Every now and then in these difficult times, it's nice to consider some of the institutions that are working pretty well. One of these is the US system of higher education. Yes, it's fraught with some problems right now: Covid cutbacks and Zoom fatigue, high student debt loads, the increasing size of the contingent faculty, … Continue reading Kroger — In Praise of American Higher Education
Category: Higher Education
Du Bois — Of the Coming of John
This post is a classic piece by W. E. B. Du Bois called "Of the Coming of John." It's a chapter from his book, The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903. Here's a link to the online version. It's a heartbreaking work of fiction filled with a lot of hard truths. It's the story of … Continue reading Du Bois — Of the Coming of John
Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit
This post is a reflection on Michael Sandel's new book, The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? He's a philosopher at Harvard and this is his analysis of the dangers posed by the American meritocracy. The issue is one I've been exploring here for the last two years in a variety of … Continue reading Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit
Kroger: In Praise of American Higher Education
This post is my effort to be upbeat for a change, looking at what's good about US education. It's a recent essay by John Kroger, "In Praise of American Higher Education," which was published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. Hope you enjoy it. All is not bleak. In Praise of … Continue reading Kroger: In Praise of American Higher Education
College: What Is It Good For?
This post is the text of a lecture I gave in 2013 at the annual meeting of the John Dewey Society. It was published the following year in the Society's journal, Education and Culture. Here's a link to the published version. The story I tell here is not a philosophical … Continue reading College: What Is It Good For?
Alain de Botton: On Asking People What They ‘Do’?
This lovely essay explores the most common question that modernity prompts strangers to ask each other: What do you do? The author is the philosopher Alain de Botton, who explains that this question is freighted with moral judgment. In a meritocracy, what you do for a living is not only who you are; it's also … Continue reading Alain de Botton: On Asking People What They ‘Do’?
Too Easy a Target: The Trouble with Ed Schools and the Implications for the University
This post is a piece I published in Academe (the journal of AAUP) in 1999. It provides an overview of the argument in my 2004 book, The Trouble with Ed Schools. I reproduce it here as a public service: if you read this, you won't need to read my book much less buy it. You're … Continue reading Too Easy a Target: The Trouble with Ed Schools and the Implications for the University
Rampell — It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk
This blog post is a still salient 2013 article from the New York Times about credential inflation in the American job market. Turns out that if you want to be a file clerk or runner at a law firm these days, you're going to need a four-year college degree. Here's a link to the original. … Continue reading Rampell — It Takes a B.A. to Find a Job as a File Clerk
How NOT to Defend the Private Research University
This post is a piece I published today in the Chronicle Review. It's about an issue that has been gnawing at me for years. How can you justify the existence of institutions of the sort I taught at for the last two decades -- rich private research universities? These institutions obviously benefit their students and faculty, … Continue reading How NOT to Defend the Private Research University
Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools
This post is a review I wrote of Steven Conn's book, Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools, which will be coming out this summer in History of Education Quarterly. Here's a link to the proofs. Steven Conn. Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools. Ithaca, NY: Cornell … Continue reading Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 