BY MADHUKAR VABLE Large classes, replacing tenure-track faculty with contingent faculty without fringe benefits, and subpar wages have not put brakes on tuition increases in excess of inflation, because the cost drivers prior to the pandemic were not in the instructional part of the universities. Administrative bloat is one of the cost drivers, but there…
BY JANET BOWDAN Here in Massachusetts, my university just posted a coronavirus update that notes, in passing, that “higher education is not part of Phase I and II of the vaccination plan.” Wait. Why aren’t higher education faculty and staff at least in Phase II? Obviously (at least to me), health care workers and first…
BY HENRY REICHMAN AND IRENE MULVEY The following statement was issued by Henry Reichman, chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and Irene Mulvey, AAUP president. The outgoing Trump administration’s 1776 Report, released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is an attack on the socially progressive and antiracist goals that King worked…
BY JOHN K. WILSON On November 2, the day before he lost re-election (in a failed attempt to lure voters with his faux patriotism), Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the 1776 Commission, which worked quickly to produce a report before Joe Biden could take office and rescind this terrible idea and the terrible…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The headlines declared a common story about how repressive students are today: “Study Finds Majority Of College Students Think Government Should Punish ‘Hate Speech.’” “Nearly two-thirds of college students think government should have power to punish ‘hate speech’: survey.” “U. of Wisconsin students not big fans of free speech, according to…
BY HANK REICHMAN I don’t usually use this blog to direct people to other articles (although I have been known to do so) but today I want to urge my readers to click on this link to go to a remarkable piece published today on The Bulwark about something called the Falkirk Center at Liberty…
BY OGNJEN Š. MILJANIĆ The start of vaccinations against COVID-19 has brought hope that the pandemic’s end is near. Over the coming months, as things return to normal, many of the changes brought about by the pandemic will be reversed. I will be glad to see my kids return to their physical school, which will…
BY JOAN W. SCOTT Our colleagues at Bogacizi University in Istanbul, Turkey, have asked us for support. Below are a letter from Professor Zeynep Gambetti asking for support and a letter that is now circulating to indicate international support. Appeal from Bogazici University Subject: Bogazici University under attack since Jan. 1 Dear friends and colleagues,…
BY MICHAEL FERGUSON With great sadness we note the death on January 11 of Aaron Barlow, who served as a contributing editor to this blog and was the faculty editor of Academe magazine from 2013 to 2018. A professor of English at New York City College of Technology, Aaron brought wide-ranging interests in new media,…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The attack on the Capitol by Trump terrorists which led to five deaths was a shocking, horrifying crime. Trump and his supporters deserve the strongest condemnation for their role in fabricating a lie about the election results and then calling upon a mob to fight for a coup to overthrow the…