Author Profile

J.M. Anderson

J. M. Anderson received his Ph.D. in history from Syracuse University. He has taught at a community college, at two four-year colleges, at a state university, and at a for-profit university. He has written several articles and two books, The Honorable Burden of Public Office: English Humanists and Tudor Politics in the Sixteenth Century and The Skinny on Teaching: What You Don’t Learn in Graduate School. He is currently dean of the School of Business and Liberal Arts and Sciences at SUNY Cobleskill.

Articles by J.M. Anderson

How Academe Helped to Elect Trump

Mar 3, 2017 · J.M. Anderson · 17 Comments

President Trump scares academe. Many feel threatened, under siege, rejected, aghast. Eric Klineberg, professor of sociology at New York University, summed up this anxiety a few days after the election: “My pulse raced and my blood pressure spiked when I realized that Donald Trump would be president. I felt afraid.” Trump’s victory, he adds, is … Continue reading “How Academe Helped to Elect Trump”

To Save the Humanities, Make Them More Hands On

Jul 8, 2016 · J.M. Anderson · 1 Comment

The humanities may not be dead, but they are certainly moribund on many college campuses. Once the crown jewels of higher education, now they are valued about as much as knockoffs at a pawn shop. According to a recent study by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the humanities saw an 8.7 percent decline … Continue reading “To Save the Humanities, Make Them More Hands On”

The Case for Older Students

Feb 24, 2013 · J.M. Anderson · No Comments

Fresh out of high school, many students aren’t mature enough to benefit from college studies.

Teaching Is a Liberal Art

Apr 6, 2012 · J.M. Anderson · No Comments

The “Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” movement has not lived up to its promise.

No Wonder Johnny (Still) Can’t Write

Feb 10, 2012 · J.M. Anderson · No Comments

Students don’t write well and professors don’t want to help them.

Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem Jun 23, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the graduating class of Notre Dame, drawing attention to the loss of free speech on American campuses. He denounced the “noxious wave that seems to be rushing over much of academia.” The problem is that this wave is coming from within academia, not “rushing over” it as if from … Continue reading “Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem”
Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways Jun 19, 2017
Temperatures in North Carolina may not yet have reached their high point this summer, but tensions certainly are heating up now between the UNC School of Law and the North Carolina General Assembly over the latter’s proposed budget. The North Carolina Senate’s budget proposal, now being debated in the House, includes a $4 million reduction … Continue reading “Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways”
Administrative Bloat on Campus: Academia Shrinks, Students Suffer Jun 16, 2017
American campuses have drifted away from academia and toward administration. The shift badly impacts the traditional mission of both college and students. Ideally, college infuses knowledge and critical thinking through a free flow of ideas. But modern campuses are ideological battlefields where real debate is discouraged. Ideally, students are exposed to a wide range of … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat on Campus: Academia Shrinks, Students Suffer”

Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem Jun 23, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the graduating class of Notre Dame, drawing attention to the loss of free speech on American campuses. He denounced the “noxious wave that seems to be rushing over much of academia.” The problem is that this wave is coming from within academia, not “rushing over” it as if from … Continue reading “Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem”
Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways Jun 19, 2017
Temperatures in North Carolina may not yet have reached their high point this summer, but tensions certainly are heating up now between the UNC School of Law and the North Carolina General Assembly over the latter’s proposed budget. The North Carolina Senate’s budget proposal, now being debated in the House, includes a $4 million reduction … Continue reading “Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways”
Administrative Bloat on Campus: Academia Shrinks, Students Suffer Jun 16, 2017
American campuses have drifted away from academia and toward administration. The shift badly impacts the traditional mission of both college and students. Ideally, college infuses knowledge and critical thinking through a free flow of ideas. But modern campuses are ideological battlefields where real debate is discouraged. Ideally, students are exposed to a wide range of … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat on Campus: Academia Shrinks, Students Suffer”

Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem Jun 23, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the graduating class of Notre Dame, drawing attention to the loss of free speech on American campuses. He denounced the “noxious wave that seems to be rushing over much of academia.” The problem is that this wave is coming from within academia, not “rushing over” it as if from … Continue reading “Shouts and Protests on Campus Are Signs of a More Pernicious Problem”
Perverse Incentives in Science: 21st Century Funding for 20th Century Research Jun 21, 2017
The Paradigm Shift Not long ago I was working with my occasional co-author, an associate dean in the school of economic, political and policy sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, on creating a campus research institute focused on spontaneous orders. That is a field that attempts to explain how social order emerges from … Continue reading “Perverse Incentives in Science: 21st Century Funding for 20th Century Research”
Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways Jun 19, 2017
Temperatures in North Carolina may not yet have reached their high point this summer, but tensions certainly are heating up now between the UNC School of Law and the North Carolina General Assembly over the latter’s proposed budget. The North Carolina Senate’s budget proposal, now being debated in the House, includes a $4 million reduction … Continue reading “Budget Cuts to Push Intellectual Diversity? There Are Better Ways”