Author Profile

Bruce Bawer

Bruce Bawer's book While Europe Slept (2006) was a New York Times bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. His other books include A Place at the Table (1993), Stealing Jesus (1997), Surrender (2009), and The Victims' Revolution (2012). A native New Yorker, Bawer received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Stony Brook University and has lived in Norway since 1999.

Articles by Bruce Bawer

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being

Jul 10, 2020 · Bruce Bawer · Comments Off

If you had told me a couple of years ago that a book like Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism would be topping the bestseller lists and receiving accolades from all over, I wouldn’t have believed it. And I’m speaking as someone who, in my 2012 … Continue reading “The Unbearable Whiteness of Being”

How Higher Education “Studies” Men

Aug 30, 2017 · Bruce Bawer · Comments Off

In 2013, Stony Brook University (part of the SUNY system) revealed plans for a new “Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities.” Since I’m a Stony Brook grad, I was quite interested in this development. Would the new Center do anything to enhance the school’s reputation for scholarship? I didn’t think it would, but … Continue reading “How Higher Education “Studies” Men”

Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall Jun 23, 2022
Thales College, a new undergraduate institution launching this fall in Wake Forest, N.C., is eagerly preparing to open its doors to its inaugural class. Thales College is a unique institution with a fresh vision for higher ed: rigorous academics and effective professional preparation joined with a commitment to affordability not often found among other higher … Continue reading “Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall”
The Limits of Expertise Jun 22, 2022
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of anecdotes and evidence that people with breadth or range—indeed, amateurs in the true sense of the word—can contribute immensely to enterprises in environments that seem, … Continue reading “The Limits of Expertise”
Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters Jun 17, 2022
Carl Dobsky’s brilliant, fiery painting “Birds of Paradise” has been the focus of attention at his recent exhibitions, because it accurately and effectively captures the zeitgeist of contemporary American life. The painting is set in the backyard of a bourgeois Los Angeles home, where a laughing group of partying Angelinos drink red wine from large … Continue reading “Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters”

Remembering Title IX Abuses Jun 24, 2022
Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the statute, introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, it is worth revisiting the history of Title IX and reviewing its … Continue reading “Remembering Title IX Abuses”
Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters Jun 17, 2022
Carl Dobsky’s brilliant, fiery painting “Birds of Paradise” has been the focus of attention at his recent exhibitions, because it accurately and effectively captures the zeitgeist of contemporary American life. The painting is set in the backyard of a bourgeois Los Angeles home, where a laughing group of partying Angelinos drink red wine from large … Continue reading “Birds of Paradise: The Moral Poverty of Faculty Freedom Fighters”
Why Johnny Can’t Relax Jun 10, 2022
Alarming rates of depression and anxiety in college students are drawing headlines. A recent study reports that 41% of college students show symptoms of depression, and nearly three-fourths have experienced “overwhelming anxiety.” Whatever one thinks of statistics like these (and I question them), college students have reason to be fearful and sad because they’re surrounded … Continue reading “Why Johnny Can’t Relax”

Remembering Title IX Abuses Jun 24, 2022
Recently, Title IX has been in the news because of the Biden administration’s promised (and, as of yesterday, delivered) rejection of much-needed Trump-era reforms. As we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the statute, introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, it is worth revisiting the history of Title IX and reviewing its … Continue reading “Remembering Title IX Abuses”
Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall Jun 23, 2022
Thales College, a new undergraduate institution launching this fall in Wake Forest, N.C., is eagerly preparing to open its doors to its inaugural class. Thales College is a unique institution with a fresh vision for higher ed: rigorous academics and effective professional preparation joined with a commitment to affordability not often found among other higher … Continue reading “Did You Know? New College to Launch in Wake Forest This Fall”
The Limits of Expertise Jun 22, 2022
As a professor devoted to his college’s “pre-disciplinary” core curriculum, I was hooked by David Epstein’s title, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book is chock-full of anecdotes and evidence that people with breadth or range—indeed, amateurs in the true sense of the word—can contribute immensely to enterprises in environments that seem, … Continue reading “The Limits of Expertise”