Are academics obliged to write letters of recommendation for students even if they abhor what the student in question is applying to do? That question is raised by the recent case of John Cheney-Lippold, a University of Michigan academic who refused to support a student’s application to a study abroad programme in Israel because of […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
Writing recommendation letters is a courtesy, not an obligation
It’s naive to think college athletes have time for school
From my first day as a sociology professor at a university with a Division I football and men’s basketball team, education and athletics struck me as being inherently at odds. Student-athletes filled my courses to take advantage of the fact that the classes met early in the morning. The football and men’s basketball players – most of […] … learn more→
College madness: A “fist bump” is sexual harassment
In our “criminal justice” system, being convicted of a sex crime is a permanent mark of shame. Lay hands on a girl one day shy of her 18th birthday, or equally molest an infant, and forever more you’re branded a “sexual predator,” and your neighbors are notified as such whenever you move. That label is […] … learn more→
A voice from the precariat
You can often find me on the edge of things. For the most part it’s where I choose to be. When you do find me in the thick of it, it’s invariably when thinking and speaking collide fuelled by feeling and I really ought to remain silent. But my current state of in-betweenness feeds on […] … learn more→
Check for ‘code words’ – revising your writing
It is not uncommon for doctoral writers to get supervisor feedback saying they need to unpack an idea. But what does this unpack really mean – and how does a writer get in a situation where they have something that needs to be unpacked? Well. Let me start with the last question first of all. How do […] … learn more→
“Everyone goes down”: why I chose to talk about science at the theater
Curious by nature, I have always been passionate about science. During my studies, it seemed natural to me to turn to research. Like the majority of doctoral students, my enthusiasm has been somewhat shaken by the reality of the laboratory, between the experiments that do not work, the hypotheses swept over after several months of experimentation, as […] … learn more→
The glass box: a law teacher’s experience of structural discrimination
I work in a glass box. In higher education, as elsewhere, the cultural barriers to workplace progression for women, often referred to as the glass ceiling, are well reported. The glass floor of the box, one the other hand, is less common, and stems from my discipline – law. In legal education there tends to […] … learn more→
College sued for “stealing” students from another school
When it comes to sportsball players, colleges “steal” star athletes from each other on a regular basis, at least when it’s time to grab incoming freshmen. It’s little different than in professional sports, which often bid for available players. It’s funny to use the word “steal,” of course, but I can certainly understand how people […] … learn more→
How to properly prepare for two of the biggest exams of your life – SAT and GMAT?
Your adult academic life will be defined by two of the most important exams: your SAT exam and your GMAT exam. You will spend quite some time properly preparing for these exams, but many of you are still unaware of how to manage the process itself. Fear not, because, in the following paragraphs, we will […] … learn more→
Why I’m not surprised Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland isn’t a full professor
Donna Strickland, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics. The third woman to have ever been awarded this prize in 117 years, she shares it with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou. Strickland explained that she’s been treated as an equal by her male peers, which […] … learn more→
