This post is an essay by Eliot Cohen, which was published recently in the Atlantic. Here's a link to the original. He's making the argument that universities have no business taking stands on major issues of public policy and international affairs that are outside the scope of their institutional domain. It's in line the Chicago position … Continue reading Eliot Cohen — The Great Academic Squirm
This post is a collection of some favorite cartoons about the nature of academic research. All of them are from the website PhD, which stands for Piled Higher and Deeper. The author is Jorge Cham, who got his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford and then taught at Cal Tech. Enjoy!
This post is a collection of some of my favorite cartoons about academic life, most of which come from the Jorge Chan website PHDComics.com. Enjoy.
This post is a collection of some favorite cartoons about the Life of a Doctoral Student. All of them are from the website PhD, which stands for Piled Higher and Deeper. The author is Jorge Cham, who got his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford and then taught at Cal Tech. Enjoy!
This post is an overview of the book I published last spring. It’s available on Amazon both as an e-book and a paperback. The title is Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. Below is the book’s introduction, which provides the rationale for the book and summarizes the eleven pieces that you will … Continue reading Being a Scholar
This post is an essay by Len Gutkin that was recently published in the Chronicle Review. Here's a link to the original. The essay does a great job of capturing the essence of a new form of discourse on American university campuses he calls the "hyperbolic style" -- which he characterizes as "breathless, declaratory, at … Continue reading Len Gutkin — The Hyperbolic Style in American Academe
This blog post is an essay by Caitlin Flanagan recently published in Atlantic. Here's a link to the original. If colleges were in fact teaching students how to think, she says, then they would be encouraging students to consider the best arguments on the other side of the issue they are most ardent about. Colleges … Continue reading Caitlin Flanagan — Colleges Aren’t Teaching Students How to Think
This post is the statement issued on October 11 by the president and provost of Stanford. To me, it's the best such statement by university leaders that I've seen in response to the Hamas attack on Israel and the ongoing battle in Gaza. What I like is that they stay focused on the issues on … Continue reading Stanford Statement on Israel and Palestine
This post is a lovely essay about that central academic institution, the endowed chair. It's written by a professor who wants one. Every professor does. Not because it brings money and power but because it offers the key form of academic compensation -- a little bit of fame. It picks up on a theme I've … Continue reading Buy Me a Chair
All too often, academic writing is tone deaf to the music of language. Just as we tend to consider unprofessional any writing that is playful, engaging, funny, or moving, so too with writing that is musical. A professional monotone is the scholar's voice of choice. This stance leads to two big problems. One is that … Continue reading Academic Writing Issues #4: Failing to Listen for the Music
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 