As one source told me, whether it’s tuition costs or the culture wars, “everyone can find a reason to be pissed off” at colleges. But the politicalization of higher ed is far from uniquely American. In fact, the United States is late to the party, said Eve Darian-Smith, chair of global and international studies at the University of California at Irvine. Darian-Smith studies the backlash against higher education by conservative governments and groups around the world. “We’re playing catch-up on a global attack,” she told me. “The U.S. is sort of the last to wake up to what is a global phenomenon.”

For the full story, please visit https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/latitudes/2024-10-02.