Rethinking the university explores and develops key critical debates in the humanities (concerning, for example, postmodernism, New Historicism, political criticism, cultural studies, interdisciplinarity and deconstruction) in the context of the various crises widely felt to be facing academic institutions. The analysis of the characteristic features of today's university is guided by a close reading of Derrida's work on the question of the academic institution, particularly with regard to the motifs of leverage and disorientation.

This important topic has been the subject of heated debate in recent years and Rethinking the university offers clear and concise summaries of current work in the field as well as exploring original and challenging lines of enquiry on a number of issues of contemporary concern. In particular, Wortham argues that while Derrida's image of a university 'walking on two feet' presents us with a potentially paralysing problem, nevertheless it also enables a strong affirmation of the possibilities of academic life, work and effort.