My apologies if the following seems too off-topic from what is normally on the Academe blog, and too self-serving. What has gone on in Washington these past couple of weeks has frustrated most of us Americans (and has amazed those watching from other countries) as a colossal waste of time and money, and for what? “We…
Guest Blogger Mary Collins taught at Johns Hopkins University’s MA in Writing Program for 12 years and is currently an Associate Professor of Narrative Nonfiction and Director of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development at Central Connecticut State University. She offers this post as a continuation of Norm Wallen’s article for Academe online called “Critical Thinking–Again?” “My…
FutureofHigherEd.org • #futureofHE • facebook.com/FutureofHigherEd _________________________ The “Promises” of Online Higher Education: Profits With so much national focus on the “promises” of online higher education to expand access and to reduce costs, one truth about online higher education rarely mentioned is that it is big—Very Big—business. Understanding and assessing developments in online higher education require…
His Holiness, Pope Francis PP. 00120 Via del Pellegrino Citta del Vaticano Dear Pope Francis: I do not know how to begin this letter, so I will just let you know what is happening, in general, with the faculty in Higher Education here in the United States, as in the rest of the world; I will…
Whenever administrators take it upon themselves to pass judgment on the value of faculty research, bad things are likely to happen. Such has been the case this year at Long Island University (LIU). Harriet Malinowitz, a tenured full professor, has been denied sabbatical for research on “Zionism and Propaganda.” Not by her department or Dean…
I initially was going to post this as a comment to Aaron’s post, but it became too lengthy to seem a reasonable “comment.” Like Aaron, I myself and many others among us who now hold tenure-track positions have had some experience as adjunct faculty. I taught at four institutions for six years while finishing my…
This list has been compiled for Business Insider [http://www.businessinsider.com/most-famous-book-in-every-state-2013-10]. I will offer an alternative list shortly. Alabama: To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Alaska Into the Wild Jan Krakauer Arizona The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver Arkansas A Painted House John Grisham California East of Eden John Steinbeck Colorado The Shining Stephen King Connecticut Revolutionary Road…
The following news item has been distributed today by the Far-Right news service Newsmax: _________________________ A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, pushing through barriers Sunday morning to protest the memorial’s closing under the government shutdown. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were…
Why is it that we, the lucky ones, try so hard to divorce ourselves from those who have not had the same breaks? Why do we, the tenured ones, look away when we see adjuncts grading papers while sitting in a stairwell? Why do we, the lordly observers, think of ourselves as the master teachers…
This week the articles, blogs and op eds on higher education share a common, repetitive theme. The Wall Street Journal carried an opinion piece on rising costs, for example, naming the usual suspects. U.S. News & World Report published its ten most expensive colleges listing. They pick up on popular rhetoric now baked into the…