National Association of Scholars, a non-profit organization of higher education faculty, administrators, and graduate students

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Articles and Archives

Most recent posting below. See other articles in the column to the right.

Debate: The Meaning of Academic Freedom
January 30, 2009
Video: NAS president Peter Wood and AAUP president Cary Nelson debated the definition of our core principle.
1 comment - Last on 02/02/2009

Electracy
What a Tangled Web We Weave
January 30, 2009 By Peter Wood
If electronic proficiency replaces literacy, can we be truly whole?
5 comments - Last on 02/03/2009

Panel 1: The Changing Political Landscape of Higher Education
January 29, 2009
The first panel at the recent NAS conference, moderated by Anne Neal, included Abigail Thernstrom, Greg Lukianoff, Terry Hartle, and Diane Auer Jones.

Shaming the Winners
January 29, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Media hype after a 100-0 basketball game between two small private schools in Dallas exemplified a cultural tendency to vilify success.
1 comment - Last on 01/29/2009

Updike at Rest
January 28, 2009 By Peter Wood
Will the great American author's legacy outlive him?

Enchanting Sustainability
January 26, 2009 By Peter Wood
Shock and awe come to the university.
1 comment - Last on 01/28/2009

Wild BOARS in California
January 23, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
Our California affiliate raises objections to proposals which will guarantee admissions to 9 percent of each high school. Open PDF file (150.85KB) . . .
1 comment - Last on 01/26/2009

Civilization and the Spirit of Scholarship: On the Continuing Need for the National Association of Scholars
Part I: Genuine Academic Freedom
January 22, 2009 By Peter Wood
A multi-part statement by NAS president Peter Wood on the NAS's goals, interests, and priorities.

What’s Mine Ain’t Yours
January 22, 2009 By Peter Wood
Is there still such thing as intellectual property rights?

NAS Conference Keynote Speaker: "Western Culture is Unique"
January 20, 2009
Video: Victor Davis Hanson, champion of Western civilization, addressed the NAS conference on January 9, 2009.
1 comment - Last on 01/21/2009

Ask a Scholar/Ask a Critic: Suicide or Drug Overdose?
January 20, 2009 By Carol Iannone
Does Lily Bart commit suicide at the end of Edith Wharton's novel, The House of Mirth, or does she die of a drug overdose?

Speaking Freely
January 16, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Does the AAUP really oppose speech codes?
5 comments - Last on 01/20/2009

The Military and Academe
January 14, 2009 By Allan Silver
Allan Silver, professor of sociology at Columbia University, presented the following remarks at the NAS conference during a panel on the military and academe, January 10, 2009.
2 comments - Last on 01/14/2009

How the Dorms Are Politicized: The Case of the University of Delaware
January 14, 2009 By Adam Kissel
This paper was presented by Adam Kissel at a panel at the National Association of Scholars general conference in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2009. Kissel is the director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
1 comment - Last on 01/22/2009

Disposed to Mischief
January 13, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
Will NCATE’s new president clean up the ed school mess?
2 comments - Last on 01/14/2009

Conferring
January 12, 2009 By Peter Wood
Attendants called the NAS national conference of this past weekend "more intellectually exciting than any other academic conference" they had ever attended.
1 comment - Last on 01/20/2009

A Tribute to Stephen H. Balch
January 12, 2009 By Peter Wood
Peter Wood, who became president of the National Association of Scholars at the beginning of this year, presented the following speech in honor of Steve Balch, NAS's founder and its president for nearly 22 years. This tribute was given on January 9, 2009, during the NAS national conference in Washington, D.C.

Stick to the Facts: Why Duke was Ready to Believe the Lacrosse Hoax
January 07, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Video: KC Johnson on the context behind the scandal
2 comments - Last on 01/12/2009

Keeping the Home Fires Burning
January 06, 2009 By Peter Wood
Presidential greetings on liberty from Peter Wood.
2 comments - Last on 01/06/2009

Social Work Education’s Good Intentions
January 05, 2009 By Michael Sherr
Remarks from a conservative professor of social work advance the debate: is social work education scandalously biased? We invite further comments.
3 comments - Last on 01/05/2009

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Take Back the Classroom from PowerPoint
September 02, 2010 By Jason Fertig
Restrict PowerPoint use in teaching to pictures and videos, writes Jason Fertig. Too much PowerPoint usurps professors' authority and accustoms students to lazy thinking.

Collegiate Press Roundup 9-2-10
September 02, 2010 By Glenn Ricketts
Student journalists examine topics from presidential speeches to campus smoking bans.

Will You Promote Diversity? Virginia Tech Tests Faculty Candidates’ Commitment
September 01, 2010 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
A major public university has fashioned a “diversity” litmus test for faculty hiring

FIRE Educates for Free Speech on Campus
August 31, 2010 By Glenn Ricketts
FIRE will offer a Free Speech Seminar in NYC on September 14.

University Speaker Series: Arab Feminism, Black Feminism, and "A Southern Queer Love Story"...No Comment
August 30, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
A program on gender and diversity at the University of Richmond will explore "emancipatory ideas of social justice" this fall.

How Scholarships Morphed into Financial Aid
August 30, 2010 By Jackson Toby
This excerpt from Jackson Toby's latest book, The Lowering of Higher Education in America: Why Financial Aid Should Be Based on Student Performance, will appear in the forthcoming fall issue of Academic Questions (vol. 23, no. 3).

Common Reading Controversy at Brooklyn College
August 27, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
Is Brooklyn College using freshman reading for ideological goals?

Question of the Week: How Many Colleges Should You Apply To?
August 27, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
To answer, leave a comment on this article, email us, or respond via Facebook or Twitter (no more than 140 characters).

Atlas Black Shrugs
August 26, 2010 By Jason Fertig
The first comic book textbook combines management jargon and theories and packages them into a story about a slacker student's attempt to become an entrepreneur.
1 comment - Last on 08/27/2010

Collegiate Press Roundup 8-26-10
August 26, 2010 By Glenn Ricketts
Student journalists have a look at the Ground Zero mosque controversy, reducing your carbon footprint and the pitfalls of "sexting."

A Regulatory Assault on For-Profit Higher Education
August 25, 2010 By Richard J. Bishirjian
How the attacks on for-profit higher ed are squashing needed competition.

New Excellent Programs: Tocqueville Program and Center for Statesmanship
August 24, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
Check out our list of excellent programs as we add new ones at Indiana and Richmond.

The Glut of Academic Publishing: A Call for a New Culture
August 23, 2010 By Stanley W. Trimble, Wayne W. Grody, Bill McKelvey, and Mohamed Gad-el-Hak
This article will appear in the forthcoming fall issue of Academic Questions (vol. 23, no. 3). A short version of this paper appeared under the title “We Must Stop the Avalanche of Low-Quality Research” in the June 13, 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education.
1 comment - Last on 08/25/2010

Building a 21st Century Syllabus
August 20, 2010 By David Clemens
Professors these days have to cover their backs when writing syllabi, writes David Clemens.
2 comments - Last on 08/20/2010

Question of the Week: Why Did You Choose Your College?
August 20, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
We're starting a new "Question of the Week" series. We'll have a new higher-education-related question every week. To answer, leave a comment on this article, email us, or respond via Facebook or Twitter (no more than 140 characters).
2 comments - Last on 08/20/2010

Dictatorships and Double Standards, Part II
August 19, 2010 By Robert L. Paquette
Professor Paquette responds to the controversy generated this summer after Hamilton College sought to censor his NAS article.

Real Ethics Education
August 19, 2010 By Jason Fertig
Ethics courses should make moral decisions personal, argues Jason Fertig.

Collegiate Press Roundup 8-18-10
August 18, 2010 By Glenn Ricketts
Student journalists tackle gay marriage, weird psycholgy studies and state liquor regulations.

5 Consequences of Administrative Bloat
August 18, 2010 By Ashley Thorne
What happens to higher education when universities are dominated by administrators?

Ravitch Repentant
August 17, 2010 By Peter Cohee
Peter Cohee reviews Diane Ravitch's book, a partial volte-face, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.