I hate, truly hate, cancelling courses. A canceled course is more than an inconvenience. It is a failure, an unfulfilled idea, an unanswered question, a planned journey never taken. In my various roles in higher education I have had to cancel, or have been part of the decision to cancel, developmental courses, regular undergraduate courses,…
Author: David Potash
Tony Judt – difficult to forget
The 26 April 2012 issue of the London Review of Books contains a fascinating one-page piece on Tony Judt by Eric Hobsbawm. Amid the many remembrances, criticisms, and encomiums, Hobsbawm finds something different to say about Judt. Likening Judt to a crusading attorney or a bruising intellectual barrister, Hobsbawm’s characterization situates Judt’s intellectual journey. It…
High Class Problem
Stanford University. It’s stunningly attractive, wealthy, and chock full of extremely clever people. Talent attracts talent, quality begets quality. In higher education it usually takes many years to reach a critical mass that ensures long-standing appeal to the brainy and ambitious. Most institutions never make it. Stanford hit the mark decades ago and has continued…
Morality of Teaching
Earlier in the week David Hansen, Professor of Philosophy and Education at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, came to my college to give a talk on what it means to be a teacher today. I had the honor and pleasure of introducing him and spending some time talking about his work and higher education. Hansen has…
Approach Avoidance – Education Today
On February 20, 2012, the New England edition of The New York Times published three articles on page A8, the start of the “National” section: Shining New Spotlight On Civil Rights Era, Florida Set For New Cut In Spending On Colleges, and Physicists Create Single-Atom Transistor, a Crucial Step Toward a Nanocomputer. Each of the articles advances…
New Normals and Higher Education
What is normal in higher education today? When we think of a college we often picture young people, popular football games, lectures halls and the academic quad. However, traditional students, the 18-21 year-olds who live in dormitories, make up less than 20% of all who study in higher ed. One of the great strengths and…
Why Can’t Higher Education Be Ahead Of The Curve?
The flagship organization of higher education, AAC&U, publishes several themed periodicals. Key among them is Liberal Education. Focused on undergraduate education and liberal learning, the quarterly provides a national forum about teaching, learning, undergraduate issues and leadership. The Winter 2012 issues of Liberal Education focuses on the “completion agenda.” Carol Geary Schneider, president of the AAC&U,…