If you’re of a certain vintage you might recall diminutive octogenarian Clara Peller barking the signature line on a Wendy’s commercial: “Where’s the beef?” And if you are in that … Continue reading “Will UNC Libraries Toss Their Books?”
Historically, higher learning was based on the study of the Great Works of thought of the Western canon. These works span a broad range of time, from the Classical period, … Continue reading “Preserving the Canon: Great Books Programs at America’s Colleges and Universities”
You’ve heard the complaints: When am I ever gonna use this? How is this relevant to the real world? How is reading Shakespeare going to make me a better banker? … Continue reading “A Response to the Cynical Student”
To the editor: Unfortunately these Great Books programs are mostly philosophy oriented. I found that they were greatly deficient in two areas: (1) science and math: only Darwin’s Origin of … Continue reading “Science and history should be a part of Great Books”
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 … Continue reading “A Popular Fiction Genre is Unreadable Garbage. Blame Colleges.”
A new college is opening its doors to students in the fall of 2023. In Costa Mesa, California, Hildegard College is offering students the chance to take their faith and … Continue reading “Faith, the Real World, and Liberal Arts: Turning College on Its Head at Hildegard”
In 1985, Roosevelt Montás arrived in the United States aged twelve, speaking no English, accustomed to life in a rural mountain village of the Dominican Republic where he had passed … Continue reading “A Life-Changing Meeting of Minds”
Universities are in dire need of reform. They are too expensive; the classwork is too easy; the curriculum too unfocused. Too many students drop out or don’t care. Indeed, many … Continue reading “Beauty and Wisdom: Renew the Culture by Restoring the Liberal Arts”
What is the value of a liberal arts education? At a time when parents are wary of taking on loads of debt to finance their children’s college degrees, it was … Continue reading “The Liberal Arts: What We Don’t Know”
The loss of public trust in universities that has risen to front page news did not suddenly emerge in 2020. In 2018 the non-partisan Gallup organization found that, for the … Continue reading “Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them”