Tressie McMillan Cottom’s book, Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy is a powerful contribution to the scholarship of higher education. A sociology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Cottom explains why for-profit higher education is growing, why it is fundamentally flawed, and yet, in today’s economy, why for so many…
Haunting Composition
I love the idea of Stephen King teaching high school English. The very image makes me smile. Before King became a successful author, he taught at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. King was there for two years, finishing up Carrie and writing to support his young family. Web accounts describe King as a good teacher. I…
Reading, Racism and the L
I wrote the following piece in late July. The violence and hatred from white supremacists over the past weekend at the University of Virginia makes it clear that the battle against racism has to be fought 24/7. We cannot avoid it if we want to live in a just society. Higher education has a great responsibility…
Persuading Students to Success
Institutions of higher education are structured environments designed to facilitate student learning. However, as any visitor on a college campus can attest, some academic environments seem much more structured and effective than others. Much depends upon the college, the space, and the activity taking place. Think about college tutoring center. Is it well-lit, easily located…
20 Miles and Many Lessons
One of our country’s more shocking statistics is that 20 veterans commit suicide every day. Last year it was worse, with 22 veterans ended their lives by their own hands every day. This public health crisis is frightening, extraordinarily sad, and simply unacceptable. A veteran student told me about the suicide rate and what our local college…
Austerity and Its Discontents
Austerity Blues: Fighting for the Soul of Public Higher Education is a passionate book on higher education. Michael Fabricant, professor of social work at CUNY’s Graduate Center and president of CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (CUNY’s union) and Stephen Brier, professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center, pull no punches in their account of…
Latina/o Studies – a Welcome Addition/Edition
Textbooks bore you? I am usually not a fan. Most textbooks lack arguments. They try – unsuccessfully – to make up for their missing authorial voice by adding graphics, colors and busy design. I prefer hearing from an author. I want to know where the person writing the book stands. When I taught, I assigned monographs…