Monthly Archives: October 2012

Leisure and the Liberal Arts

Johann Neem argues at Inside Higher Education that the liberal arts have no economic value, that they are intrinsically tied to the achievement of a free, affluent society that is relieved of the burdens of scarcity and open to the … Continue reading

Posted in Academia | 2 Comments

On Swarthmore’s Sorority

There’s been a running discussion at Swarthmore for a year now, mostly among the students and some between the students and the administration, about the effort to get a sorority established at the college. National media recently reported on the … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 23 Comments

Commentary on Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind

We had the first of four symposia on Jonathan Haidt’s new book The Righteous Mind last night at Swarthmore. The hope is that we can demonstrate the distinctive advantages that a “liberal arts” approach can yield when many different scholars … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Generalist's Work, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System, Politics, Swarthmore | 1 Comment

Tweet Away

I refuse to use the hashtag, but the bubbling-up of a long-standing conversation about live communications from academic conferences over the last three days has been interesting to read. While I can’t disagree with Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s pragmatic advice to concede … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 9 Comments