The built and landscaped spaces of colleges and universities radiate and absorb the values of the cultures in which they were created. As economic and political forces exert pressure on administrators and as our understanding of higher education shifts, these spaces can transform dramatically.

Focusing on the utopian visions and the dystopian realities of American campus life, this collection of new essays examines campus spaces from the perspective of those who live and work there. Topics include disability, sustainability, first-year writing, underrepresented groups on campus, online education, adjunct labor, and the way profit-driven agendas have shaped colleges and universities.

Jonathan Silverman is an associate professor of English and co-director of American Studies at University of Massachusetts–Lowell. He has served as the Fulbright Roving Scholar in Norway. Meghan M. Sweeney is an associate professor of English at University of North Carolina–Wilmington.