I don’t expect the sources from which I get my news to sugarcoat it or to avoid the unsavory aspects of life for uplifting human-interest stories. But sometimes the bad news does seem to have almost completely crowded out any good news. Consider the following headlines from a late August news summary from Channel 10,…
The last time that I did a post on a digital advertisement distributed by the National Review, I was chided by one of my readers, presumably someone on the Right, for trying to base a political argument on an analysis of ephemera—on an analysis of a piece of e-mail that was, after all, “just spam.”…
with Zachary Dixon Recently, through the Brookings Institute, Darrell West and Joshua Blieberg wrote about the promise that “big data” holds to improve the feedback loop and the quality of student writing assessment. Equally important was West and Bleiberg’s recognition that “[r]eal world demonstrations of how big data would fit into the classroom environment have…
Thanks to Aaron Barlow, Faculty Editor, and Academe for publishing this account of the early history of Writing Commons: “Open Textbook Publishing.” Academe. (Sept/Oct 2013): 40-43 < http://www.aaup.org/article/open-textbook-publishing#.UkXER1Oi9GY> Since this essay was printed, Writing Commons has continued to evolve. During September, traffic at Writing Commons hit new highs: over 194,870 users—i.e., 6495 visitors/day—visited 577,902 pages. Overall, the server logged 5,553,512 hits. It’s amazing to…
This is a guest post by Marjorie Heins, a contributor to the newest issue of the Journal of Academic Freedom. Professor Heins teaches “Censorship in American Culture and Law” at New York University and is a member of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. In 2005, a coalition of Palestinian organizations issued a call…
This is a guest post by Jan Clausen, a co-contributor with Eva Swidler to the newest volume of the Journal of Academic Freedom. Professor Clausen teaches in the Goddard College Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program and serves as chair of the union bargaining team for the latest round of faculty contract negotiations. She is…
Freshmen move-in day is over. This year’s crop of students has begun classes. On college campuses, it’s already time to think about next year’s class. This means you. For prospective students, application season has begun. Here are some tips as you sit down and begin the application. Get started on them. Dream big dreams. Think…
What follows is an appeal from a coalition of diverse, progressive groups that are coming together to march for meaningful, bipartisan immigration reform. _________________________ On October 5, 2013 the broadest and most diverse movement, including our vast immigrant communities in America, as well as faith, labor, and civil rights groups, will join in marches and…
The Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates (ICAS) was established by faculty in 1980 as a voluntary organization consisting of representatives of the Academic Senates of the three segments of public higher education in California. For more information, see: http://icas-ca.org/ _________________________ Executive Summary The Academic Senates of California’s three segments of public higher education support…