A Light in the Tower

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Written from the perspective of a professor with bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, A Light in the Tower is both a bracing account of the mental health crisis in higher education and a passionate and informed proposal for how to teach with mental health in mind. Katie Rose Guest Pryal argues that the systemic crisis of mental health in higher education communities is the result of systemic problems in education itself that demand a comprehensive approach. She examines the anxiety that plagues campuses as a result of exploited and overworked contingent faculty and students, the shock events like COVID-19 and campus shootings that traumatize communities, the systemic and institutional burnout that affects higher education at every level, and the market-driven culture of toxic overwork. These are large-scale problems that need large-scale solutions. As the title indicates, A Light in the Tower is not just about the crisis affecting higher education. Pryal also outlines actions that professors and administrators can take to address the problem. These include abandoning the toxic rigor that fosters an ableist and exclusionary campus culture, replacing "bad-hard" work that creates unnecessary logistical difficulties for students in favor of "good-hard" work that challenges them intellectually, listening to and assisting students who request disability accommodations, normalizing the use of laptops, and scaffolding assignments. A Light in the Tower gives practical recommendations for how to make academia a more healthy, inclusive, and accessible space for those with mental disabilities, so they can enjoy the kind of formative education that each person deserves"--