By Dayna Catropa. I recently saw the “Air Orchestra” from Soul Pancake, which immediately jumped out as an interesting way to break the ice in a classroom environment, especially one in which student participation and interaction are critical. Read more...
By Rosemarie Emanuele. In Economics, “indifference curves” can be used to show that consumers will prefer mixed bundles of goods to those consisting of only one good. To illustrate this, imagine how we often serve meals consisting of a protein, a starch and a vegetable. Such a combination is certainly preferable to meals consisting of only proteins or only starches. I found myself thinking of this when I read an article appearing in Inside Higher Ed this past Monday about which pairs of co-authors seem to be most successful, claiming they are those that come from different backgrounds. Read more...
By Matt Reed. Rebecca Townsend asked a great question recently. Should public speaking be a general education requirement? 
By Rob Weir. I’m having a great semester, but I’m thinking about midcourse adjustments. Experience tells me there will be lulls at some point. I don’t take it personally — each group has different needs, questions, and interests; something that soared last fall might crash in the spring. One of the healthiest things professors can do is shake up the routine at mid-semester to add new dimensions to the class, address things that aren’t going well, and reinforce those that are. Read more...
By Helena Pozniak. Get a head start: Helena Pozniak talks to three successful university applicants who share their tips for a top personal statement. The grades you get are almost certainly more important to universities than what you put in your personal statement. However, if you’re competing against other academically competent students, a punchy statement might swing the balance in your favour. So, it's definitely worth giving this some early thought. Read more...
By Mazen Guirguis and Pavlina Vagnerova. Opinions are not hard to come by, but merely having a position is not enough. The great achievement is in having a point of view that is defensible, that does not buckle under the pressure of scrutiny. The same is true of belief systems. Most people are interested not only in believing things, but in believing things that are true. The distinction between opinions and correct opinions, beliefs and true beliefs, has important implications, one of which is denying that all beliefs are on an equal footing. Likewise we should reject, without hesitancy or shame, the idea that all beliefs are equally deserving of respect. More...
By Max Ramseyer. A debate among higher-education leaders at Duke University broke out in 2003, when news emerged that Nannerl O. Keohane, then president, was working with faculty members, led by Elizabeth Kiss, then an associate professor of political science and philosophy, to found the Kenan Institute for Ethics. More...
By Clifford A. Robinson. I am a perfect example of the kind of unlearning and relearning that Professor Davidson discusses this week in her MOOC, “History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education.” As a Ph.D. candidate in classical studies, I am more comfortable researching and writing alone in a carrel, handling antiquities such as Greek papyri or Latin manuscripts, than plunging into new media in collaboration with my peers. More...
By Melonie Fullick. When I was about 20 I made the decision to quit pursuing a career doing the thing I’d been best at all my life. Some of you might be surprised to know that I was “supposed” to be an artist. I was better at art – drawing, building and sculpting, photography – than I was at anything else, and I was usually better at it than anyone around me. Of course that changed when I started my BFA, but I was still very good at it and would have been much better if I’d felt the motivation to perform in the way I was supposed to. But I didn’t feel it, and I didn’t like the performance (which was far more than just “artistic”), and it meant that I had to start questioning “why not?”. I knew I had to make a decision before I went too far down that track, narrowing my options to the point where it would be difficult to start something else, and investing a lot of time that could be better used elsewhere. Read more...
By Matt Reed. Nick Kristof, at the New York Times, set off an explosion on Twitter with his piece Sunday about the seeming disappearance of college faculty from larger political discussions. Quoting famous people from Harvard, Princeton, and Harvard again, Kristof concluded that the marginalization of academic voices is a result of hyper-specialization and rampant liberalism. Read more...
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