Articles

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

What Ed Programs Will Obama Purge?
February 26, 2009 By Peter Wood
President Obama promises to end “education programs that don’t work.” Which ones are those?

Never Mind Tocqueville, Let's List Slurs
February 26, 2009 By Bill Rivers
A participant in the University of Delaware's now infamous indoctrination program recollects some not-so-fond memories.
3 comments - Last on 04/29/2009

Green Fatigue
February 25, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
In the real world, environmental alarmism is on the downturn. In the universities, it's just gaining momentum.
1 comment - Last on 02/27/2009

Zombies Ahead!
February 25, 2009 By Peter Wood
Creeping public controversy about the role of zombies in our society prompts us to consider their place in higher education.

More on "Bias Isn't Bias If It's Ours"
February 25, 2009
Continuing discussion prompted by an NAS article on social justice and education.

Sexual Harassment Training and Collective Guilt
February 24, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
New AAUP General Secretary urges faculty to confront the "bad behavior of peers."

Panel 4: Are the Dorms Being Politicized?
February 24, 2009
Video: The final panel at January's national NAS conference was based on our initiative, "How Many Delawares?" The panel was moderated by Velma Montoya and included speakers Adam Kissel, John K. Wilson, and Jan Blits.

"Gender Identity" Restrooms at U Arizona
February 24, 2009 By Catherine Pavlich
It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman; campus restrooms at UA are categorized by self-image and behavior.
3 comments - Last on 05/11/2009

Mathematical Deceptions
February 23, 2009 By Peter Wood
A University of Illinois-Chicago professor of math education reminisces about his efforts to radicalize eighth-grade math students.
4 comments - Last on 02/24/2009

Berkeley in the Sixties
February 23, 2009 By Tom Wood
With its excitement and passion in intellectual life, perhaps it was the Golden Age of the American university.
4 comments - Last on 02/24/2009

An Education Lived
February 20, 2009 By David Steiner
This article, a vivid autobiography chronicling Steiner's early years and road to Oxford, will be published in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions.

More Researchers Try to Measure Diversity's Effects
February 19, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
They find that grouping students by race deepens a sense of victimization.
1 comment - Last on 02/23/2009

Sustainability is the New Diversity
February 19, 2009 By Peter Wood
Except worse.

Panel 3: The Military and Academe
February 19, 2009
Video: At our national conference we held a panel to discuss the relationship between the military and higher education. General Josiah Bunting chaired the panel, which included speakers Edward Lengel, Brig Gen Charles F. Brower IV, and Allan Silver.
1 comment - Last on 02/23/2009

Canada Gets It Right
February 19, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Queen's College terminated its Intergroup Dialogue program when it was found to invite conversation-policing.

Bias Isn’t Bias If It’s Ours
February 18, 2009 By Peter Wood
For instance, according to Barbara Applebaum, it's appropriate to teach for social justice "under conditions of systemic injustice."
4 comments - Last on 02/20/2009

A New Way to Keep Up With NAS: RSS Feed
February 18, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Stay fed - subscribe to our articles!

Globalizing Higher Education in the Liberal Arts
February 18, 2009 By Tom Wood
Liberal arts education has been under attack recently in the U.S. as meaningless and irrelevant, but it is gaining a foothold in other countries.
1 comment - Last on 02/18/2009

The Academy Ovoids
February 18, 2009 By Peter Wood
We’re accepting nominations for the worst excesses in higher education.

"Ask God What Your Grade Is"
February 17, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A professor at LA City College shouts down and attempts to expel a student for supporting Proposition 8.    Open BMP file (184.89KB) . . .

Hookup Ink
February 17, 2009 By Wendy Shalit - Academic Questions
This preview article, which will appear in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions, is a review of three books on the campus hookup culture.

Comment on NPR's Broadcast, "The Cost of Being Green"
February 17, 2009 By Peter Wood
Peter Wood submitted an abbreviated version of this note to NPR here.
1 comment - Last on 02/17/2009

Unworldly Diversity
February 13, 2009 By Russell K. Nieli - Academic Questions
A review of the book, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies. This article will appear in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions.

Social Work Ed: Still Scandalous, But State Licensing Boards Not Scandalized
February 13, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
State licencing boards failed to respond to the imminent concerns NAS has raised about social work school accreditation.    Open PDF file (129.80KB) . . .

Lincoln's Bicentennial
February 12, 2009 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Happy 200th birthday Abe!

Sustainabullies
February 12, 2009 By Ashley Thorne and Peter Wood
How the sustainability movement self-reproduces

Good Practice: An NAS Series (2)
February 12, 2009 By Peter Wood
What is the best way to teach a course? To organize a curriculum? To administer a college? To serve as a trustee? We want to hear from you.

Panel 2: The Changing Economic and Technical Landscape of Higher Education
February 11, 2009
Video: Panel 2 at the January NAS conference, chaired by Herbert London, included Andrew Gillen (representing Richard Vedder), Richard Bishirjian, and Scott Jaschik.

Update on UW Fox Dean's Blog
February 11, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
The votes are in! This is a story of a university administrator who wrongly assumed that his political posturing would be met with widespread approbation.
4 comments - Last on 02/12/2009

Civilization and the Spirit of Scholarship: On the Continuing Need for the National Association of Scholars
Part II: A Dissenting Voice
February 11, 2009 By Peter Wood
The second in a multi-part series by Peter Wood surveying the past, present, and future of the NAS.
1 comment - Last on 02/13/2009

Stanley Fish and the Storm in Ottowa
February 10, 2009 By Peter Wood - Minding the Campus
Professor Fish blogged in the New York Times about Dennis Rancourt, a self-described anarchist and an advocate of “critical pedagogy,” who was ousted from the University of Ottowa. Minding the Campus originally published this opinion piece by Peter Wood alongside those of six other professors. Wood spots the trickery behind our false friend's clever rhetoric.
1 comment - Last on 02/11/2009

Great Books in the News
February 09, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
An interview with Bruce Gans
1 comment - Last on 02/10/2009

Brandishing an Apology
February 06, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Faculty call for transparency in art controversy.

No Maintenance At All: Just Education
February 05, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
The Salem campus of SNHU remembers why we go to college in the first place.
3 comments - Last on 02/10/2009

Champlain Ethics
February 04, 2009 By Peter Wood
How the University of Vermont waters down character education
2 comments - Last on 02/10/2009

Art for Gold
February 03, 2009 By Peter Wood and Glenn Ricketts
Cash flow collides with the higher things at Brandeis.

Deferred Maintenance
February 03, 2009 By Peter Wood
A call for financial accountability in higher education

Vote on Administrator's Political Showcasing
February 02, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Should a campus dean use his university platform to advertise his politics? Vote now!
1 comment - Last on 02/06/2009