Judging from recent reports, one might think that trigger warnings—alerts about classroom material involving pedophilia, rape, and other disturbing topics—are the latest threat to civilization. To their credit, the warnings about trigger warnings are not entirely without merit, in that we do indeed need to guard our academic freedoms (which are not always and everywhere […] … learn more→

As the semester draws to a close, and colleges and universities across America prepare for graduation, I keep thinking about my last day in the classroom. It was really anti-climactic. All morning I felt torn and pulled, torn and pulled. I couldn’t focus on course prep because I was too hyper-anxious. I walked through my […] … learn more→

In a bid to fight escalating anti-migrant propaganda, the European Commission this month released a blueprint for regulating online hate, which requires social media companies to take down racist material within 24 hours. This joint code of conduct sounds like a positive political compromise. But it’s unclear how it will work in practice and how […] … learn more→

Since the start of the year, scholars in Turkey have taken up strange habits. Some have started flying and filming kites with their students, then posting videos on the internet late in the evening. Some have started songwriting, producing strange lyrics. Some are organising bus tours. My mobile phone has never seen so much WhatsApp action: […] … learn more→

Earlier I covered a conservative professor, at a private Jesuit school, who had been on suspension well over a year for naming a student with pro-heterosexual views in a blog post. Now, for what it’s worth, I think the professor was wrong to name that student. Being known as pro-heterosexual marriage can destroy your career […] … learn more→

A large majority of UK undergraduates are satisfied with their university course, according to the results of an annual survey of 15,000 full-time students. But the 2016 student academic experience survey found perceptions of “good value for money” are in decline, indicating that students are becoming more demanding. This year, only 37% of students felt […] … learn more→

Do teachers who learn the job online perform as well as teachers trained in the same kind of brick-and-mortar classroom they’re likely to teach in? A new set of proposals to regulate online teacher preparation programs from the federal government is an effort to find out which programs are working and which aren’t, but it’s […] … learn more→

It is probably fair to say that for new students, university life is all about change. Changing the way they plan their time, changing the way they think about the world, and changing their attitudes to learning. That change, that adaptation to meet the expectations we thrust upon them, is one we as their educators […] … learn more→

genderThe importance of treating women well Valerie M. Hudson, Texas A&M University As an American woman, I am proud to tell my sons and daughters that for the first time in U.S. history a woman is the presidential nominee of one of the two major political parties in the country. And though I have some […] … learn more→

Just over 10 years ago, the president of Emory University, my Atlanta-based institution, told an international planning group that he wanted to hear many languages during his daily walks across campus. This vision was based on the idea that international diversity and perspectives enrich the classroom and life on campus, while also helping to prepare […] … learn more→