By Herman Berliner. I keep hoping that The New York Times or Newsday will reach out to me and ask me to become one of their theater critics. I would do an excellent job, and I bring an important additional dimension to my work as a critic, in that I am first and foremost an educator. The arts for me, are an absolutely critical dimension of a good education. For instance, they provide a wonderful venue for a more sophisticated understanding of culture or of history. Read more...
By John Warner. After being so hard on the op-ed digest version of a portion of David Brooks’ new book, The Road to Character, I felt obligated to read the whole thing and give a fuller hearing to his argument. Read more...
By Oronte. It was a beautiful late-spring morning in south Louisiana last Thursday, blue skies and headed for 80 degrees. Roses have been in full swollen bloom for weeks, and ditches are filled with adolescent turtles and frogs. Read more...
By Lee Skallerup Bessette. I love music. Specifically, pop music. I grew up with morning radio, but not talk radio, but Top-40 radio. Music videos were new and exciting. The radio was always on in the car, with more Top-40. And when I came of age, as a tween and then teen, we all got our own Walkman, so I carried my music everywhere, carefully curating mixed tapes for any and all occasions, waiting for the right song during the weekly Top-40 countdown. Read more...
By Janine Utell. A couple of years ago, my dad told me a story. I don’t remember what prompted the story, but it was about me getting into a gifted and talented program in elementary school. I didn’t know this at the time -- I was just glad to get into the program and be allowed to leave my boring fourth grade classroom and horrible teacher once a week to go to another school to write poetry and play with snakes -- but my parents didn’t want me to go. My dad said they thought I was already so high-strung about school and grades that doing something like a gifted and talented program would freak me out. More...
By Jeanne Zaino. I recently listened to an episode of “Decodedc,” a popular podcast by Andrea Seabrook. “Generation Me,” (Episode 78) focuses on the work of San Diego State University psychologist, Jean Twenge. About 10 minutes into the podcast the host, Dick Meyer, recounts a depressing anecdote from a Texas Tech University Study which was designed to measure how tuned in millennials are to politics? If you’ve ever had a chance to watch Jay Leno’s Jaywalking on the Tonight Show, the results won’t surprise you. More...
By Matt Reed. Have you seen a college have major success in attracting local adult students who have some college credits they’ve picked up over the years, but who don’t have degrees to show for it?By Matt Reed. Last year, Florida made remediation optional. Students could be advised that it appeared that they needed remedial or developmental coursework, but they couldn’t be required to take it. They had to be given the option to skip it and start directly with college level work in both math and English. Read more...By Matt Reed. Howard University is soliciting alumni donations to pay off “holds” on student accounts so academically eligible seniors can graduate. By Matt Reed. A few months ago, a tweet made me laugh out loud: “The first rule of philosophy club is hard to define.”/https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
