MLK: The Purpose of Education
The following was written by Martin Luther King, Jr. and first published in the February 1947 edition of the Morehouse College Student Newspaper. King was 18 years old. As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose…
Scholars in Turkey Detained, Threatened for Opposing Military Action
The following appeared in the January 15 issue of University World News and has been highlighted in the weekly Academic Freedom Media Review published by Scholars at Risk, which tracks violations of academic freedom and civil liberties in colleges and universities around the world. While the AAUP does not generally take formal positions on violations…
The Soul of Higher Education Under Corporatization
F is for Friedrichs… and Freeloader: A Supreme Court Nightmare
Stefan Collini: “Who Are the Spongers Now?”
Stefan Collini, Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge and author of the important book What Are Universities For?, has a wonderful review article in the London Review of Books responding to the Conservative British government’s proposal to establish a Teaching Excellence Framework. Responding specifically to a new Green Paper written by Jo…
There Is a Better Way
I have previously reposted a number of items by University of California at Santa Barbara Professor Christopher Newfield, taken from the “Remaking the University” blog that he runs with UCLA Professor Michael Meranze (I suggest you subscribe). The essay below was posted today under the title Top Trends for 2016 Higher Ed: Earth-Two Edition. Cleverly taking…
“Academic Freedom” Out, “Innovation” In as Utah Trustees Approve New Mission Statement
On Tuesday, the University of Utah’s Board of Trustees voted to abandon a ten-year-old 120-word mission statement, branded too “long-winded” and lacking in tangible goals, replacing it with a new 70-word version that Academic Senate President Bill Johnson called “a nice, tight mission statement.” According to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, the new…
Why Do the Media Cry “Crisis” About Public Schools? Why Do They Ignore the Voices of Teachers?
Court Enjoins Nevada Voucher Law
The following is the text of a press release issued January 11 by the Education Law Center: Judge James Wilson of the First Judicial District Court of Nevada (Carson City) has ruled in Lopez v. Schwartz that the state’s school voucher law (SB 302) enacted last summer by the Legislature violates two provisions of the…