With higher education around the world in a period of extreme flux, this volume explores its underlying philosophy, a core element of the ongoing debate. Offering a diverse range of perspectives from an international selection of renowned scholars of higher education, the book is full of imaginative insights that add up to a substantive contribution to the discussion.

1. Introduction, Paul Gibbs and Ron Barnett.- Section one - Positive Imagination.- 2. Thinking about higher education, Ron Barnett.- 3. Higher Education and Ethical Imagination, Marianna Papastephanou.- 4. Happiness not Salaries: The decline of universities and the emergence of higher education, Paul Gibbs.- Section Two - Finding the Public Good.- 5. Higher education and public good, Simon Marginson.- 6. Forces in Tension: The State, Civil Society and Market in the Future of the University, Brian Pusser.- 7. Beyond Neo-Liberalism: Higher Education in Europe and the Global Public Good, Barbara M. Kehm.- 8. Exploring futures for community engagement: uncertainty, difference, and responsibility, Tara Fenwick.- Section Three - Which knowledge and who can have it.- 9. Babies and bathwater: revaluing the role of the academy in knowledge, Leesa Wheelahan.- 10. Curriculum in Higher Education: Beyond false choices, Suellen Shay.- 11. Finding a Voice as a Student, Denise Bachelor.- 12. Into the heart of things Defrosting educational theory, Soren S.E. Bengtsen.- 13. Coda: Reaching for Higher Education.