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.

Horowitz vs. Islamo-Billikenism
September 30, 2009 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Perhaps St. Louis University's pointy-eared mascot was behind SLU's recent decision to disinvite David Horowitz from speaking on campus.

Diversity's Doom & Pluralism's Plans
September 29, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A new book, The Politically Correct University, features chapters by NAS's president Peter Wood and NAS chairman Steve Balch.
1 comment - Last on 10/01/2009

Dancing with the STARS
September 28, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
AASHE publishes an early version of a project called the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) to measure colleges' sustainability progress.

Campus Reform Looks Forward
September 25, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
NAS welcomes a new web-based effort to reform higher education.
2 comments - Last on 10/01/2009

Never Waste a Good Cliché
September 24, 2009 By Peter Wood
The sustainability ethic of a college president

Name That Blog
September 24, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Announcing NAS's new blog - can you help us give it a name?

California Association Talks of War
September 24, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Our California affiliate invites you to a free evening with Victor Davis Hanson.

Higher Education and Economic Growth
September 23, 2009 By Tom Wood
Tom Wood makes the case that higher education is worth public support.

What Good Are People?
September 22, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Two ominous new developments for the sustainability movement: the MAHB and a sustainability literacy handbook.
1 comment - Last on 09/23/2009

Spring and Summer Highlights
September 21, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
We present a round-up of the some of the best articles from the last few months, in case you missed one or would like to revisit your favorites.

What's Cooking
September 20, 2009 By Peter Wood
Yale, Virgina Tech, East Georgia, Eastern Michigan, Latin American Historians, 21st Century Cluelessness, and CampusReform.org--we've got it all.

Single Payer Lending
September 19, 2009 By Peter Wood
The U.S. Houses passes "direct lending" bill as part of President Obama's plan for higher ed. What does it mean?
2 comments - Last on 09/20/2009

On the Passing of Irving Kristol: A Memory and Tribute
September 18, 2009 By Steve Balch
NAS chairman Steve Balch pays tribute to Irving Kristol, 1920-2009.
1 comment - Last on 09/21/2009

Vapor Trail: The UN's Plan for Higher Education
September 18, 2009 By Peter Wood
The United Nations asks presidents of all colleges and universities in the world to sign its "Academic Impact" initiative.

Inadequate and Superfluous
September 18, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
A Princeton professor feels too white to talk about diversity.

An Interview with David Silverstein
September 18, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa brings integrity to the disciplines.

The Shape of (Academic) Things to Come
September 17, 2009 By Peter Wood
It’s 2029. Do you know where your university is?
4 comments - Last on 09/19/2009

U Arizona Celebrates Chicano Walk-Out Day with a Teach-In
September 16, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
La Raza studies, teaching students that white America is the enemy, lives on in American public education.

Horse-Hair Justice
September 15, 2009 By Peter Wood
Thoughts on "21st-Century Skills" and where education should begin.
1 comment - Last on 09/16/2009

Not for Crybabies
September 14, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Do universities study conservative political thought?

Tray Chic
September 11, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Colleges experiment in trayless dining...and mind manipulation.
1 comment - Last on 09/14/2009

Paglia’s Scimitar
September 10, 2009 By Peter Wood
The feminist-lesbian-leftist calls higher education out as a "rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms."

Eastern Michigan U Expels Student for Her Beliefs
September 09, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Video: Julea Ward tells her story
4 comments - Last on 09/10/2009

Dem Bones, Dem Barebones Education...
September 03, 2009 By Peter Wood and Glenn Ricketts
Online education gains respectability as the wave of the future.
9 comments - Last on 09/11/2009

Middle East and Africa Scholars Meet Next Month
September 03, 2009 By Ashley Thorne
Seats are still available at the ASMEA conference in October.

Sustainability is a Waste
10 Reasons to Oppose the Sustainability Movement on Your Campus
September 03, 2009 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
College students hear a lot about sustainability these days, but do you know what it really means?
7 comments - Last on 09/04/2009

Seven Imaginary Curricula
September 01, 2009 By Peter Wood
Most colleges don't seize the opportunity to do something original. We suggest they try a new approach, such as the labyrinth curriculum.
1 comment - Last on 09/08/2009

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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