Attacks by academics and the media on the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors have become a major part of the state’s political landscape in recent years, and such attacks may be intensifying. The board is described at times as inept, divisive, “partisan,” “anti-intellectual,” and mean-spirited; unless they are “reined in,” North Carolina’s … Continue reading “The Board Ain’t Broke, So It Don’t Need “Fixin’””
North Carolina State University is one of the latest universities to announce plans to close its Confucius Institute. Eleven American colleges and universities have parted ways with these Chinese government-funded centers, eight of them in the last 14 months. The Chinese government funds some 500 Confucius Institutes at colleges and universities around the world, and … Continue reading “Another Confucius Institute Closes”
The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal returns to the City Club Raleigh for its Third Annual Policy Banquet. The banquet, featuring Roger Ream of The Fund for American Studies, will be held on Tuesday, October 23 from 5:30pm-8pm. Keynote speaker Roger Ream is the president of The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), a nonprofit dedicated to changing the world by developing leaders for … Continue reading “Third Annual Policy Banquet”
In a recent essay published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley is haunted by a spectre—the spectre of American universities aiding the rise of fascism. (The essay, “Fascism and the University” is subscriber-only content, unfortunately.) He says that “patterns have emerged that suggest the resurgence of fascist politics globally” and … Continue reading “Higher Education and the Threat of Fascism”
At last, McAdams v. Marquette University is over, and the outcome is heartening for Americans who cherish free speech and adherence to contracts. Conversely, it has those who believe that speech that ofends any politically correct sensibilities must be punished gnashing their teeth. The Martin Center has been covering this case since it broke nearly … Continue reading “The McAdams Case Ends in Victory for Contractual Rights and Academic Freedom”
The Raleigh News & Observer recently published a contentious exchange between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s history professor Jay Smith and vice chancellor of communications Joel Curran concerning Smith’s course “Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956-Present.” The course, History (HIST) 383, grew out of Smith’s involvement in UNC’s lengthy … Continue reading “No Harm, No Foul in UNC Sports Scandal Course Dispute”
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on faculty roles in higher education. Part I by Fabio Rojas is here and Part III by John Wilson is here. One of higher education’s enduring questions is about the proper role of faculty. The debate is growing hotter, as increased activism by some faculty … Continue reading “Defining Faculty Roles: Scholarship Only, Activism on Your Own Time”
The college campus is increasingly a focal point for shaping social norms, largely a result of rising college attendance; only five percent of the generation that came of age in the 1930s were college graduates, as opposed to roughly a third of millennials. Sometimes, however, this shaping is not always an improvement. In recent years, … Continue reading “The Dictatorship of the Offended”
For a few years in the mid-2000s, David Horowitz was one of the most prominent figures on the campus scene. He didn’t have a PhD and he didn’t belong to any discipline or department. He was, instead, a hard left activist in the 1960s and part of Black Panther leader Huey Newton’s inner circle. Then, … Continue reading “David Horowitz’s Insight About the Academic Left”
Editor’s note: This is the second part of an essay on how to restore ideological balance in universities without affirmative action for conservative scholars. The first part can be found here. The ideological imbalance of American university faculties is not new. Whether one looks at faculty voter registrations, publications, course syllabi reading lists, or merely … Continue reading “Faculty Hiring Needs Proper Checks and Balances”