Mark Kurlansky’s The Last Fish Tale: the fate of the Atlantic and survival in Gloucester, America’s oldest fishing port and most original town is not a particularly good book. Written without great care and poorly thought through, the book teases with the engaging anecdote and arresting observation, but disappoints when it comes to more substantive…
Tag: academia
It’s Broken – Have We Noticed?
We are awash in educational data. Reports emerge from agencies, foundations, corporations and institutions, and for those with the time and an inclination, further opportunities about. There are mysteries in educations, to be sure, but their essence and appeal has shifted from search to analysis. This seems to be particularly true when it comes to…
Academia’s Publication Gap
What is the premier magazine of higher education today? Is it Change, which is published six times a year and “is intended to stimulate and inform reflective practitioners in colleges, universities, corporations, government, and elsewhere.” Or is it Liberal Education or Peer Review, two quarterlies from the AAC&U? “Liberal Education expresses the voices of educators,…
American Higher Education Transformed, Smith & Bender, eds.
American Higher Education Transformed, 1940-2005: Documenting the National Discourse, Wilson Smith and Thomas Bender, eds., Johns Hopkins University, 2008 Smith and Bender’s book is a small encyclopedia of primary source documents about higher education. A short introductory section provides an overview of key topics. The editors chose an interesting structure of broad categories: The Terrain…