By Jerry A. Jacobs. These days, the term "interdisciplinary" is increasingly assumed to be synonymous with "innovative." The popular notion seems to be that the solutions to real-world problems require the insights of cross-trained researchers, or at least interdisciplinary teams. Indeed, interdisciplinary initiatives are springing up on campuses everywhere. 
For example, Arizona State has reorganized its college of arts and sciences along interdisciplinary lines, and Brown University’s program to support an extra year of graduate interdisciplinary training, which received a $2-million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is in its second year. Read more...

By Thomas Doherty. Mention Bernard Natan to even the most obsessive connoisseur of French cinema and you’re liable to get a blank stare. If recognized at all, the name might call up a vague association with sleaze and scandal. Natan, a new documentary from Ireland by the filmmakers David Cairns and Paul Duane, sketches in the full and fascinating picture—enumerating Natan’s achievements, debunking the allegations, and reconstructing a legacy lost to malign neglect. Read more...

By Goldie Blumenstyk. The for-profit-college industry’s trade association, backed by a 100-page report by economists, is coming out swinging against the U.S. Department of Education’s draft "gainful employment" regulation. The proposal is "flawed, arbitrary, and biased," and will deny educational access to as many as 7.5 million students over the next decade, contends the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, or Apscu, in documents it is filing on Tuesday. Read more...

By Vimal Patel. Humanities doctoral programs are under intense scrutiny. Policy makers, scholars, and the public have questioned whether universities should be producing so many Ph.D.’s in those fields, especially when the job market for tenure-track positions is tight. The Modern Language Association on Wednesday proposed a path forward for doctoral programs in literature and languages that calls for change but not contraction. In a document, titled "Report of the Task Force on Doctoral Study in Modern Language and Literature," the association agreed with critics on one point at least. Read more...

By Guy M. Rogers - Higher Ed Beta. Almost four months ago my EdX/WellesleyX course, “Was Alexander Great?” was launched to test three questions about online education: whether a Massive Open Online Course could be as intellectually rigorous as a brick and mortar history course; whether a MOOC could serve as a portal for both teaching and historical research; and whether an online course could engage and inspire students. The data are in and the answer to all three questions is an emphatic yes. Read more...

By John Warner. I am a fan of Rebecca Schuman’s education writing. Hers is a necessary voice, as she’s willing to challenge the status quo in unsparing terms, calling out the worst bad actors and empowering the disenfranchised to share their own stories. I agree with her about 95% of the time, but when it comes to the Obama administration’s development of a college ratings system, I have to (temporarily, I’m certain) leave Team Schumany. Read more...

By John Warner. I despair. 
As reported by Michael D. Shear at the New York Times, Obama administration deputy undersecretary for education Jamienne Studley told a group of college presidents that when it comes to evaluating colleges, “It’s like rating a blender.” 
I despair because apparently Jamienne Studley is an important person in directing federal higher education policy. Read more...

By Barbara Fister. I’ve been meaning to read the New York Times’s Innovation Report, the one that was leaked to Buzzfeed just as its first woman editor was being fired. (I don’t know enough about the circumstances of that change in editorial leadership to comment on its wisdom, but the public humiliation of Jill Abramson was excruciating to watch and not befitting the dignity of a major newspaper.)  Yesterday, Joshua Kim reminded me of my intention. After all, it's called, by the Neiman Journalism Lab, “one of the key documents of this media age.” Read more...

By Oronte. Tim Peters was a Fulbright fellow in Argentina in 2009. His work has appeared in The Point magazine, the Chicago Reader, the Review of Contemporary Fiction, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. His work has appeared at the blog before, most recently here and here Read more...

By Philip G. Altbach - The World View. This blog is not about awarding credit for academic work. Rather it concerns assigning author credit to reports that are published by many organizations. My comments relate to the field of higher education, although the situation is common in many areas. Of course, when a person does research or analysis and publishes the work in a journal or a book, he or she is listed as the author. Frequently, when work is done at the request of an organization, government agency, or private firm, and published for public distribution, no author or editor is listed. The situation varies and there seems to be no norm. I am not arguing that organizations are conspiring to withhold recognition — rather, I suspect, longstanding institutional cultures may be responsible. Read more...