Career development centers are hot spots on college campuses. Prospective students and their parents inspect them, faculty seek their perspective on student success and failure in the world of work, employers liaise with them to find talent, and alumni offices partner with them to keep graduates engaged. In a world that demands outcomes, higher education…
Author: davidpotash
If You’re Bored with Art in London . . . .
Napoleon is reported to have once quipped that from the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. The observation is particularly apt when it comes to contemporary art. A few steps and a turn of the head, a mood, a sound, or even the mildest of predilections can render the abstract profound or the…
Fictitious Lawyers
Joseph O’Neill is a very smart man and an extremely talented writer. In 2008 he garnered critical acclaim for Netherland, one of my favorite recent novels, a powerful book about loss and regaining life after the attacks on 9/11. It is a wonderful work of fiction and and a worthwhile read. I gained a deeper understanding…
The Educator’s Dilemma
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…
What We Are and What Our Children Eat
Food is no longer just food. It is a statement, a value, a marker and a signifier. Food has political value and it is freighted with meaning. What we eat, and what are children eat, is no simple matter. Stepping beyond the perspective of a father encouraging his children to consider a balanced plate, what…
Zeitoun: What’s the Solution?
Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun is an award-winning work of narrative non-fiction. Lauded enthusiastically and critically acclaimed, Zeitoun chronicles the life of Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Written in a economical style, akin to dramatic journalism, the book unfolds gracefully, pulling the reader into a Job-like story. The Zeitouns ran a successful…
Change and Trust in Higher Education
In recent years the need for change in higher education has become a recurrent refrain. Institutions need to change, faculty need to change, curricula need to change – and recognition of this is widely shared within and outside of the academy. The world and our students are changing at a rapid pace. Higher education, to…