By Geoffrey Pullum. An Überflip page by Andrea Ayres-Deets is headlined “5 Weak Words That Are Sabotaging Your Writing.” If only there were a few words that you could simply expunge to get an immediate improvement in your prose! But of course it’s nonsense. Writing advice can’t be reduced to word prohibitions; and the prohibitions recommended here would be ridiculous overkill. More...
By Allan Metcalf. The centennial commemoration of the start of the First World War has brought to the fore some of the music of that war, including an unsung gem that could well be the greatest fight song of all time.
(Granted, it’s not exactly unsung, since it’s a song. And the BBC recently praised it for its musical qualities. More...
By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Exploring Gender Imbalance Among STEM Doctoral Degree Recipients”
Authors: Andrew Gillen and Courtney Tanenbaum, senior researchers in the education program at the American Institutes for Research
Organization: American Institutes for Research
Summary: Men are overrepresented in about three-quarters of academic fields, and women are overrepresented in about one-quarter, according a paper from the American Institutes for Research that examines gender imbalances in fields in which Ph.D.’s are awarded. More...
By Kelly Field. The White House on Monday unveiled the winners of the fourth and final round of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grants. This year $450-million went to nearly 270 community colleges that volunteered to work with 400 employers to train displaced workers for high-skill, high-wage occupations. More...
By Charles Huckabee. Facebook announced new guidelines on Thursday for research on the social-media giant’s 1.3 billion users. The new oversight includes enhanced reviews of any proposed studies that would focus on particular groups or populations, or that would relate to “content that may be considered deeply personal (such as emotions),” the company said in a statement written by Mike Schroepfer, its chief technology officer. More...
By Andy Thomason. Cornell University has named the provost of the University of Southern California as its 13th president, according to a news release on its website. Elizabeth Garrett will be Cornell’s first female president when she takes office, on July 1, 2015. More...
By Andy Thomason. A federal judge in California has dismissed a lawsuit, filed by the estate of the late actor John Wayne, that asked for approval to use the name “Duke” to market certain alcoholic beverages, the Associated Press reports. More...
By Andy Thomason. The Association of American Colleges and Universities has announced a new project aimed at improving community-college students’ success by better training the colleges’ leaders. The effort, financed with a $290,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation, will include the creation of an online hub to share best practices at community colleges nationwide, among other things. More...
By Eric Hoover. We’ve all heard about the gender gap in higher education: Nationally, women enroll in college and complete degrees at higher rates than men do. But new research reveals that for decades women have been underrepresented at the nation’s most-selective institutions. And the apparent culprits are standardized tests. More...
By Jennifer Howard. A 1931 analysis of Herman Melville’s posthumous literary reputation doesn’t exactly scream headline news in 2014. But that essay, published decades ago in the journal American Literature by O.W. Riegel, got a new lease on life this week, thanks to an online journal, JSTOR Daily, that made its official debut on Wednesday. Read more.../https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
