An Innovative Solution to the Failures of Peer Review

Aug 13, 2021 · Adam Ellwanger · Comments Off

Academics are growing wary of the peer review process amid mounting evidence that it is compromised by ideological biases and that it does not effectively or reliably ensure the quality of published research. Further, it is increasingly evident that the academic publishing industry’s primary reason for being is not to disseminate new knowledge to the … Continue reading “An Innovative Solution to the Failures of Peer Review”

Speaking Out Against Censorship in Academia

Dec 2, 2020 · Shannon Watkins · Comments Off

As academia becomes ever-more entrenched in groupthink, it can be intimidating to be a lone voice that refuses to toe the ideological line. And for good reason: failure to at least appear to agree with the ideological consensus on campus can result in a number of professional—and personal—consequences. But those potential consequences haven’t deterred one … Continue reading “Speaking Out Against Censorship in Academia”

Peer-Reviewed History is Dying of Wokeness Aug 12, 2022
What is the state of academic history? Take a look at the latest issue of the American Historical Review, the flagship journal of the academic discipline. It doesn’t publish bread-and-butter research articles; those go to specialist journals and fill published essay collections. Instead, its articles illustrate entire schools of historiography, using research as an entrée … Continue reading “Peer-Reviewed History is Dying of Wokeness”
Did You Know? UNC’s Minor in Social and Economic Justice Doesn’t Require Economics Courses Aug 11, 2022
UNC-Chapel Hill offers a wide variety of major and minor programs to its undergraduates, and each student’s résumé carries the authority of the first public university in the United States. However, if one peers beyond the grandiose titles of some students’ undergraduate programs, one is liable to find the contents rather vacuous. For example, UNC’s … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC’s Minor in Social and Economic Justice Doesn’t Require Economics Courses”
The Reopening of the American Mind Aug 10, 2022
In 1987, philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind, a book critiquing higher education in America. As a self-described teacher “dedicated to liberal education,” Bloom offered a thoughtful account of illiberal cultural and ideological trends: Civic education turned away from concentrating on the Founding to concentrating on openness based on history and … Continue reading “The Reopening of the American Mind”

One of Our Few Great College Presidents Retires Jul 27, 2022
University presidents make a difference. The best of them can steer a university to new heights of greatness, while the worst of them can bring costly mediocrity or even extinction. A few weeks ago, Mitch Daniels of Purdue, arguably the primus inter pares of American university presidents, announced that he was stepping down at the … Continue reading “One of Our Few Great College Presidents Retires”
Did You Know? “Some College, No Credential” Students Are a Significant Cohort Jul 21, 2022
Earlier this year, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) identified 39 million adults who had some higher-education experience as of July 2020 but had not earned any credentials and were no longer enrolled at a college or university. The NSCRC named this cohort the “Some College, No Credential” population. The NSCRC’s study found that … Continue reading “Did You Know? “Some College, No Credential” Students Are a Significant Cohort”
A Defense of the “Ungrading” Movement Jul 13, 2022
In his April piece for the Martin Center, Adam Ellwanger critiqued “contract grading” as a symptom of “the war against academic excellence” and the broader societal movement toward “some fetishized notion of social justice.” I agree with the diagnosis my colleague offers regarding the pervasiveness of “Lake Wobegon” syndrome, wherein everyone is above average, trophies … Continue reading “A Defense of the “Ungrading” Movement”

Peer-Reviewed History is Dying of Wokeness Aug 12, 2022
What is the state of academic history? Take a look at the latest issue of the American Historical Review, the flagship journal of the academic discipline. It doesn’t publish bread-and-butter research articles; those go to specialist journals and fill published essay collections. Instead, its articles illustrate entire schools of historiography, using research as an entrée … Continue reading “Peer-Reviewed History is Dying of Wokeness”
Did You Know? UNC’s Minor in Social and Economic Justice Doesn’t Require Economics Courses Aug 11, 2022
UNC-Chapel Hill offers a wide variety of major and minor programs to its undergraduates, and each student’s résumé carries the authority of the first public university in the United States. However, if one peers beyond the grandiose titles of some students’ undergraduate programs, one is liable to find the contents rather vacuous. For example, UNC’s … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC’s Minor in Social and Economic Justice Doesn’t Require Economics Courses”
Breaking Away From Leviathan: Colleges Can Thrive Without Federal Funding Aug 10, 2022
Can an academic institution be truly free if it relies on government funding? Perhaps in some perfect world, but today in the U.S., however, unencumbered generosity is not part of relationship between the federal government and higher education. Federal dollars mean federal mandates, and those mandates grow increasingly draconian. More and more, they stifle debate … Continue reading “Breaking Away From Leviathan: Colleges Can Thrive Without Federal Funding”