"The Shakespeare Requirement,""The English Experience" and"Dear Committee Members" by Julie Schumacher.found public confidence in higher education is at the lowest point in the history of the survey at 36%, a decline of around 20 points as compared to eight years ago.
Writ large, there’s a lot of discontent with these big-picture institutions that are supposed to serve us. But when you zoom in, there seems to be great satisfaction, even love for the people who work in these institutions — our doctors, our teachers, our priests/rabbis/ministers, even our bankers.
The center of all three novels is Professor Jason Fitger, a beleaguered humanities professor at the under-resourced Payne University, frequently tasked with shepherding a disparate group of misfits and malcontents — consisting of students, administrators and faculty — toward some kind of worthwhile experience of learning.
Professor Fitger’s challenge this time is overseeing Payne University’s study abroad program in England. Fitger correctly anticipates disaster, but, of course, the specifics are nothing he or we could see coming. While Fitger is the center of the book, the tapestry of the story is enhanced by Schumacher’s use of actual student assignments submitted to Fitger as part of the course requirements.