The Earth as Art

BY MARTIN KICH Thousands of images taken by ASTER, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, are now available online. Many of the images look like works of art. Consider the following image of an alluvial fan in the semi-arid interior of China:  

Waste, Job Creation, and Higher Ed

  The following paragraphs are from an article written by Sharon Dell for University World News Global Edition, “South Africa: Universities of Technology Eye Rich Prospects in Waste”: “South African universities of technology are positioning themselves as critical partners in what is considered a fairly new but highly relevant area of research, innovation and job…

Against monoculture.

BY JONATHAN REES Last week, the learning management system (LMS) at the University of California – Davis went down right before finals week. It didn’t take too long for the vendor to restore it, but this kind of message from the administration there, quoted by Phil Hill at the blog e-Literate, probably didn’t inspire very…

"Automation, Automation, Automation"

BY AARON BARLOW In the 30+ years since I first looked into using digital technology in the classroom, my enthusiasm for it has waned. Today, I guess I have to classify myself as a Luddite. When I re-read Thomas Pynchon’s “Is It O.K. To Be A Luddite?” my answer to his question is quite different from…

Faculty in the Networked Public Sphere

BY KELLY HAND “Can social media cause revolution?” Adeline Koh asks this question in her May–June Academe article, “Imagined Communities, Social Media, and the Faculty.” Countering critics who see online engagement with politics and social issues as a form of ineffectual “slacktivism,” she provides a theoretical framework for understanding the potential of social media to…