Asian-American Students and the Racial-Justice Movement

Writing for The Atlantic, Kevin Cheng has posed and has thoughtfully explored the question, “What Role Do Asian Americans Have in the Campus Protests?” Here are the opening paragraphs: “Last month, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber signed a document agreeing to take measures against racial inequality on campus, most notably the possibility of removing…

Questioning Student Evaluations

Most colleges and universities are nearing the end of their fall terms.  Hence it’s time not only for final examinations but also for collecting student evaluations of teaching (SET).  Student ratings can be  high-stakes.  They’re used to evaluate teaching when faculty members are being considered for tenure or promotions.  They’re also employed in decisions as…

Trump, the Media and the Classroom

Even if Donald Trump were not such a looming threat to the United States and its traditions, he would still be a perfect teaching tool for use in Introduction to Journalism classes. If I could go back an redesign my syllabus for this fall semester, I would make it all about the coverage of Trump—not…

Project Gesundheit 2016

  BY CAPRICE LAWLESS In its quest for top-down control and from a misplaced notion that our gritty, lonely and nearly despairing community college students will respond warmly to a more sterile environment, administration has removed almost all the bulletin boards on our campus. The college vice president has to approve anything that anyone might…

On the Resignation of Erika Christakis

I just learned this morning via a report on Inside Higher Ed that Erika Christakis, the associate master of one of Yale University’s residential colleges, has decided to stop teaching at the university, in part because of the continuing controversy over an email message she sent about Halloween costumes.  Although some students have demanded her…

Assumptions and the Class Divides they Confirm

In the mid-1970s, when I was young and even more ignorant of the ways of the world than I am today, I learned that it was becoming necessary to have completed an MFA to get a paid position in the arts world. This struck me as ridiculous, a sheepskin standing in for actual work created.…

When Everyone’s a Trump-et, It May Be Hard to Think through the Noise

This week’s “Sunday Show Wrap-Up” from The Hill (see below) seems particularly instructive. The one thing on which the GOP presidential candidates uniformly agree is that President Obama is an ineffectual leader (or, worse–because Donald Trump is now suggesting, something much more sinister). Moreover, other than Trump himself, of course, all of them agree that…