Category Archives: Academia

With Your Words, You Have Treated Me Completely Unfairly

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Timothy Burke

For the ultimate in student complaints about pedagogy, you must read this thread at Acephalous.

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Search as Alchemy

Posted on March 12, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I’m still digesting the one-day meeting I participated in last week on The Future of Bibliographic Control. I’ve got a couple of follow-up thoughts coming from my presentation there. It was a very interesting meeting to be at as an … Continue reading →

A Tapeworm on the Body Academic

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Timothy Burke

If you want an example of the dangers of proposing seemingly mild or modest forms of government oversight over the everyday practices of scholars, Institutional Review Boards provide it. I’ve been a part of discussions in a number of contexts … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 23 Comments

Why Centralization Isn’t the Answer

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I continue to be frustrated by the folks criticizing American universities and academic culture who imply (or outright say) that tight central control over public and maybe even private institutions is the solution. My mind especially reels when this comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Politics | 8 Comments

Bathtub Debates

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I participated in a very non-serious, amusing debate between the divisions last week at Swarthmore. A couple of people off-campus who have somehow heard about this quirkily local event have asked me for a transcript or recording. You can watch … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany | 4 Comments

Arizona’s Experiment: Just How Bad Is The Academic Job Market, Anyway?

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Take a look at what the Arizona legislature is considering doing. Professors at state institutions would not be allowed to publically advocate for any political candidate, give expert testimony in trials, or have a public opinion on any issue considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 13 Comments

Beware of What You Wish For

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I get the sense occasionally that some of my colleagues see me as an evangelist for the use of new technologies in the classroom and in academic research. If I’m a technological missionary, though, my faith and more importantly my … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 4 Comments

From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit, Occidentalism; Alberto Manguel, The History of Reading

Posted on February 19, 2007 by Timothy Burke

When I spoke to a group of publishers two weeks ago, I said that a world in which there were fewer specialized monographs would be a good thing. Fewer, better (and better-selling, one hopes) books from academics. What do I … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 5 Comments

Publishing Presentation on Academic Blogging

Posted on February 15, 2007 by Timothy Burke

Last week, I had a chance to talk about academic blogging in relationship to academic publishing at the Professional and Scholarly Publishing pre-conference event in Washington. Here’s the basic outline of my talk here, with some additional notes. The main … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging | 7 Comments

Wikitedium

Posted on February 1, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I’m with Geeky Mom: how many times do we have to have this discussion? I’m using Wikipedia this semester where it seems appropriate: to provide quick, condensed background on a historical subject as preparation for a more general discussion. Next … Continue reading →