Author Profile

Trent Bertrand

Trent Bertrand, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of international economics at Johns Hopkins University who has also taught at Cornell, SUNY Binghamton, Princeton, Vanderbilt, the University of Hawaii, Queen’s and McGill universities in Canada, and Thamasat University in Thailand. He was formerly Chief of the Economics and Policy Division in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department and Senior Economist in the Country Policy Division at the World Bank.

Articles by Trent Bertrand

My University Treated Me Like a Criminal Over a Joke

Jul 19, 2017 · Trent Bertrand · 204 Comments

For the past six years, I have taught an undergraduate course on international economics at Johns Hopkins University. Most of my students thought it was a very good course. So I was shocked when, on December 6, 2016, I was met at the door of my classroom by Johns Hopkins security personnel and barred from … Continue reading “My University Treated Me Like a Criminal Over a Joke”

Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue Aug 3, 2020
College admissions is a different field than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. High school guidance counselors still help hundreds of students make a plan for after graduation. Students still try to get into the best college they can. But they are now more cost-conscious, their families hire private college counselors, and they … Continue reading “Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue”
UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom Jul 31, 2020
When a political science lecturer at UCLA read to his class Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and showed clips from a documentary on racism, he found himself in hot water. The reason: Both the letter and the documentary included the N-word. Many students complained, which in turn pitted UCLA against the … Continue reading “UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom”

Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
If All Men are Created Equal, Why Do We Need Grades? Jul 29, 2020
I just finished a fascinating book, The Recovery of the West, by polymath Englishman Michael Roberts. Roberts became famous as a poet, but was trained as a scientist and spent much of his life as a teacher. Brief history of grading The book was published in 1941. A teacher in a typical English school at … Continue reading “If All Men are Created Equal, Why Do We Need Grades?”
Fall Uncertainty: College Leaders Have Left Students, Professors in the Dark Jul 27, 2020
Colleges across the country are preparing for potential spikes in coronavirus cases in the fall. As some students return to campus, schools are making plans to protect the health of students, faculty, and campus workers. Universities want to shorten face-to-face exposure on campus during the fall and winter. By starting the semester early, as many … Continue reading “Fall Uncertainty: College Leaders Have Left Students, Professors in the Dark”

Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom Jul 31, 2020
When a political science lecturer at UCLA read to his class Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and showed clips from a documentary on racism, he found himself in hot water. The reason: Both the letter and the documentary included the N-word. Many students complained, which in turn pitted UCLA against the … Continue reading “UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom”
Higher Ed Is Stoking the Flames of the War on History Jul 24, 2020
On July 4 at Mt. Rushmore, President Trump praised Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, and Louis Armstrong; it was a significant political and cultural speech, comparable to Trump’s speech extolling Western civilization at Warsaw in 2017. Trump also ordered a federal project called the Garden of National Heroes, mandating the artwork to be classical and “not … Continue reading “Higher Ed Is Stoking the Flames of the War on History”

Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue Aug 3, 2020
College admissions is a different field than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. High school guidance counselors still help hundreds of students make a plan for after graduation. Students still try to get into the best college they can. But they are now more cost-conscious, their families hire private college counselors, and they … Continue reading “Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue”
UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom Jul 31, 2020
When a political science lecturer at UCLA read to his class Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and showed clips from a documentary on racism, he found himself in hot water. The reason: Both the letter and the documentary included the N-word. Many students complained, which in turn pitted UCLA against the … Continue reading “UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom”