Yesterday, Inside Higher Ed published a provocative article, “A House Divided,” suggesting that attitudes toward the summary dismissal of controversial professor Steven Salaita by the University of Illinois may reflect the “enduring power” of C.P. Snow’s famous “two cultures” thesis. Snow’s argument was that the academic world contains two distinctive and often conflicting cultures, that…
There are certain debates in a representative democracy that are eternal for a reason–and that reason often lies the nature of humanity and human vanity. One of these debates, in the United States, was first apparent in the animosity between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. It was recapped a little less than a century ago in Walter Lippmann’s…
UPDATED ITINERARY SEPTEMBER 24, 2014: Professor Steven Salaita, who had been appointed as an associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is planning a five-day speaking tour in Chicago not only to seek a reversal of the sudden cancellation of his appointment, but also to defend other critical-thinking academicians who dare challenge the ideological preferences of chancellors,…
In recognition of Banned Books Week, September 21-27, librarians at Columbus State Community College (CSCC) in Ohio have developed this quiz which playfully helps you learn which banned book bests fits your personality! Try it here: http://www.playbuzz.com/columbusstatelibrary10/which-banned-book-are-you CSCC is one of seven organizations to win Banned Books Week grants from the Freedom to Read Foundation’s…
Finding a good college president is a little like choosing the right college. You know it when you feel it. This is not to say that the best presidents are all things to all people. College presidencies are demanding jobs with multiple constituencies. A president’s calendar is much like the college’s budget – carefully rationed,…
Writing in The New York Times today, Vicki Madden, who works for the New York City Department of Education as an instructional coach, asks, How can we help our students prepare for the tug of war in their souls? She is addressing those who work with students from the lower side of the economic divide as they try…
This article by Western Michigan University AAUP chapter president Lisa Minnick was originally posted at her website, where you can also see photos of the event. By Lisa Minnick I have written about higher education and about labor rights, mostly in the context of the abysmal state of affairs when it comes to the political climate here in Michigan.…
It is hardly surprising that as colleges and universities have struggled to maintain their finances in response to the deep reductions in state support and the sometimes volatile fluctuations in enrollment caused by the Great Recession, those institutions have allocated far fewer resources to maintaining their existing buildings and to the construction of new buildings.…
Capps, Benjamin. The Trail to Ogallala. New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1964. The Trail to Ogallala is Capps’s most acclaimed novel, receiving the Spur Award of Western Writers of America, for best western novel of 1964, the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award, for best western writing of 1964, and a citation by National Association…