THIS IS THE WEBSITE FOR DR. THOMAS' CONTEMPORARY CULTURE COURSE FOR FALL 2015 AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY. IN THIS COURSE WE WILL STUDY NEOLIBERALISM IN RELATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION, AMONG MUCH ELSE.

THE IDEA BEHIND THIS COURSE BEGINS WITH AN IMAGE OR PARADIGM: THAT WE INCREASINGLY LIVE IN A NEOLIBERAL VERSION OF THE OLD SOVIET UNION.

AS I TYPE THIS A NEW POLICY HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED AT AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. IT NO LONGER WANTS TO SPEND MONEY ON PAPER AND IS REQUIRING COURSE MATERIALS TO BE DISTRIBUTED ELECTRONICALLY. IT WANTS TO DO THIS IN ORDER TO SAVE MONEY. HOWEVER, DUE TO STUDENT MISUSE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES, FACULTY HAVE HAD TO BAN THEM FROM THE CLASSROOM. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT OF THIS NEW POLICY, THEN, IS TO SHIFT THE COST OF PAPER FROM THE NEOLIBERAL UNIVERSITY ONTO THE ALREADY OVERBURDENED "INDIVIDUAL;" IN THIS CASE, THE STUDENT.

THE TERM NEOLIBERAL IN ITS SIMPLEST SENSE REFERS TO THE GROWING IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKET LOGIC—COMMODIFICATION, FINANCIALIZATION—IN ALL AREAS OF PUBLIC LIFE, INCLUDING INFORMATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND HIGHER EDUCATION. THIS RESULTS IN MASSIVE CHANGES TO ALL FORMS OF SUBJECTIVITY, IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS REDUCED TO AN INDIVIDUAL, AND NOT A SOCIAL, ISSUE. IT SEEMS THE LESS THIS LOGIC "WORKS" IN RELATION TO OUR INSTITUTIONS AND OUR LIVES, THE MORE PEOPLE TENACIOUSLY CLING TO ITS IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND CONTINUE IMPLEMENTING ITS NONSENSICAL PRACTICES. HENCE, THE IMAGE OF A NEOLIBERAL VERSION OF THE OLD SOVIET UNION.