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Category Archives: Academia
In Media Res
Ta-Nehisi Coates tweets (approvingly, I think) that historians are “not the most hopeful bunch”. I’ve said as much myself. Among the many problems with David Armitage and Jo Guldi’s The History Manifesto is the authors’ belief that historians once had … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Politics
2 Comments
Peforming the Role
The short summary of the way that UIUC’s administrative and board leadership (and some of their closest faculty supporters) handled their reaction to Steven Salaita is that they screwed up and that serious professional consequences are completely appropriate. And not … Continue reading
Yes, We Have “No Irish Need Apply”
Just came across news of the publication of Rebecca Fried’s excellent article “No Irish Need Deny: Evidence for the Historicity of NINA Restrictions in Advertisements and Signs”, Journal of Social History, 10:1093, 2015, from @seth_denbo on Twitter. First, the background … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Oath for Experts, Production of History
14 Comments
The Ground Beneath Our Feet
I was a part of an interesting conversation about assessment this week. I left the discussion thinking that we had in fact become more systematically self-examining in the last decade in a good way. If accrediting agencies want to take … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Defining "Liberal Arts", Swarthmore
2 Comments
Apples for the Teacher, Teacher is an Apple
Why does AltSchool, as described in this article, as well as similar kinds of tech-industry attempts to “disrupt” education, bug me so much? I’d like to be more welcoming and enthusiastic. It’s just that I don’t think there’s enough experimentation … Continue reading
Hearts and Minds
Much as I disliked Jonathan Haidt’s recent book The Righteous Mind overall, I’m quite interested in many of the basic propositions that this strain of cognitive science and social psychology are proposing about mind, consciousness, agency, responsibility and will. Most … Continue reading
Raise the Barn/Autopsy the Corpse
A more detailed thinking-through of the case of Sweet Briar, and a proposal. Five places to start a dissection of Sweet Briar College and the decision of its Board to close the school: Laura McKenna, “The Unfortunate Fate of Sweet … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Swarthmore
7 Comments
#Save Sweet Briar
The more I read about the decision to shut down Sweet Briar College, the less sense it makes to me. Essentially, when I look at Sweet Briar, I see the following: 1) A physical plant, a faculty and a staff … Continue reading
Posted in Academia
8 Comments
Where There’s Smoke
My main problem with Laura Kipnis’ much-discussed essay “Sexual Paranoia” is the excluded middle it outlines. Practicioners of dialectic modes of argument often claim that this approach is necessary in order to locate and recommend that middle. It’s the “Untouchables” … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Politics
5 Comments
Practice What We Preach?
I’ve been reworking an essay on the concept of “liberal arts” this week. One of the major issues I’m trying to think about is the relatively weak match between what many liberal arts faculty frequently say about the lifelong advantages … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Defining "Liberal Arts", Swarthmore
6 Comments