Class on History of School Reform in the U.S.

This post contains all of the material for the class on the History of School Reform in the US that I taught for at the Stanford Graduate School of Education for 15 years.  In retirement I wanted to make the course available on the internet to anyone who is interested.  If you are a college …

Du Bois — Of the Coming of John

This post is a classic piece by W. E. B. Du Bois called "Of the Coming of John."  It's a chapter from his book, The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903.  Here's a link to the online version. It's a heartbreaking work of fiction filled with a lot of hard truths.  It's the story of …

Hochschild — Strangers in Their Own Land

This post is a reflection on a book by Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.  In it she provides one of the most compelling and persuasive explanation for the turn toward right-wing populism in American politics and the peculiar appeal of Donald Trump.  As she puts …

Dumitrescu: How to Write Well

This post is a review essay by Irina Dumitrescu about five books that explore how to write well.  It appeared in Times Literary Supplement, March 20, 2020.  Here's a link to the original.   She's reviewing five books about writing.  Is there any writing task more fraught with peril that trying to write about writing?  Anything …

Mikhail — How the Ottomans Shaped the Modern World

This post is a reflection on the role that the Ottoman Empire played in shaping the modern world.  It draws on a new book by Alan Mikhail, God's Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World.   The Ottomans are the Rodney Dangerfields of empires: They don't get no respect.  If …

Fukuyama — Liberalism and Its Discontents

This post is a brilliant essay by Francis Fukuyama, "Liberalism and Its Discontents."  In it, he explores the problems facing liberal democracy today.  As always, it is threatened by autocratic regimes around the world.  But what's new since the fall of the Soviet Union is the threat from illiberal democracy, both at home and abroad, …

An Affair to Remember: America’s Brief Fling with the University as a Public Good

This post is an essay about the brief but glorious golden age of the US university during the three decades after World War II.   American higher education rose to fame and fortune during the Cold War, when both student enrollments and funded research shot upward. Prior to World War II, the federal government showed little …

Class on Academic Writing

This is the syllabus for a class on academic writing for clarity and grace, which I originally posted more than a year ago.  It is designed as a 10-week class, with weekly readings, slides, and texts for editing.  It's aimed at doctoral students who are preparing to become researchers who seek to publish their scholarship.  Ideally …

Sandel: The Tyranny of Merit

This post is a reflection on Michael Sandel's new book, The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?  He's a philosopher at Harvard and this is his analysis of the dangers posed by the American meritocracy.  The issue is one I've been exploring here for the last two years in a variety of …