I happily resigned from a continuing academic position five years ago. After almost twenty years in various teaching and research positions within the humanities and creative arts, I needed a change. I had enjoyed a great career, exceeded all my research and publication goals, and taught thousands of students. It seemed churlish to continue hogging […] … learn more→

For decades, more women have been entering male-dominated educational fields and careers. The proportion of men in female-dominated areas, on the other hand, has remained mostly unchanged. Now, gender gaps in female-dominated undergraduate majors — like foreign language — are larger than gender gaps in biology, math or the physical sciences. Foreign language proficiency is a useful skill […] … learn more→

In the wake of a series of coordinated attacks that claimed more than 250 lives on April 21, the government of Sri Lanka shut off its residents’ access to social media and online messaging systems, including Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Snapchat and Viber. The official government concern was that “false news reports were spreading through social media.” Some commentators applauded […] … learn more→

In the old days, getting into college was a big deal—you had to be a good student, have some solid extracurricular activities and generally pass an entrance exam as well as demonstrate you can write a decent “Why I Want To Go To College” essay. When the Federal government decided to back student loans, giving […] … learn more→

Chinese international students are a huge presence on Australian university campuses, and nowhere more so than at the University of Sydney. Their exact number is hard to pin down; the university is very proud that it draws students “from over 130 countries” but quite coy about the distribution of their nationalities. However, estimates suggest that […] … learn more→

In the summer of his junior year, Luis Miguel was struggling to stay in high school. He and his family of four – who work various agricultural jobs from picking blueberries and cherries to pruning grapes and canning tomatoes – live in one of California’s 24 migrant family housing centers. As a documentary filmmaker, I have been […] … learn more→

Studying hard and going through revisions to prepare for the upcoming exam season? Then you must be experiencing tough times due to long reading sessions. Ironically, a lot of students face hard times understanding what they read even after reading the same paragraph several times. However, you can make the most out of revisions and reading sessions […] … learn more→

It is increasingly common in this society or, at least, in this country, to divide the intellectuals – and their students – into two great branches of knowledge: letters and sciences, as if the former were not scientific and the latter not they would have a certain domain of humanistic knowledge that has led us […] … learn more→

Today’s young people deserve to be heard. But, because of all of our technological distractions and polarized political systems, listening to others is becoming increasingly difficult. Philosopher and political scientist Roman Krznaric recently wrote an eloquent column on the harrowing prospects of “short-termism” for young people. My research has delivered a similar warning. Our survey across five global cities […] … learn more→

Time and again I’ve covered state universities where faculty were mandated to pass students in their class, regardless of student performance. Mostly these mandates are for lower level courses—nonexistent entrance requirements let hordes of kids who have no business on campus (not making judgements here!) have little choice but to take only entry-level courses. Failing […] … learn more→