Articles and Archives

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UNESCO-topia: Sustainability’s Big Brother

What does gender have to do with climate change?

The Sheepskin Effect

Does a college degree mean anything to employers? What intrinsic value does higher education have?
1 comment - Last on 08/10/2009

Unfit

Why “sustainability” is not the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.

Outranked

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

NAS President Peter Wood presents a scholarly paper synthesizing NAS's work on sustainability.

“Academic Freedom is Not a License for Bigotry”

A professor is bullied out of a job because of her controversial views, but NYU upholds academic freedom.
2 comments - Last on 07/27/2009

Community Colleges: A Brief History

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

What’s your idea of an ideal college? Email nasonweb@nas.org this summer and let us know!

Remembering Leszek Kolakowski, 1927-2009

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

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

A new issue of Academic Questions available online explores institutional decline.
1 comment - Last on 07/22/2009

Online Education: Off Base?

"Evidence" on value of distance ed doesn't convince everyone.
2 comments - Last on 07/20/2009

A Safer Way to Squander

President Obama announces the American Graduation Initiative, a $12 billion dollar fund for community colleges.

Smell of Books

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 Score: Test Rigging before Ricci

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

"Approach sustainability as an issue woven into the fabric of every university, rather than as a passing fad."
3 comments - Last on 07/13/2009

NAS Website Brings the Facts to Light

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

College presidents ask the Senate to help support sustainability education.
2 comments - Last on 07/15/2009

Chastening Churchill: The Justice of Judge Naves’ Opinion

Why academic freedom is not a defense for Ward Churchill.
3 comments - Last on 07/10/2009

Selling Merit Down the River

NAS presents a major review essay on the third "River" book supporting racial preferences.    Open PDF file (278.74KB) . . .

Ideas and Idealogues

The Aspen Ideas Festival confuses social and political activism with scholarship.

The Race Isn't Over

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

This article by Stephen Zelnick recounting Temple University's departure from the Great Conversation appeared in the "Case Studies in Academic Malady" issue of Academic Questions (vol. 22, no. 3).
2 comments - Last on 07/02/2009

Take Back the Classroom from PowerPoint

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

Student journalists examine topics from presidential speeches to campus smoking bans.

Will You Promote Diversity? Virginia Tech Tests Faculty Candidates’ Commitment

A major public university has fashioned a “diversity” litmus test for faculty hiring

FIRE Educates for Free Speech on Campus

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

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

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

Is Brooklyn College using freshman reading for ideological goals?

Question of the Week: How Many Colleges Should You Apply To?

To answer, leave a comment on this article, email us, or respond via Facebook or Twitter (no more than 140 characters).

Atlas Black Shrugs

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

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

How the attacks on for-profit higher ed are squashing needed competition.

New Excellent Programs: Tocqueville Program and Center for Statesmanship

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

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

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?

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

Professor Paquette responds to the controversy generated this summer after Hamilton College sought to censor his NAS article.

Real Ethics Education

Ethics courses should make moral decisions personal, argues Jason Fertig.

Collegiate Press Roundup 8-18-10

Student journalists tackle gay marriage, weird psycholgy studies and state liquor regulations.

5 Consequences of Administrative Bloat

What happens to higher education when universities are dominated by administrators?

Ravitch Repentant

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.

 

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