Dear readers,
We hope you’ve had a wonderful fall semester. As we head into the New Year, we look back on some of our most memorable articles from each month this fall. For your long weekend perusal, here are our top 30:
September
Seven Imaginary Curricula
09/01/09 By Peter Wood
Most colleges don't seize the opportunity to do something original. We suggest they try a new approach, such as the labyrinth curriculum.
09/03/09 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
10 reasons to oppose the sustainability movement on your campus: College students hear a lot about sustainability these days, but do you know what it really means?
Dem Bones, Dem Barebones Education
09/03/09 By Peter Wood and Glenn Ricketts
Online education gains respectability as the wave of the future. This article received a number of in-depth comments from our readers. We take this as a sign that of this topic’s significance to our readers, and we hope to provide a platform for more discussion of online education.
09/10/09 By Peter Wood
The feminist-lesbian-leftist called higher education out as a "rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms."
09/11/09 By Ashley Thorne
Colleges experiment in trayless dining...and mind manipulation.
The Shape of (Academic) Things to Come
09/17/09 By Peter Wood
It’s 2029. Do you know where your university is?
Inadequate and Superfluous
09/18/09 By Ashley Thorne
A Princeton professor feels too white to talk about diversity.
Diversity's Doom & Pluralism's Plans
09/29/09 By Ashley Thorne
A new book, The Politically Correct University, features chapters by NAS's president Peter Wood and NAS chairman Steve Balch.
Horowitz vs. Islamo-Billikenism
09/30/09 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Perhaps St. Louis University's pointy-eared mascot was behind SLU's recent decision to disinvite David Horowitz from speaking on campus.
October
Academic Freedom and Discontent
10/01/09 By Peter Wood
NAS President Peter Wood delivered this presentation at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization in February. In it he contrasted two images of academic freedom, the highway vs. the can opener.
Encyclopedia of Sustainability
10/08/09 By Ashley Thorne
NAS presented an encyclopedia of the key names, terms, and organizations in the sector of sustainability activism aimed specifically at re-centering elementary and higher education around sustainability practice.
Politicizing the NEH
10/10/09 By Peter Wood
The new chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities wants to correct Americans' "disrespectful" attitude towards Muslim culture by “building bridges.” He is also annoyed at culture warriors and excitable people at town halls. NEH seems next on the list of government agencies to be politicized.
The Dark Side of Diversity
10/16/09 By Ashley Thorne
"Being white and straight, I felt doubly cursed with a dearth of fascinating material. What story could I tell to prove my worth?" One woman's college experience provides a glimpse at how the diversity movement punishes even its supporters.
Any Racists Here?...No Comment
10/19/09 By Ashley Thorne
A psychology professor declares, "I make it a point to ask my students, 'So, are there any students in here who see themselves as racist?'"
Sustainability Skepticism Has Arrived
10/23/09 By Ashley Thorne
Two controversies this week wrought an unexpected clash between sustainability ideologues and universities that decided to stand on fundamental principles of higher education.
Neander-Thoughts: NAS Reply to Steiner
November
LEAPs and Bounds
11/03/09 By Ashley Thorne
An initiative spawned of the outcomes assessment movement, Liberal Education & America's Promise (LEAP), sounds boring enough. But what is really going on when the lords of of education go a-LEAP-ing? NAS investigates.
NAS President’s Report
11/18/09 By Peter Wood
President Peter Wood tells what's next for the National Association of Scholars and gives five ways new members can help our work.
Climate Conspiracy
11/23/09 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Hacked emails show evidence of longstanding scientific misconduct by advocates of global warming theory. This scandal should alter the burden of proof in the global warming debate.
Teeth-Bared Teachers' Ed
11/23/09 By Peter Wood
The University of Minnesota looks to make race, class, and gender politics the “overarching framework” for teacher education.
Diversi-Oaths: Creedal Admissions in the American University
11/30/09 By Glenn Ricketts and Peter Wood
"Diversity" essays in college applications teach students how to bow to an anti-intellectual idol. At Berkeley, the bow is becoming for would-be grad students a full-scale grovel.
December
Signing on to FEAR
12/02/09 By Peter Wood
NAS endorses the AAUP statement "Free Expression at Risk, at Yale and Elsewhere."
Guided by a Red Star: Ed Schools Bring Frankincense to the Cradle of Marxism
12/15/09 By Ashley Thorne
A journal of Marxism and critical pedagogy erodes the distinction between classrooms and class struggle. Be sure to check out the comments section, where Marxist apologists for the journal respond. Even more responses are in the comments section of Che Lives?
The Philomath Speaks: An Interview with Anu Garg
12/15/09 By Ashley Thorne and Peter Wood
"Words are like air — they are all around us even though we can't see them, and they are just as essential," says Anu Garg, creator of Wordsmith.org.
Hetero Huh?
12/16/09 By Ashley Thorne
What is 'heteronormativity' anyway?
Virginia Tech Reasserts 'Diversity' Folly
Part 1 12/18/09
Part 2 12/22/09
By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Virginia Tech is campaigning to impose a comprehensive regime focused on “diversity" - an ossified doctrine of antipathy towards the American social order.
Seventh Generation Sustainability - A New Myth?
12/28/09 By Peter Wood
One of the favorite metaphors of the sustainability movement is a phrase from the Iroquois Great Law. Or is it?
