon has peeled back the curtain of an institution with which we may feel a certain familiarity, especially for those of us on the inside, and written an incisive criticism that forces us to look more closely at our day-to-day professional and personal lived experiences.”
- Allison Butler, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
In this searing indictment, Dr. Nolan Higdon uses deep research and personal narrative to reveal how forty years of corporatism hollowed out higher education. Transcending partisan talking points, Higdon delivers a dramatic takedown of both Republicans and Democrats, arguing that neoliberal institutions, where “student success” replaced actual learning and social justice rhetoric shielded managerial control, provided the infrastructure for the MAGAcademy.
As a state-sanctioned model, the MAGAcademy lets markets, not scholars, dictate what is considered valuable knowledge. It weaponizes federal funding to enforce a conservative agenda, replacing critical inquiry with patriotic education and surveillance. Featuring a Foreword by Henry Giroux, Higdon offers a radical roadmap to reclaim the “Civic University” and save the American mind from corporate capture.
Advanced Praise:
“Higdon weaves together personal experiences and decades of scholarship into a narrative that is sharp, brave, and, at times, thrilling”
- Caroline Luce, University of California, Los Angeles
“Higdon’s MAGAcademy is a must read for anyone concerned with the future of education and critical scholarship not to mention democracy itself.”
- Mickey Huff, Ithaca College
“Once again, Higdon has peeled back the curtain of an institution with which we may feel a certain familiarity, especially for those of us on the inside, and written an incisive criticism that forces us to look more closely at our day-to-day professional and personal lived experiences.”
- Allison Butler, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
