I began teaching at the university level in June 2018, while I was still a graduate student at George Mason University. This upcoming year, I’ll begin a tenure-track assistant professorship … Continue reading “The Education of a Classically Liberal Educator”
John Agresto’s splendid new book, The Death of Learning, is not nearly as depressing as its title might lead one to expect. On the contrary, it is an exhilarating read and, … Continue reading “Why We Need the Liberal Arts”
Undergraduate student engagement is on the decline. That’s according to the publishing and research firm Wiley, which, in February, released a “State of the Student” survey indicating that student engagement … Continue reading “Let’s Improve Student Engagement”
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”
There’s something rotten in American journalism schools. From a tendency toward bias to outright activism, journalism in higher education is not what it should be: a place to guide young … Continue reading “What Should We Teach in Journalism Schools? “
Former Harvard president Derek Bok has long lamented that our institutions of higher education largely underperform in their missions. He has now written another book making that argument. His Higher … Continue reading “Derek Bok’s Higher Expectations – Our Colleges Should Accomplish More”
I am so grateful for and blessed by my time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, I am keen to the reality that my political foundations … Continue reading “A Conservative Student’s Experience at UNC-Chapel Hill”
Karl Marx is a common fixture on college course syllabi. From English to sociology to philosophy, the German socialist’s writings are explained, analyzed, and dissected. I find myself, a teacher … Continue reading “We Need to Teach About the Socialist Alternative…and Its Failure”
Let’s Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education is indeed a reasonable book. Drawing on thinkers from John Locke to Allan Bloom, Ursinus College political theory professor Jonathan Marks … Continue reading “Be Reasonable, But Not Naive, About the Crisis in Higher Ed”
It can be disheartening to witness how college culture has become inhospitable to viewpoints that fall outside of the ideological mainstream. For example, a March 2020 report by three professors … Continue reading “Teaching Students Civil Dialogue in a Culture Hostile to Free Speech”