This post is a reprint of a piece I published in Quartz in 2017. Here's a link to the original. It's an effort to explore the distinctively populist character of American higher education. The idea is that a key to understanding the strong public support that US colleges and universities have managed to generate is … Continue reading Nobel prizes are great, but college football is why American universities dominate the globe
Month: May 2020
On Writing: How the King James Bible and How It Shaped the English Language and Still Teaches Us How to Write
When you're interested in improving your writing, it's a good idea to have some models to work from. I've presented some of my favorite models in this blog. These have included a number of examples of good writing by both academics (Max Weber, E.P. Thompson, Jim March, and Mary Metz) and nonacademics (Frederick Douglass, Elmore Leonard). … Continue reading On Writing: How the King James Bible and How It Shaped the English Language and Still Teaches Us How to Write
Hausmann: The Education Myth
In this post I reprint a piece by Ricardo Hausmann (an economist at Harvard's Kennedy School), which was published in Project Syndicate in 2015. Here's a link to the original. If you can't get past the paywall, here's a link to a PDF. What I like about this piece is the way Hausmann challenges a central … Continue reading Hausmann: The Education Myth
Elmore Leonard’s Master Class on Writing a Scene
As you may have figured out by now, I'm a big fan of Elmore Leonard. I wrote an earlier post about the deft way he leads you into a story and introduces a character on the very first page of a book. He never gives his readers fits the way we academic writers do ours, by … Continue reading Elmore Leonard’s Master Class on Writing a Scene
Public Schools for Private Gain: The Declining American Commitment to Serving the Public Good
This post is a piece I published in Kappan in November, 2018. Here's a link to the original. Public schools for private gain: The declining American commitment to serving the public good When schooling comes to be viewed mainly as a source of private benefit, both schools and society suffer grave consequences. By David F. … Continue reading Public Schools for Private Gain: The Declining American Commitment to Serving the Public Good
Resilience in the Face of Climate Change and Epidemic: Ancient Rome and Today’s America
Tell me if you think this sounds familiar: In its latter years (500-700 ACE), the Roman Empire faced a formidable challenge from two devastating environmental forces -- dramatic climate change and massive epidemic. As Mark Twain is supposed to have said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." During our own bout of climate … Continue reading Resilience in the Face of Climate Change and Epidemic: Ancient Rome and Today’s America