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DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY: The Challenge of Equity in College Teaching by David Trend

American higher education’s promise of social mobility has dimmed. Once viewed as a fair path to opportunity, it now faces a crisis of confidence. Skyrocketing costs, questions of value, and controversial admissions practices have tarnished its reputation, while learners struggle with increasing stress and disengagement.  Degrees of Difficulty: The Challenge of Equity in College Teaching takes readers through this turbulent landscape, offering a comprehensive analysis of the systemic biases embedded within U.S. colleges and universities. David Trend’s research documents how these inequities persist throughout the educational pipeline, from high school preparation through college completion and into post-graduation outcomes.

This timely work does more than diagnose problems — it charts a course toward solutions. Combining thoughtful research with compelling case studies,  Degrees of Difficulty examines innovative approaches from across the globe that are reshaping higher education. The book offers practical tools for educators, administrators, and policymakers committed to creating more equitable and effective learning environments. By challenging readers to reconsider the fundamental values and objectives of higher education, Trend invites a collective reimagining of the university’s role in fostering a just and prosperous society. 

Degrees of Difficulty weaves these various threads together in the user-friendly format of a pedagogical handbook. Rather than relying on long chapters of weighty prose, the book’s sections are organized into thematic sections containing a total of 80 focused mini-chapters covering concepts such as “Critical Pedagogy” and “Evidence Based Teaching.” While the book follows a thematic beginning, middle, and end structure, its detailed table of contents enables readers to use it as a reference work, selecting specific topics based on their interests and needs. This modular approach reflects the book’s underlying philosophy of care and attention to varied learning needs.

David Trend is Professor of Art and Visual Culture at the University of California, Irvine and faculty director of UCI Inclusive Teaching Institute. Honored as a Getty Scholar, Trend is the author of over 200 essays and a former editor of the journals Afterimage and Socialist Review. His books include Update Available: The Algorithmic Self (Worlding 2023), Anxious Creativity: When Imagination Fails (Routledge 2020), Elsewhere in America: The Crisis of Belonging in Contemporary Culture (Routledge 2016), Worlding: Identity, Media, and Imagination in a Digital Age (Routledge 2013), The End of Reading: From Guttenberg to Grand Theft Auto (Peter Lang 2010), A Culture Divided (Routledge 2009), Everyday Culture (Routledge 2007), The Myth of Media Violence (Blackwell, 2007), Reading Digital Culture (Wiley-Blackwell, 2001), Welcome to Cyberschool (Rowman and Littlefield, 2001), Cultural Democracy; Politics, Media, and New Technology (SUNY 1997), Radical Democracy (Routledge 1996), The Crisis of Meaning in Culture and Education (Minnesota, 1995), Cultural Pedagogy: Art, Education, Politics  (Praeger 1992). With a PhD in Educational Leadership, Trend formerly served as dean at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. His annual 1400-student “Changing Creativity course is one of UCI’s most popular offerings.  

More information is available at davidtrend.com.