What Has Become of Freshman Comp?

Sep 13, 2010 by George Leef |

That is the question Professor Robert V. Young of North Carolina State answers in this Pope Center piece we released last week. Back when he taught the course in the 1970s, it was like boot camp for college students who needed… Continue Reading | 2 Comments >

Freshman Comp Ain’t What She Used to Be

Aug 02, 2010 by George Leef |

We hear a lot of chatter about how it's so vital that we get more young Americans through college because college teaches them the "higher skills" that the globalized "knowledge economy" demands. I think that's baloney.… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

In Memoriam

Jul 12, 2010 by David Clemens |

Most good teachers had a model. Robert Pinsky had Francis Ferguson; Mark Edmundson had Frank Lears. I was lucky; I had two. My Freshman Comp. teacher was Dr. Idelle Sullens, a Stanford-trained medievalist specializing in 14th… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

Freedom from Bad Academic Writing

Apr 26, 2010 by Jonathan Bean |

The following column on George Orwell's advice to free students from bad academic writing is worth reading:

http://chronicle.com/article/Bad-WritingBad-Thinking/65031/?sid=ja&utm_source=ja&utm_medium=en

The Philomath Speaks: An Interview with Anu Garg

Dec 15, 2009 by Ashley Thorne, Peter Wood |

"Words are like air — they are all around us even though we can't see them, and they are just as essential," says Anu Garg, creator of Wordsmith.org.

Squeezing the Grapefruit

Dec 07, 2009 by Ashley Thorne |

NAS president Peter Wood’s book review of Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, is linked on Arts and Letters Daily.

On the Beauty of Formal Grammar

Nov 04, 2009 by Ashley Thorne |

A charming blog on our blogroll, Quiddity - created by the Center for Independent Research on Classical Education (CiRCE) - has an excellent post on the beauty of formally-taught grammar. Author Andrew Kern, CiRCE president… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

Politics as Pedagogy?

Oct 08, 2009 by Ashley Thorne |

At Critical Mass, Erin O’Connor has an excellent take on a professor’s recent article justifying her use of the classroom for political activism. Professor Gemma Puglisi, who teaches a writing course at the… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

Acres of Rhinestones: Temple Betrays Its Heritage

Jul 01, 2009 by Stephen Zelnick |

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).

The College Backgrounds of America’s Leading Syndicated Columnists

Dec 01, 2008 by Tom Wood |

Journalism's roots in higher education remind us of the university's role in public society.

The College Backgrounds of America’s Leading Newspaper Opinion Columnists

Nov 21, 2008 by Tom Wood |

A look at how higher education has influenced the analysts and inscribers of American public opinion.

You Too Can Write Like Toni Morrison!

Nov 17, 2008 by Peter Wood |

It's not for nothing that Toni Morrison is the most assigned author in college today. Her revamping of written English gives a new model for fiction. As a service, NAS's executive director has distilled certain rules that… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

Hypergelasts

Oct 14, 2008 by Peter Wood |

Are you ever hangry? Do you ever blamestorm? Then expiscate some new words with us.

Crying Out Loud

Sep 24, 2008 by Glenn Ricketts |

Scholarships for cheerleaders but none for history readers

If I Ran the Zoo VII

Jun 25, 2008 by Mark Bauerlein |

Mark Bauerlein's simple rule for running the zoo: have other professors teach freshman comp too!