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.

UNESCO-topia: Sustainability’s Big Brother
July 31, 2009 By Peter Wood
What does gender have to do with climate change?

The Sheepskin Effect
July 30, 2009 By Tom Wood
Does a college degree mean anything to employers? What intrinsic value does higher education have?
1 comment - Last on 08/10/2009

Unfit
July 29, 2009 By Peter Wood
Why “sustainability” is not the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.

Outranked
July 28, 2009 By Peter Wood
Why do American universities dominate the worldwide rankings for top research institutions? And why are European academics so worried about it?

The Sustainability Movement in the American University
July 27, 2009 By Peter Wood
NAS President Peter Wood presents a scholarly paper synthesizing NAS's work on sustainability.

“Academic Freedom is Not a License for Bigotry”
July 24, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A professor is bullied out of a job because of her controversial views, but NYU upholds academic freedom.
2 comments - Last on 07/24/2009

Community Colleges: A Brief History
July 23, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
As community colleges are recognized now more than ever as a permanent and indispensable sector of the American higher educational system, NAS opens a new series exploring their role today.

Your Chance to Run the Zoo
July 23, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
What’s your idea of an ideal college? Email nasonweb@nas.org this summer and let us know!

Remembering Leszek Kolakowski, 1927-2009
July 22, 2009 By Paul Hollander
Paul Hollander, NAS advisory board member and distinguished scholar of Marxism, reflects upon the intellectual career and contributions of Leszek Kolakowski, who passed away on July 17th.

Wal-Mart's Eco-Index
July 21, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
The retail giant teams up with the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University to find ways to measure products' social and environmental impact.
1 comment - Last on 07/22/2009

The Dead, the Dying, and the Not Feeling Too Well
July 20, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A new issue of Academic Questions available online explores institutional decline.
1 comment - Last on 07/22/2009

Online Education: Off Base?
July 17, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
"Evidence" on value of distance ed doesn't convince everyone.
2 comments - Last on 07/20/2009

A Safer Way to Squander
July 16, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
President Obama announces the American Graduation Initiative, a $12 billion dollar fund for community colleges.

Smell of Books
July 15, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
In the age of the Kindle, Google Books, the iPhone, and audio books, have we lost something precious now that we can't smell what we read?

The Case Against College Entitlements...No Comment
July 14, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
More public funding for higher education?
2 comments - Last on 07/15/2009

The Score: Test Rigging before Ricci
July 13, 2009 By Glenn Ricketts
Twenty years before Ricci, two NAS members debunked “race norming” and changed American law. In his majority opinion, Justice Kennedy drew on their work. NAS celebrates some unsung heroes of the battle for civil rights.
1 comment - Last on 07/13/2009

Woven Into the Fabric...No Comment
July 10, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
"Approach sustainability as an issue woven into the fabric of every university, rather than as a passing fad."
3 comments - Last on 07/15/2009

NAS Website Brings the Facts to Light
July 10, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
With the transformation of our website over the last year, we feel a bit as if we have emerged from a gloomy June into a warm sunny day.

1% for Propaganda
July 09, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
College presidents ask the Senate to help support sustainability education.
2 comments - Last on 07/10/2009

Chastening Churchill: The Justice of Judge Naves’ Opinion
July 08, 2009 By Peter Wood
Why academic freedom is not a defense for Ward Churchill.
3 comments - Last on 07/13/2009

Selling Merit Down the River
July 06, 2009 By Russell K. Nieli
NAS presents a major review essay on the third "River" book supporting racial preferences. Open PDF file (278.74KB) . . .

Happy Independence Day from NAS!
July 02, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Ten great Fourth of July facts
1 comment - Last on 07/06/2009

Ideas and Idealogues
July 02, 2009 By Peter Wood
The Aspen Ideas Festival confuses social and political activism with scholarship.

The Race Isn't Over
July 02, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Complying with federal regulations, Virginia Tech calls on students to identify their race and ethnicity.
3 comments - Last on 07/06/2009

Acres of Rhinestones: Temple Betrays Its Heritage
July 01, 2009 By Stephen Zelnick - Academic Questions
This article by Stephen Zelnick recounting Temple University's departure from the Great Conversation will appear in a forthcoming issue of Academic Questions (vol. 22, no. 3).
2 comments - Last on 07/10/2009

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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