Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:15:50.289Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Too Much Information? Political Science, the University, and the Public Sphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2012

Lisa Anderson
Lisa Anderson
Affiliation:
American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article argues that the technological structure of the modern world has reshaped drastically the role of political scientists as purveyors of information. Only a few decades ago, scholars were still central to the development, collection and dissemination of knowledge. But the transformation in the availability of data due to the proliferation of social media and research engines creates a new environment in which scholars can no longer claim to be the erudite carriers of hard-to-get facts. In order to play a constructive role in this quickly changing setting, political scientists need to invent a new identity for themselves as active practitioners engaged in a dynamic dialogue with students and policymakers.

Type
Reflections
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 385 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abaza, Mona. 2011. “Academic Tourists Sightseeing the Arab Spring.” Available at http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/22373.aspx.Google Scholar
Andersen, Kurt. 2011. “The Protester.” Time Magazine, December 14. Available at http://www.time.com/time/person-of-the-year/2011/Google Scholar
Anderson, Lisa. 2003. Pursuing Truth, Exercising Power: Social Science and Public Policy in the Twenty-first Century. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Lisa. 2004. “Scholarship, Policy, Debate and Conflict: Why We Study the Middle East and Why It Matters.” Middle East Studies Association Presidential Address. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 38(1) Summer 2004. http://fp.arizona.edu/mesassoc/Bulletin/Pres%20Addresses/Anderson.htmCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Lisa. 2007. “Truth, Authority and Policy in the Twenty-first Century.” Lecture delivered to the International Jubilee Symposium of the Scientific Council for Government Policy, The Hague, Netherlands, November 23. http://www.wrr.nl/content.jsp?objectid=4241Google Scholar
Anderson, Lisa. 2011. “'Too Much Information': International Affairs, Political Science and the Public Sphere.” Presented at The Public Mission of the Social Sciences and Humanities: Transformation and Renewal Initiative on Academia & the Public Sphere, Berlin, September 16–17. Available at http://publicsphere.ssrc.org/anderson-international-affairs-political-science-and-the-public-sphere/.Google Scholar
Arum, Richard, and Roksa, Josipa. 2011. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Babcock, Philip, and Marks, Mindy. 2011. “The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data.” Review of Economics and Statistics 93(2): 468–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belal, A., and Springuel, I.. 2006. “Research in Egyptian Universities: The Role of Research in Higher Education.” Presented at UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge, South Valley University, Egypt, November 29–December 1. Available at http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/files/51625/11634283495Springuel-EN.pdf/Springuel-EN.pdf.Google Scholar
Cole, Jonathan. 2010. The Great American University: Its Rise to Preeminence, Its Indispensable National Role, Why It Must Be Protected. New York: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Dailing, Paul. 2009. “How to Become a “Death of Newspapers” Blogger.” Huffington Post, March 25. Available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-dailing/how-to-become-a-death-of_b_178807.html.Google Scholar
Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 2011. Interview with Gigi Ibrahim. Available at http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-25-2011/gigi-ibrahim.Google Scholar
Fischer, Karin. 2011. “At Forum on the Future, Leaders Dissect What Ails Higher Education Today.” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12. Available at http://chronicle.com/article/At-Forum-on-the-Future/130087/.Google Scholar
Gause, F. Gregory III. 2011. “Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring: The Myth of Authoritarian Stability.” Foreign Affairs, July/August: 81–90.Google Scholar
Gawande, Atul. 2011. “Personal Best: Top Athletes and Singers Have Coaches. Should you?” The New Yorker, October 3. Available at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawandeGoogle Scholar
Gerson, Michael. 2009. “The Strange, Sad Death of Journalism.” Washington Post, November 27. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112503534.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ginsberg, Benjamin. 2011. The Fall of the Faculty. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker, Jacob S., and Hathaway, Oona A.. 2011. “Our Unbalanced Democracy.” New York Times, July 31. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/our-unbalanced-democracy.html?_r=1&ref=opinion.Google Scholar
Hanford, Emily. 2012. “Physicists Seek to Lose the Lecture as Teaching Tool.” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, January 1. Available at http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-as-teaching-tool.Google Scholar
Howden, Daniel, and Doyle, Leonard. 2007. “Making a Killing: How Private Armies Became a $120bn Global Industry.” The Independent, September 21. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/making-a-killing-how-private-armies-became-a-120bn-global-industry-403062.html.Google Scholar
Jones, Jeffrey M. 2011. “Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View: Fifty-two Percent Believe a Third Political Party Is Needed.” Gallup News, May 9. Available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/147461/support-third-party-dips-majority-view.aspxGoogle Scholar
Lederman, Doug. 2009. “What Does a Degree Cost?” Inside Higher Ed, May 19. Available at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/19/degree.Google Scholar
Lindsey, Ursula. 2011. “Protests Elicit Pledges of Openness at the American U. in Cairo.” Chronicle of Higher Education, September 20.Google Scholar
Mazawi, Andre Elias. 2001. “The Arab Spring: The Higher Education Revolution That Is Yet to Happen.” International Higher Education 65: 12–13.Google Scholar
McGrath, Ben. 2010. “The Movement: The Rise of Tea Party Activism.” The New Yorker, Feb 1. Available at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/02/01/100201fa_fact_mcgrath#ixzz1To6idCtaGoogle Scholar
Menand, Louis. 2010. The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University. New York: WW Norton.Google Scholar
Nye, Joseph S. Jr. 2011. “Zakaria's World: Are America's Best Days Really Behind Us?” Foreign Policy, March 8. Available at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/08/zakaria_s_worldGoogle Scholar
Obama, Barack. 2011. “Obama Delivers Remarks on Egypt.” February 11. Available at http://projects.washingtonpost.com/obama-speeches/speech/559/Google Scholar
Rhoten, Diana, and Calhoun, Craig, eds. 2011. Knowledge Matters: The Public Mission of the Research University. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rubio, Fernando Dominguez, and Baert, Patrick, eds. 2012. “Introduction.” The Politics of Knowledge. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Slackman, Michael. 2010. “A Campus Where Unlearning Is First.” New York Times, May 5.Google Scholar
Smith, Rogers. 2011. “Political Science and the Public Sphere in the 21st Century.”Presented at The Public Mission of the Social Sciences and Humanities: Transformation and Renewal Initiative on Academia & the Public Sphere, Berlin, September 16–17. Available at http://publicsphere.ssrc.org/anderson-international-affairs-political-science-and-the-public-sphere/.Google Scholar
Sorkin, Andrew Ross. 2009. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. New York: Viking.Google Scholar
Surowieski, James. 2011. “Debt by Degrees.” The New Yorker, November 21.Google Scholar
“Survival of the Fattest: What, If Anything, Can Be Done about Banks That Are Too Big to Fail?” 2011. The Economist, May 12. Available at http://www.economist.com/node/18654588.Google Scholar
Thomas, Douglas, and Brown, John Seeley. 2011. A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.Google Scholar
Thomas, Keith. 2011. “Universities Under Attack.” London Review of Books, December 15.Google Scholar
Walt, Stephen. 2011. “International Affairs and the Public Sphere.” Presented at The Public Mission of the Social Sciences and Humanities: Transformation and Renewal Initiative on Academia & the Public Sphere, Berlin, September 16–17. Available at http://publicsphere.ssrc.org/anderson-international-affairs-political-science-and-the-public-sphere/.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Robin. 2011. “Colleges Spend Far Less on Educating Students Than They Claim, Report Says.” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7. Available at http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Spend-Far-Less-on/127040/.Google Scholar
Wise, Lindsey. 2006. “Why Egypt Is Cracking Down on Bloggers.” Time Magazine, June 1. Available at http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1199896,00.html.Google Scholar
Zakaria, Fareed. 2011. Are America's Best Days Behind Us? Time Magazine, March 3. Available at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2056723,00.html#ixzz1tocegotp.Google Scholar