Here’s what Christopher Kennedy, chair of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, told the Chicago Tribune in an article in today’s newspaper: “We create an environment appropriate for students to learn in,” Kennedy said. “In the few instances where the board has been brought into decisions regarding faculty, our position has been really consistent…
California Governor Gerry Brown has appealed a state judge’s horrendous ruling that threw out teacher job protection laws on the ground that they deprived students of their constitutional rights. In a one-page appeal filed yesterday, Brown and California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris argued that a decision of such breadth should be made by a…
In a recent article in Inside Higher Ed, I closed with, “Is there room for cursive writing as we now begin the academic year in the not-so-hallowed halls of academe across America? Sure, but along with this kind of circus-act writing there is room, even more so, for the two-thumb essay.” Thinking about students writing…
If you want to engage your students in a thoughtful debate about public discourse in the age of Facebook and Twitter, you can of course use the ten or twelve excellent posts that John K. Wilson, Hank Reichman, Michael Berube, and others have made to this blog on the Steven Salaita case. If you would like…
On August 27, the Denver Business Journal ran an article on proposed legislation that will dramatically overhaul the application for federal student aid. The article opens with the following two paragraphs: “Several Colorado universities are getting behind a recent bipartisan bill zeroing in on speeding up the financial aid application process. “The bill—proposed by Sens.…
Here is the opening of a recent item from The Hill [http://thehill.com/homenews/house/319443-immigration-advocates-claim-resounding-win-for-their-side-in-quiet-august]: “Advocates for comprehensive immigration reform are claiming victory in the August recess. Their argument? They won because they didn’t lose. “With legislation stalled in the Republican-controlled House, the push to overhaul the immigration system has not dominated the national headlines or evening news…
Uris, Leon. Topaz. New York: McGraw Hill, 1967. Leon Uris’s great subjects were the experience of combat in the Second World War, the post-war pursuit of war criminals, and the establishment of the Israeli state. Topaz is set during the same general time period and treats many of the themes that recur throughout Uris’…
When I returned to campus, after two years teaching elsewhere, for the final interview that would bring me back full-time, I stopped into the adjunct room to see if anyone I knew was around. The only person there was one I knew only slightly. She asked what I was doing back. I told her. She…
The AAUP today wrote to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor Phyllis Wise to express deep concern about actions taken against professor Steven Salaita. “Aborting an appointment in this manner without having demonstrated cause has consistently been seen by the AAUP as tantamount to summary dismissal, an action categorically inimical to academic freedom and due process…
Here is a link to Poorer by Degrees, a new short documentary by Jennifer Shuberth, a former faculty member at Portland State University: http://vimeo.com/95828754. The documentary questions the premise that our economic growth requires a dramatic increase in the number of college graduates. Indeed, it suggests that the increased emphasis on completing degrees may actually…