Tag: academia
Elinor Ostrom, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and learning to see the women who have shaped the world
March 31, 2017 | Post
Well-behaved women seldom make history, but they should.
In praise of safe spaces on campus
March 9, 2017 | Post
I want to come out in favor of safe spaces. Not everywhere, or for all purposes, but in general I think there should be a strong presumption in favor of limited and exclusive safe spaces for any group that wants to establish one. Of course, the group would need to have the ability and legal […]
“Social justice lawyers” won’t save law school
March 4, 2017 | Post
It’s easy to spout high-minded rhetoric about idealistic young people, but that doesn’t change the cold, hard fact that law school is a bad deal for most students.
The biggest threat on campus
December 11, 2016 | Post
It is the examined life that both George and West view as the purpose of a liberal-arts education. Its goal, that is, is to encourage critical reflection on the biggest questions; to lead us into an intellectual engagement that fulfills our nature as thinking beings; to help us achieve self-mastery; to enlarge our souls.
Collective punishment at Harvard University
November 28, 2016 | Post
Collective punishment is unjust. This is the case whether it is employed by governments, corporations, teachers, or parents.
What is classical liberalism?
November 20, 2016 | Post
If you ask most people what classical liberalism is, they’ll say that it’s essentially free-market economics. But that’s a rather impoverished and narrow idea.
The devaluation of higher education
November 3, 2016 | Post
Like any other economic good, the value of a higher education degree is determined on the market, at the intersection of the subjective valuations and appraisements of those constituting the supply and demand of that particular good.
What If #FreeCollege Actually Hurts The Very Students It Is Supposed to Help?
October 5, 2016 | Post
Trump and Clinton are likely to look at this question. So does a new study.
How Politics Corrupts Scholarship
September 24, 2016 | Post
Perverse incentives distort the truth seeking nature of scholarship in academia to better benefit those in power.
The Obvious, Costless Way to Solve the Problem of Diversity Among College Professors
July 6, 2016 | Post
Increasing the diversity of university and college faculties is a perennial problem. Every year, year after year, demands for a more diverse faculty increase. Last fall, a wave of protests from student groups representing people of color, women, and LGBT individuals caused universities to redouble their efforts to diversify their faculties. For example, Yale announced […]
Roman Phalluses Sink Professor
January 14, 2016 | Post
Academic free speech is in serious jeopardy. And censorship doesn’t only hurt students—it also silences the professors who oversee and guide the flow of dialogue in the classroom. A former professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota found that out the hard way. David Hillman, a drama instructor, helped out with school plays before he […]
Campus Speech Repression is Nothing New
January 7, 2016 | Post
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), pointed out in a recent essay that the threat to free speech on college campuses is nothing new. Proponents of political correctness have long sought to impose speech codes to censor the masses. In 2004, a University of New Hampshire student was evicted from his dorm […]