University Education

Claudine Gay’s Misguided Defenders

Damning facts shouldn’t be ignored just because they’re brought to light by the ‘wrong’ kind of person

7 Jan 2024 · 10 min read

Left or Right, Politicians Shouldn’t Be Telling Academics What They’re Allowed to Teach

The campaign to ban Critical Race Theory and other ‘woke’ dogmas channels the same illiberal spirit that conservatives claim to oppose.

Michael Shermer

21 Feb 2023 · 6 min read

Bloated College Administration Is Making Education Unaffordable

Our campuses are stuffed with non-academic office workers. If elected to Harvard’s Board of Overseers, I‘ll propose firing most of them.

Harvey Silverglate

2 Nov 2022 · 3 min read

Why I Left Academia (Since You're Wondering)

I didn’t have a choice. Thousands of people are driven out of the profession each year.

William Deresiewicz

17 Aug 2022 · 15 min read

Standards-Based Grading Will Ruin Education

Standards-based learning does lead to more equal outcomes, but only by flattening everyone down to a lower educational standard.

Auguste Meyrat

2 Dec 2021 · 6 min read

Anti-Racism as Office-Politics Power Play: a Canadian Academic Case Study

Last week, 53 top Canadian academic administrators convened in Ottawa for a biannual membership meeting of Universities Canada [https://www.univcan.ca/], a group dedicated to “providing university presidents with a unified voice for higher education.” The 89-page meeting agenda, which was leaked to me after the event, makes for

Jonathan Kay

7 Nov 2021 · 8 min read

As US Schools Prioritize Diversity Over Merit, China Is Becoming the World’s STEM Leader

In a 2018 report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China ranked first in mathematical proficiency among 15-year-olds, while the United States was in 25th place.

Percy Deift, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, and Sergiu Klainerman

19 Aug 2021 · 12 min read

When the Authorities Tell You to Dissent

And I was granted the chance to dip into a strange emerging culture, one whose existence I probably would not have accepted if I hadn’t seen it for myself. It seems the doomsayers are sometimes correct.

Zachary Snowdon Smith

22 May 2019 · 8 min read

Free University Tuition: A Cautionary Note from Germany

Tuition-free universities also have problems with student motivation. Most Americans who teach ordinary classes in Germany find average German students somewhat less motivated than their dues-paying American counterparts.

Andrew Hammel

22 May 2019 · 6 min read

Like the Campus Thought Police

The hate against Hect sends a chilling message throughout my campus. Imagine you are a Smith student who supports Trump, his wall, or gun rights. How comfortable would you now be speaking up in class?

James D. Miller

28 Apr 2019 · 4 min read

The Dearth of Conservatives in Academic Philosophy

Without a healthy mix of a conservative and liberal center, the poles of left and right are much more likely to tilt toward the extremes.

Tristan Rogers

23 Apr 2019 · 8 min read

Harvard’s Flawed Response to Ronald Sullivan Joining Weinstein’s Defense Team

Students demanding his ouster have difficulty making the essential distinction between a lawyer and his client.

Jeffrey S. Flier

5 Mar 2019 · 10 min read

Forget About Decolonizing the Curriculum. We Need to Restore the West’s Telos Before it’s Too Late

Historically, the decolonize movement is often highly selective in which facts it chooses to highlight.

Doug Stokes

3 Mar 2019 · 10 min read

Liberal Orthodoxy and the New Heresy

Complaint sometimes reflects an honest desire to be able to ask the unaskable, speak the unspeakable, and ponder the imponderable.

Erik Gilbert

4 Feb 2019 · 9 min read

The Problem with 'The Journal of Controversial Ideas'

The lack of viewpoint diversity among college and university faculty gives further reason for scholars to be concerned about pursuing and attempting to publish “controversial” ideas.

Bradley Campbell and Clay Routledge

27 Nov 2018 · 5 min read