Last week the Florida House of Representatives introduced House Bill 999: “An act relating to public postsecondary educational institutions.” Read it here. Here are some of the details Here are some of my takeaways:
higher education
For Today’s College Students, the Future Is Healthcare – But What Is Our Country’s Future?
We’ve heard many laments about the recent sharp declines in the number of humanities majors on college campuses, but something more profound is happening than merely a shift away from the liberal arts or a new college emphasis on careers. […]
Vocation and Public University Education: Reflections on Developments in Florida and Beyond
On a sweltering mid-August day in 1999, the day before I began my first year of college at the University of Virginia, I timidly knocked on the office door of the legendary David Kovacs, a world-known scholar of Euripides (although […]
The Author’s Corner with John Rogers Haddad
John Rogers Haddad is Professor of American Studies at Penn State–Harrisburg. This interview is based on his new book, Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China (Temple University Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
The University of Austin is taking shape
Roughly one year ago a group of intellectuals concerned with academic freedom founded the University of Austin. We covered its launch here and here and here. Much of the criticism that the University of Austin faced when it launched was […]
Students at the University of Florida protest Ben Sasse’s visit
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is the sole finalist for the presidency of the University of Florida. Sasse has been a vocal critic of Trump and Trumpism. Court evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress once called him a “disgrace to the Republican Party, […]
The point of college is “transforming one’s mind.” Most college students never get this message.
Here is a taste of Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner‘s piece at The Chronicle of Higher Education: In our 1,000 hour-long conversations with students, we found that nearly half of them miss the point of college. They don’t see value […]
David Bromwich on the state of the university
Over at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Len Gutkin interviews Yale English professor David Bromwich on the state of higher education. The interview comes on the thirtieth anniversary of Bromwich’s Politics by Other Means: Higher Education and Group Thinking. Bromwich […]
Johann Neem “walks among the ruins” of the modern university
Some of you may recall our conversation with Johann Neem in Episode 54 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. In that episode we talked with the Western Washington University historian about his book What’s the Point of College. […]
Grove City College update
We originally covered this story here. Colleen Flaherty gets us up to speed at Inside Higher Education. Grove City College’s Board of Trustees recently said that it had formed a committee to investigate allegations of “mission drift” on campus and […]
Episode 95: “The Lost Promise of American Universities”
American universities entered the 1960s with the hope of bringing a high-quality system of universal higher education to all comers. But by the early 1970s hope turned to despair as universities gave way to neoliberalism, corporatism, and a powerful conservative […]
“A university that is only good at STEM education is nothing more than a trade school.”
Avi Kak came to Purdue to work in a university, and not in a trade school. In a letter to the editor of the Purdue Exponent he says that the Purdue English Department deserves more respect. Here is a taste: […]
The Author’s Corner with Andrew O’Shaughnessy
Andrew O’Shaughnessy is Vice President of The Thomas Jefferson Foundation and Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. This interview is based on his new book, The Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind: Thomas Jefferson’s […]
Robert Zimmer and Steven Pinker resign from the University of Austin’s Advisory Board
See my commentary on this new university here and here. Zimmer is chancellor of the University of Chicago. Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard. Here is Zimmer’s statement: I was asked to serve in an advisory […]
What is going on (again) at Southwest Baptist University?
We did a post on this Baptist college back in May. At that time we wrote about Dwayne Walker, a social work professor, who was denied tenure for his failure to affirm creationism and his views on homosexuality. Now Brian […]
Critics of the University of Austin prove why such an institution may be necessary
Yesterday I wrote about the University of Austin, a new university founded by intellectuals concerned with academic freedom in the larger academy. I am not familiar with all of the people behind this venture, but any initiative that includes Niall […]
What is going on at North Park University?
North Park is a Christian college in Chicago. Here is Colleen Flaherty at Inside Higher Ed: North Park University’s faculty voted no confidence in President Mary Surridge this week, 55 to 26. According to information from North Park’s Faculty Senate, […]
George Will: “There are a lot of people on campus nowadays who just don’t belong there — they shouldn’t be teachers; they should be political activists”
Over at Politico, Zack Stanton asks George Will if “conservatism” means anything anymore. Here is a taste of his interview with the conservative columnist: In your book, you write that “America’s most dispiriting intellectual phenomenon is the degradation of higher […]
What are incoming first-year college students reading this summer?
As part of its first-year experience program, incoming first-year students at Messiah University are reading Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. They will not be alone. Here is Audrey Williams June and Jacquelyn Elias at The Chronicle of […]
Judson College closes
Judson College, an Alabama Baptist women’s college and a member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, has closed. Here is Inside Higher Ed: After teetering on the edge of closure for months, Judson College’s Board of Trustees voted […]