Category Archives: Academia

One complaint you hear fairly often from students about professors or courses involves exams whose relationship to material covered is vague or unclear. Sometimes students feel like they cannot reasonably guess what terms they will be asked to identify or … Continue reading →

I’m not the right person to make this complaint, considering how prolix my blog entries are, how hastily overwritten they can be. (I’m thinking of bringing a few of my entries into a class to show how an edit can … Continue reading →

I’ve been trying to figure out why a blog entry by Erin O’Connor (whom I’m glad to see is actively blogging again at her own site, as well as continuing her participating at Actablog) has been gnawing at me. (Her … Continue reading →

The four-year cycling of some issues at colleges and universities is pretty damn annoying sometimes. Right now, for example, we’re voting again here at Swarthmore about whether to have a mascot or not. We just did the same thing a … Continue reading →

Is there any purpose or meaning that the word “societal” has which is not equally well served by “social”? Is “societal” just one of those words that makes you sound more policy-wonkish? Or does it really have some more specific … Continue reading →

I had a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Historical Analysis at Rutgers that was one of the more satisfying professional experiences I have ever had. The topic for the year was the history of consumption and commodities, and a … Continue reading →

I have been a bit surprised at how surprised some observers are about Jennifer Delahunty Britz’ op-ed piece in the New York Times regarding the role of gender in the admissions process at many selective private colleges and universities. Britz … Continue reading →

Margaret Soltan has been doing a fantastic job lately of tracking stories about the poisoned, hopelessly corrupt relationship between higher education and athletics. Here we are in the middle of March Madness again. This year, as every year, brings to … Continue reading →