Tag Archives: university

Jonathan Rauch Powerfully Defends Free Speech

“We’re not delicate flowers.” __________ I like Rauch’s distinction between purism and pluralism: purism, on his account, protects from offensive speech, presuming that the community must be kept clean from the public expression of certain ideas; pluralism protects dialogue, presuming that … Continue reading

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Blessed are the Ignorant: Rick Santorum Adds a Beatitude to the Sermon on the Mount

“Blessed are ye who lack degrees, for such is the Party of God.” And they applauded. What manner of man is this? _____ “But woe unto those that are educated, for they art snobs.” Here’s a transcript of Rick Santorum’s exact … Continue reading

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Two Questions for Professors: Are You Demanding and Do You Teach Critical Thinking?

The following is in Salon today: [W]hat if the downward trend in learning extends into the echelons of higher education? That’s what Richard Arum argues in “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.” Arum, a sociology and education professor at … Continue reading

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How Free is Your Speech if You Are an Instructor at a Publicly Financed School?

According to the ACLU website, if you are a public school teacher your free speech latitude depends on two things: where you are expressing yourself (in or out of the classroom); and whether you teach minors or adults. Here’s the … Continue reading

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AC Grayling: For University Students, Stop the Hand-Holding?

In today’s Guardian, philosopher AC Grayling offers his view of the role of a university education: University is emphatically not about spoon-feeding and hand-holding through courses, but the very opposite. It is not about maximising contact hours, but about autonomy … Continue reading

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“Let’s Go to Lunch?”: A YouTube Video by Santi Tafarella

Okay, I’m addicted to making YouTube videos now. Here’s my third attempt. A college student, on hearing a passing ambulence, expresses existential angst to another college student, who, in the midst of her angst, adds to it by inviting her … Continue reading

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Virtual Reality?: Is an Internet Class Really a Class?

A professor, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, sasses Internet class-taking: At the most basic level, to be a student has always meant actually dragging one’s exhausted body into class with readings in hand, being (more or less) awake, alert, … Continue reading

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