Author Profile

George Ehrhardt

George Ehrhardt teaches political science at Appalachian State University in beautiful Boone, North Carolina. Somehow he managed to spend four years at Carleton College without becoming a progressive, and went on to study at George Washington University and Indiana University at Bloomington. His research focuses on Japanese politics generally and a Buddhist social movement turned political party in particular. Liberated by tenure, he has been known to show up to class dressed as a pirate and teach about subversive topics like American conservatism. He and his wife homeschool their two daughters.

Articles by George Ehrhardt

How Can Professors Inspire Students to Want to Learn?

Jun 23, 2021 · · Comments Off on How Can Professors Inspire Students to Want to Learn?

COVID-19 has revolutionized how we think about online college teaching. Until last spring, two perspectives predominated. One argued that massively enrolled online classes presented by impressive teachers or prestigious universities would increase efficiency while preserving quality. The other worried about the quality of online classes, and that the gap between those able to afford in-person … Continue reading “How Can Professors Inspire Students to Want to Learn?”

Of Academic Freedom and False Alarms

Sep 21, 2020 · · Comments Off on Of Academic Freedom and False Alarms

It has been a very strange year. Three weeks ago I opened my email to find an unsolicited email from a lawyer, asking if I needed help. Odd, I thought, since I couldn’t remember getting any traffic citations recently. When I opened it, I discovered it was from lawyers at the Foundation for Individual Rights … Continue reading “Of Academic Freedom and False Alarms”

How the One-Size-Fits-All College Application Model Hurts Homeschoolers

Jan 29, 2018 · · Comments Off on How the One-Size-Fits-All College Application Model Hurts Homeschoolers

The season for college admissions is upon us. My younger daughter is still a junior but her public school teammates are all abuzz with chatter of who applied where, who’s already heard, how much more work everyone has left on their remaining applications. We homeschool, though, and among her homeschool friends, you could hear a … Continue reading “How the One-Size-Fits-All College Application Model Hurts Homeschoolers”

Academics and the Reproduction of Cultural Hegemony

Feb 10, 2017 · · Comments Off on Academics and the Reproduction of Cultural Hegemony

Much as Martin Center readers may disparage Marxism, there is one author who deserves our attention. Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Marxist who lived and wrote around the turn of the century, and his most important contribution was to a theory of cultural hegemony, one that explains why the academic Left is so up in … Continue reading “Academics and the Reproduction of Cultural Hegemony”

Summer Reading Questions and What They Reveal About Faculty

Jul 27, 2016 · · Comments Off on Summer Reading Questions and What They Reveal About Faculty

After three decades in higher education as student and teacher, this year I begin a new role, as parent. My eldest daughter will attend a small liberal arts college in Iowa. Like many schools, her college asks incoming freshmen to read a common summer reading. Its choice for the incoming students this year is Claude … Continue reading “Summer Reading Questions and What They Reveal About Faculty”