March 8 was International Women’s Day, and here is a review of a bunch of items of interest. The daily newsletter from the Brookings Institute was devoted to topics related to women’s issues: Julia Gillard address the question “What Does International Women’s Day Mean for the Future of Gender Equality? [http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/education-plus-development/posts/2016/03/07-international-womens-day-gender-equality-gillard?utm] Richard V. Reeves…
BY KELLY HAND Two weeks ago, we asked Academe Blog readers to share their thoughts about the blog by completing a short survey. We know from our stats that thousands of you are reading the blog each week, but we want to know more about you and your interests. Thanks to all of you who completed the…
BY MARTIN KICH Myra Crownover, R-Denton, said during a House Committee on Higher Education discussion on college sexual assault: “I was listening for mention of drug or alcohol abuse and, you know, I think those two conversations are so intertwined. I would be curious to see how many times a pure, sober sexual assault happened.…
BY MARTIN KICH In an election cycle marked by unprecedented offensiveness, crassness, and obtuseness, this tweet from opponents of Tammy Duckworth’s senatorial candidacy in Illinois manages to descend to a new low point on all three counts: During her military service as a helicopter pilot in Iraq, Tammy Duckworth lost both of her legs. This…
BY DAVE VANNESS The media (and many of my colleagues) are missing the most significant problem with the Board of Regents’ proposed policy on layoff of tenured faculty. That’s not surprising – the policy is intentionally murky (the best landscape for hiding loopholes). Simply put, the policy allows UW administration to discontinue programs (and layoff…
BY KELLY WILZ “We need media literacy as much as we need to learn to read.”- Jennifer Pozner “The world will not be a better place when these fact-based news organizations die. We will be propelled into a culture where facts and opinions will be interchangeable, where lies will become true and where fantasy will…
Three days ago I posted a piece, which I called “Corporatizers Gone Wild,” about the controversy surrounding University of California at Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi’s acceptance of positions on corporate boards that either compete or do business with UC. UCLA history professor Michael Meranze, writing on the Remaking the University blog, has now used this…
COCAL is the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, a nearly 20 year old network of contingent activists and their organizations that does a conference (now tri-national – USA, CAN (including QBC) , and MEX) every other year, usually in August. It also sponsors a listserv, called ADJ-L, and has an International Advisory Committee and a…
BY JONATHAN REES I spent much of last weekend with two of my colleagues from the Colorado Conference of the AAUP at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO, helping to form a brand spanking new AAUP chapter. Hello everybody in the Paris of the Valley! [JR waves enthusiastically.] Turns out their chapter will be helpful…
BY JOYA JOHN, ANNE PASEK, AND ABHISHEK BHATTACHARYYA Joya and Abhishek are members of Graduate Students United at the University of Chicago (AFT/AAUP), and Anne is a member of GSOC-Local 2110-UAW and Academic Workers for a Democratic Union at NYU. They wish to thank members of fellow unions across the country for the conversations over…