“Take everything that’s bright and beautiful in you and introduce it to the shadow side of yourself… When you are able to say, ‘I am … my shadow as well as my light,’ the shadow’s power is put in service of the good.” -Parker Palmer
The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for education—and mental health.
In Elite Schools’ Vast Endowments, Malcolm Gladwell Sees ‘Obscene’ Inequity in Hoarding Money Intended for Students
“I was going to donate money to Yale. But maybe it makes more sense to mail a check directly to the hedge fund of my choice.” – Malcolm Gladwell (Twitter)
Why the Academy Needs a Resurrection of the Soul, by Mark Edmundson
Courage, contemplation, compassion: These are the great ideals of the ancient world. And though their lights are dimming, there is still time to revive them, to examine them, and, if one is so moved, to bring them into one’s own life.
Can Religion and Higher Education Coexist? by Q Ideas
Is newer always better? Most people don’t know that current educational practice is less than a century old. Paradoxically, the harder we try to produce great thinkers similar to those of the past, the further we move from the style of education that produced them.
Game of Loans: Democratic Support for Debt-Free College Growing, by Michael Stafford
“It’s potentially a really far-reaching, dramatic reshuffling of higher education,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs at the American Council on Education.
The Endangered Liberal Arts College, by Jason Jones
Saving Sweet Briar (for now) doesn’t undo the disinformation campaign against the liberal arts, who comprise about 4 percent of U.S. colleges and do extraordinary things typically not found in any other institution type. Data supporting this claim of quality can be found in multiple studies (outlined and hyperlinked below), and it deserves some attention because such dedication to uncompromised quality in a close academic community falls on deaf ears in our national conversation that focuses primarily on quantity, scale and technology.
The ‘Story Behind the Story’: Making Lit Matter, by Erick Sierra
As American society increasingly questions the importance of what we in the humanities do, in the classroom I’ve been able to depend less and less on the grand narratives that long ago motivated my own passion for literature and instead imagined an importance for literature—a story behind the story—sourced not in grand abstract metanarratives, but in what students themselves find viscerally and deeply important.
Academic Branding: Professors Producing Hollywood-Style Previews to Attract Students, by Daniel A. Gross
Harvard University was an early adopter in short videos shared across social networks to boost student interest and attendance as they “shop” for classes. They have an intimacy that course catalogs and posters lack.
Act One Hollywood Screenwriting Program: Coming Soon to a Computer Near You, by Chris Dalton
For over 15 years Act One has provided access to some of Hollywood’s best teachers and mentors in the world of screenwriting. Now you can experience this amazing program in our inaugural online cohort.
The Day the Purpose of College Changed, by Dan Berrett
If a university is not a place where intellectual curiosity is to be encouraged, and subsidized, then it is nothing.
Wanna Win a Nobel Prize? Be Nice! (And Eat More Chocolate)
Surprise! Researchers who hog credit on scientific papers are less likely to win a Nobel prize than those who give younger academics a bit of the spotlight… of course it also helps to eat more chocolate!