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

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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 05/09/2009

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 01/16/2009

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 03/06/2009

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 01/13/2009

Keeping the Home Fires Burning
January 06, 2009 By Peter Wood
Presidential greetings on liberty from Peter Wood.
2 comments - Last on 01/07/2009

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 01/12/2009

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Is ‘Good President’ Redundant?
November 20, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Time magazine recently published a list of the 10 best college presidents. But what makes a president "good"? Are there good college presidents, or are they all just silly people in silly jobs?

NAS President’s Report
November 18, 2009 By Peter Wood
President Peter Wood tells what's next for the National Association of Scholars and gives five ways new members can help our work.

What Makes College Worth the Cost?
November 17, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Expected future earnings? A rigorous and complete education?

SustainaReligion
November 16, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Climate change faith has been ruled a protected “philosophical belief” in the UK.

My Degree in Diversity
November 13, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
After completing an online course on how to lead diversity education workshops, guess what I learned?
2 comments - Last on 11/16/2009

Election 2008: The University's Long Shadow
November 12, 2009 By Peter Wood
How the 2008 election illustrates the reigning narratives that guide higher education.

Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones (1922-2009)
November 12, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
The National Association of Scholars mourns the passing of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones (1922-2009), who served as a member of our Board of Advisors along with his wife Mary Lefkowitz.

Blue Blastoff
November 10, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A school in lower Manhattan created by the Blue Man Group believes we can't teach kids facts anymore...but we can teach them to "build a harmonious and sustainable world."
1 comment - Last on 11/12/2009

Should Everyone Go?
November 09, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
President Obama's goal - that by 2020 America would have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world - will require a huge expansion of higher education. But is that wise?

The Chico Romance
November 06, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A sustainability conference at CSU-Chico prompts a concerned letter. NAS spots some good reasons for concern.
1 comment - Last on 11/16/2009

Response to Mitchell
November 06, 2009 By Jonathan Smith
After NAS posted Academic Questions article "Remapping Geography," Don Mitchell offered a response to the authors, Jonathan M. Smith and Jim Norwine. Here Professor Smith responds to Mitchell.
1 comment - Last on 11/09/2009

Message to Ed Schools: Practice What You Teach
November 06, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Teachers-in-training should learn something before they begin teaching. But they should not learn just anything.

Response to Smith and Norwine on Remapping Geography
November 05, 2009 By Don Mitchell
Dr. Don Mitchell, author of Cultural Geography: A Critical Introduction who was mentioned in Professors Smith and Norwine's Academic Questions article "Remapping Geography," offers a response to their article.
1 comment - Last on 11/09/2009

Academic Freedom Forum
November 05, 2009 By Peter Wood - Minding the Campus
This article, originally posted at MindingtheCampus.com, is a response, added to those of others, to University of Chicago president Robert Zimmer's recent speech on academic freedom.

George Lakoff’s New Happiness: Politics after Rationality
November 04, 2009 By John B. Parrott
This article by John B. Parrott on the ideas and contemporary influence of Berkeley professor George Lakoff will appear in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions (vol. 22, no. 4).
1 comment - Last on 11/05/2009

LEAPs and Bounds
November 03, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
An initiative spawned of the outcomes assessment movement, Liberal Education & America's Promise (LEAP), sounds boring enough. But what is really going on when the lords of of education go a-LEAP-ing? NAS investigates.
1 comment - Last on 11/09/2009

Remapping Geography
November 02, 2009 By Jonathan M. Smith and Jim Norwine
This article by Jonathan M. Smith and Jim Norwine on the state of academic geography will appear in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions (vol. 22, no. 4).

"An Unsuccessful Education Can Ruin You"
October 30, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A CUNY graduate professor teaches education ethics; his students discuss the meaning of academic freedom and the question of university neutrality. Now if only all faculty members and administrators took this course...
2 comments - Last on 11/04/2009

Responding to Weissberg
October 29, 2009 By Peter Wood
NAS president Peter Wood has published a response to Robert Weissberg's "Rescuing the University." His response may be found at Minding the Campus.

Intellectual Diversity or Nonsense?
October 28, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
"Our classroom has become an arena for the free exchange of ideas in which everyone's opinion is welcomed and respected." But should everyone's opinion be welcomed and respected? Is that what intellectual diversity means?
2 comments - Last on 11/04/2009