In August, Aaron Barlow, the editor of Academe and the Academe Blog, posted a piece on the blog addressing the possibility that electronic technologies might have the same impact on higher education as they have had on journalism. Aaron made the case that academia is fundamentally different than journalism in enough ways that our individual…
The following is a guest post from Jonathan Poritz, an associate professor of mathematics at Colorado State University–Pueblo. It is a companion piece to his article in the newest issue of Academe. Part One ran earlier this week. I ended the first of this two-part post on a version of one of the main points of my Academe…
The following is a guest post from Jonathan Poritz, an associate professor of mathematics at Colorado State University–Pueblo. It is a companion piece to his article in the newest issue of Academe. This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin’ it without our permission…
Colin Ramsey and Martha McCaughey are the authors of “Copyright for Academics in the Digital Age,” the lead feature article in the new issue of Academe. Their article discusses the potential copyright problems that can arise for faculty and staff, what rights faculty have, and how best to protect those rights and ensure access to scholarly work.…
Jacob Rooksby is an assistant professor of law at Duquesne University’s law school. His research looks at the intersection of intellectual property law and higher education, and he is a contributor to the newest issue of Academe. His article is “Sue U.” and explores what happens when universities get into the game of developing, licensing, and protecting…
At the end of August, the Center for the Future of Higher Education released its second policy report from. The report is titled “Who Is “Professor Staff? And How Can This Person Teach So Many Classes?” It offers a very detailed and deeply unsettling view of how our colleges and universities exploit contingent faculty. The…
Just after the New Year, Hostess Brands, the largest producer of baked goods in the United States, filed for bankruptcy. Formerly called Interstate Bakeries Corporation, the company had previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004. It emerged from what became the most protracted bankruptcy process in history in 2009 and renamed itself Hostess Brands. The…
Rand Paul has a new video online that is being distributed by the National Review. He asks viewers to sign a petition and make contributions in support of national “right to work” legislation. The video emphasizes three points about “Big Labor’s power of forced unionism”: It has crippled America’s competitive edge. It has forced countless…
Tonight at the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama called upon America to “cut in half the growth in tuition costs over the next 10 years.” I’m sure many conservatives will condemn that as yet another impossible promise brought by an overdose of hope. But there are a lot of ways that colleges and the…
This is a guest post by Lenore Beaky, a member of the AAUP Committee on Community Colleges. “Santa Monica College—The Shape of Things to Come, or The Future That’s Already Arrived?” What happened at Santa Monica College this spring embodies many of the most urgent threats and challenges facing community colleges in the United States now: vanishing…