Author Archives: Timothy Burke

Devil in Details

I was just reminded of something I’ve heard several times before. One of the statistics US News and World Report uses for its college rankings is the percentage of alumni who donate to the institution. I assume the rationale for … Continue reading

Posted in Academia | 4 Comments

Homework: The Argument Clinic Edition

With a child just starting kindergarten, I’ve been engaging in that popular pastime of parents and old fogeys: sitting around with other parents and old fogeys and saying, “Well, in my day, we didn’t have all this new-fangled educational stuff, … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Domestic Life | 16 Comments

Numbers Games

I’m not going to go over the existing disputes about the methodology or findings of the Lancet study on civilian casualties in Iraq. That’s been done at a great many other blogs. I’d like to instead talk about how I … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 19 Comments

It’s a Fair Cop

Norm Geras objects to a recent post of mine, and I think by and large his objections are justified. First, my original entry does something that I really don’t like to see from bloggers, whether it’s directed at me or … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Politics | 31 Comments

Tarnished City in a Swamp

A short time ago (but it feels very much longer than that), I wrote an essay for a journal called Global Dialogue about the African Union, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and Thabo Mbeki’s “African renaissance”. One of … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Politics | 37 Comments

What Do You Know and When Did You Know It?

I’m gearing myself up for a thorough look at the Spellings Commission report. Assessment is the issue that I really keep rolling around in my head, because I have such a range of different feelings and ideas about it. One … Continue reading

Posted in Academia | 19 Comments

Endless Adagio

Let’s see, today’s reading. John Holbo directs my attention to a long summary of facts about American national security and to a subsequent thread in which a critic heroically continues to believe in whatever he wants to believe in. Matthew … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 22 Comments

Go Sestak

I rarely get enthused enough about a candidate to give them money, but the last six years have definitely changed my sense of the urgency involved in getting the right people into power. I’m a registered independent. I could give … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments

Hey!

Hugo Chavez disses Superman and Batman. I know I’d rather watch Batman Begins again than read Hegemony or Survival one more time.

Posted in Politics, Popular Culture | 11 Comments

Failure and Knowledge

A couple of people interested in my potential course, The History of Failure and Error, noted that it’s important to ask, “failure from what”, to study the kinds of thought-systems that create an expectation of success. It seems to me … Continue reading

Posted in Academia | 7 Comments