Author Profile

Fabio Rojas

Fabio Rojas is professor of sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington, and is the co-editor of Contexts: Understanding People in Their Social Worlds. He is a scholar of organizational behavior, higher education, and political sociology. His most recent book, Theory for the Working Sociologist (2017, Columbia University Press), explains modern social theory in a friendly and accessible manner. Professor Rojas has won awards from his institution for having high teaching evaluations.

Articles by Fabio Rojas

Why Humanities Programs Suffer as the Humanities Themselves Do Great

Sep 19, 2018 · Fabio Rojas · No Comments

In recent years, the media has given us dire warnings about the “crisis of the humanities.” In article after article, one reads about falling enrollments in college English departments and funding cuts. Inside Higher Ed, a popular website that covers higher education, reports that English majors have declined 20 percent since 2012. History programs have … Continue reading “Why Humanities Programs Suffer as the Humanities Themselves Do Great”

Defining Faculty Roles: Scholarship First, Activism Second

Apr 13, 2018 · Fabio Rojas · No Comments

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on faculty roles in higher education. Part II by Jay Schalin is here and Part III by John Wilson is here. Let’s imagine that you felt a lump in your body and went to the doctor. Once you sat down in the examination room, the … Continue reading “Defining Faculty Roles: Scholarship First, Activism Second”

Should We Stop Asking College Students to Evaluate Their Instructors?

Feb 16, 2018 · Fabio Rojas · No Comments

At the end of every semester, at nearly every college in the country, millions and millions of students fill out student evaluations of teachers. These forms ask very sensible questions. Did the teacher effectively communicate the material? Were they available for students? Department chairs and deans take these evaluations very seriously. At teaching-intensive institutions, these … Continue reading “Should We Stop Asking College Students to Evaluate Their Instructors?”

The Evidence for Standardized Tests Already Exists Oct 17, 2018
Making college admissions “test-optional” has been steadily gaining steam among elite and liberal arts American colleges. In late September, Colby College and Rosemont College joined the hundreds of other institutions that do not require their applicants to submit standardized test scores to be admitted to the school. Other schools that have “test-optional” policies include Bowdoin … Continue reading “The Evidence for Standardized Tests Already Exists”
How Colleges Could Benefit from an NBA Rule Change Oct 15, 2018
It is increasingly apparent that college basketball serves as an unofficial minor league for the National Basketball Association (NBA) rather than as an extracurricular activity for students. And it is not by accident, but by design. Take the NBA’s “one-and-done” rule, for instance. It has sparked debate since its addition to the 2005 NBA Collective … Continue reading “How Colleges Could Benefit from an NBA Rule Change”
The Tangled Web of Scientific Publishing Oct 10, 2018
Science Publishing Is Incoherent, Expensive, and Slow Communication is essential to science. The aim of scientific publication is to convey new findings as quickly as possible to as many interested parties as possible. But the world of “peer-reviewed” scientific publishing no longer functions as it should. Many publishing practices were devised at a time when … Continue reading “The Tangled Web of Scientific Publishing”

The Success of Concealed Carry at Texas Public Colleges Oct 12, 2018
The fight for gun rights on campus is often contentious and generally does not favor the Second Amendment. But in August, pro-gun advocates won a major battle when a federal appeals court threw out a legal challenge by three University of Texas at Austin professors to Texas’s “campus carry” law. Campus carry, approved by the … Continue reading “The Success of Concealed Carry at Texas Public Colleges”
How Comfortable Do Conservatives Feel on Campus? Sep 28, 2018
The internet is filled with stories of how conservative student groups are mistreated on campus. Conservative and libertarian students often sound the alarm about hostile administrators, violent protesters, and unpleasant experiences. They have their invited speakers shouted down, prevented from speaking by the imposition of exorbitant security fees, or simply canceled by administrators bending to … Continue reading “How Comfortable Do Conservatives Feel on Campus?”
Exposing the Harms of the ‘Diversity Delusion’ Sep 26, 2018
On November 7, 2006, Michigan voters passed Proposition 2, a measure that banned the use of racial preferences throughout state government and state universities. The next day, University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman issued a defiant statement. In it she pledged to fight in the courts against the voters’ decision to have a color-blind … Continue reading “Exposing the Harms of the ‘Diversity Delusion’”

The Evidence for Standardized Tests Already Exists Oct 17, 2018
Making college admissions “test-optional” has been steadily gaining steam among elite and liberal arts American colleges. In late September, Colby College and Rosemont College joined the hundreds of other institutions that do not require their applicants to submit standardized test scores to be admitted to the school. Other schools that have “test-optional” policies include Bowdoin … Continue reading “The Evidence for Standardized Tests Already Exists”
How Colleges Could Benefit from an NBA Rule Change Oct 15, 2018
It is increasingly apparent that college basketball serves as an unofficial minor league for the National Basketball Association (NBA) rather than as an extracurricular activity for students. And it is not by accident, but by design. Take the NBA’s “one-and-done” rule, for instance. It has sparked debate since its addition to the 2005 NBA Collective … Continue reading “How Colleges Could Benefit from an NBA Rule Change”
The Success of Concealed Carry at Texas Public Colleges Oct 12, 2018
The fight for gun rights on campus is often contentious and generally does not favor the Second Amendment. But in August, pro-gun advocates won a major battle when a federal appeals court threw out a legal challenge by three University of Texas at Austin professors to Texas’s “campus carry” law. Campus carry, approved by the … Continue reading “The Success of Concealed Carry at Texas Public Colleges”