Smiley, Jane. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton. New York: Knopf, 1998. Much of Jane Smiley’s growing reputation has derived from her penetrating depictions of contemporary life in the rural Midwest. But she has also written several well-received historical novels, including The All-True Travels and Adventures of Liddie Newton. Set on the…
Over the past few days. There has been a great deal of media coverage of the Far Right lunatic theory that long-planned military exercises in western Texas are a cover for a planned federal takeover of the state. Supposedly some shuttered Walmarts have been leased by the federal government for use as detention centers, and…
In response to the “cartoon contest” in Garland, Texas, that provoked an attack by two “Muslim extremists,” the news media has not been able to avoid making parallels to the much more devastating attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Most of those commentators have felt uneasy enough with the comparison that…
In higher education, the imposition of “civility codes” and the institutional appropriation of the intellectual property rights formerly assigned to faculty have both started to emerge as major issues. What most faculty may not be aware of, however, is that many corporations have already imposed versions of both of these things not just on their…
When state revenues dip, those groups funded in areas where state officials have the most discretion often suffer more than other state-funded groups. It’s expected. At the top of the list for many state officials is public higher education. Governors and their education staffs often use the occasion to demand efficiencies, warn against corresponding tuition…