Over the last several years, a burgeoning new genre has put the book-watching world on notice. “New Adult,” a coinage first used by St. Martin’s Press in 2009, refers to novels with greater depth than standard YA fare but far less than traditional literary fiction. Intended for twentysomethings unready for the challenge of real books, … Continue reading “A Popular Fiction Genre is Unreadable Garbage. Blame Colleges.”
Has Meredith College gone woke? When comparing the school’s history and original vision with its current happenings, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Founded in 1899, Meredith College–originally the Baptist Female University–opened as a female, Christian school, intent on academic excellence. The founders wished to provide female students access to the same quality of education … Continue reading “Meredith College Goes Woke?”
The educational bureaucracies from the state level down to local school boards, including community college boards of trustees, are rushing to implement administrative regulations and board policies, as well as approve curricular changes, that will normalize antiracist and gender identity politics in our education systems for years and perhaps generations to come. The sudden rush … Continue reading “Institutionalizing Systemic Antiracism Racism”
The UNC School of Medicine just released an “update” to its lengthy Task Force to Integrate Social Justice into the Curriculum Report. According to the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion web page, “the UNC School of Medicine appreciates the Task Force’s work, its feedback, and recommendations,” and this status report “includes important context relative to … Continue reading “Diversity, Equity, and Confusion at UNC School of Medicine”
Race has arguably become the single most important defining characteristic of a person in today’s society. Rather than concerning itself with scholarship, character, personality, or work ethic, today’s universities now treat students and faculty as if their race supersedes all of their other qualities. One example of this is UNC-Chapel Hill’s Race, Racism and Racial … Continue reading “UNC Hosts a Symposium on “Race, Racism, and Racial Equity””
The notion of antiracism now dominates at all levels of education, from infant to university. In a previous piece, I described how the 2017 President of American Educational Research Association (AERA) gave speeches to teachers instructing them that teaching math to kids poses a racist threat, playing a set of video clips to underline her … Continue reading “Credo Quia Absurdum: Education and the Cult of Anti-Racism”
Critical race theory (CRT) maintains that the United States is founded on racial supremacy and oppression. The US Constitution, legal system, and institutions, according to critical race theorists, are inherently racist. Unequal outcomes, they suggest, are a reflection of systemic racism. America’s material achievement and economic growth, critical race theorists argue, has only been achieved … Continue reading “What Should We Do About Critical Race Theory?”
As if landing a college teaching position wasn’t already difficult enough, the powers-that-be have placed another obstacle in job-seekers’ path: the so-called “Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” better known as the “diversity statement” or “DEI statement.” Many (most?) institutions now require such a document as part of the application packet along with the traditional … Continue reading “The Toxic Absurdity of “Diversity Statements” “
One of the stories in my new book, The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults is that of the changed status of undergraduates and professors. They don’t relate to one another the way they used to. If you wandered the hallways at State U in 1980, you’d sense an ordinary relationship … Continue reading “The Professors Made Their Bed”
White fragility. Equitable math. The invisible knapsack. These critical theory terms and practices are now common in North Carolina’s public K-12 schools. And Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson has collected many more examples with his Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students (F.A.C.T.S.) Task Force. But North Carolina’s public schools didn’t “go woke” … Continue reading “UNC Schools Indoctrinate Future Teachers”