This post is a collection of some of my favorite cartoons about academic life, many of which come from the Jorge Chan website PHDComics.com. Enjoy.
Month: November 2025
John Warner — Teach Writing, Not Document Production
This post is an essay by John Warner that was published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. He takes a smart approach to the problem of how to teach writing to college students in the era of AI, where an algorithm can produce an adequate essay in response to the instructor's prompt … Continue reading John Warner — Teach Writing, Not Document Production
Mutual Subversion: A Short History of the Liberal and the Professional in American Higher Education
This post is a piece I published in History of Education Quarterly in 2006. Here's a link to the original, complete with footnotes. It's an elaboration on the presidential address I presented at the annual meeting of the History of Education Society in October, 2005. It then became a chapter in my 2017 book, A … Continue reading Mutual Subversion: A Short History of the Liberal and the Professional in American Higher Education
Max Roser — The Limits of Personal Experience and the Value of Statistics
This post is an essay by Max Roser from the website Our World in Data. Here's a link to the original. Roser is the founder of that website, which I have found an invaluable source for valid data on all manner of subjects relevant in today's world. I check it out every day to check out … Continue reading Max Roser — The Limits of Personal Experience and the Value of Statistics
Academic Writing Issues: Getting Off to a Fast Start
The introduction to a paper is critically important. This is where you try to draw in readers, tell them what you're going to address, and show why this issue is important. It's also a place to show a little style, demonstrating that you're going to take readers on a fun ride. Below are two exemplary … Continue reading Academic Writing Issues: Getting Off to a Fast Start
Hilarius Bookbinder — In Praise of Frivolous Research
This post is an essay by Hilarius Bookbinder recently published in his Substack. Here's a link to the original. I posted another piece of his here recently. He is my favorite read these days in my favorite new medium, Substack. He’s got a great nom de plume, don’t you think? Based on a few clues in … Continue reading Hilarius Bookbinder — In Praise of Frivolous Research
An Affair to Remember: America’s Brief Fling with the University as a Public Good
This post is an essay about the brief but glorious golden age of the US university during the three decades after World War II. American higher education rose to fame and fortune during the Cold War, when both student enrollments and funded research shot upward. Prior to World War II, the federal government showed little … Continue reading An Affair to Remember: America’s Brief Fling with the University as a Public Good
A. O. Scott — What’s So Great About ‘Slow Horses’? This Scene Says It All.
This post is a recent essay by A. O. Scott, published in the Times. Here's a link to the original. It's a lovely window into the mechanics of good writing. He's talking about one of my favorite authors, Mick Herron, who wrote the Slow Horses series that is now serialized on Apple TV. What’s So Great … Continue reading A. O. Scott — What’s So Great About ‘Slow Horses’? This Scene Says It All.
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 