I’ve written about Trump University before, and it appears I was wrong, at least a little. I thought the amounts involved were only a few million (and thus nothing compared to the hundreds of millions in Clinton’s Laureate school), but the amounts were pretty significant, even if pale next to other scandals by professional politicians. […] … learn more→

A year after COP21 and the adoption of the Paris Agreement, international policymakers are still struggling to convert targets into action. This is clearly indicated by the title of the recent followup COP in Marrakech: Turn the Promise of Paris into Action. But as the international community putters along, cities and local communities are already […] … learn more→

Critics may accuse President-elect Donald J. Trump and his supporters of dragging down public discourse in America, but civility took leave of open discussions years ago – online. Beneath digital news stories and social media posts are unmoderated, often anonymous comment streams showing in plain view the anger, condescension, misogyny, xenophobia, racism and nativism simmering […] … learn more→

The past four years have seen English higher education come to rely more and more heavily on funding from student loans. These are now set to expand further, as the UK government carries out a consultation on loans for doctoral study. Like previous reforms, these have the stated aim of widening access and meeting unmet […] … learn more→

President-elect Trump has called global warming “bullshit” and a “Chinese hoax.” He has promised to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate treaty and to “bring back coal,” the world’s dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fuel. The incoming administration has paraded a roster of climate change deniers for top jobs. On Dec. 13, Trump named former Texas Governor […] … learn more→

College students spend a tremendous amount of time with their friends. One estimate suggests that the average college student spends only 15 hours a week in class but 86 hours a week with his or her friends. But how much do we understand about the role friendships play and how they influence students both academically […] … learn more→

“Stop hassling me, man. You’re always riding me.” –classic complaints from a hippie teenager. Every culture of worker has its own slang, and today I’ll talk about a word that readers outside of higher education might not know, “snowflake.” A snowflake is a special student. I don’t mean “special ed” or as we call it […] … learn more→

The title of this post might sound harsh, but it’s exactly how I felt the first time I was at a scientific conference. I hadn’t prepared very well for attending this conference, because I was focused on presenting at this conference. This was in 1999, and I have since then attended and/or presented at 20-something […] … learn more→

I thought I had this academic job business pretty much sewn-up: a double doctorate, six books and 70+ scholarly articles, over a million dollars in competitive research funding (in teams or solo). I was what they call “research active”—and I still am. I am also—by any measure—a good teacher. Moreover, I had a continuing position […] … learn more→

How should a university engage with the consequences of its own history? How can difficult and controversial pasts add to the quality and effectiveness of a university’s work in the present? Ten years ago,Slavery and Justice report; reflections and recommendations following from revelations about its early benefactors’ involvement in the Rhode Island slave trade. Today, […] … learn more→