In 2017, the North Carolina legislature passed House Bill 527 (now State Law 2017-196) in order to foster free, open inquiry in the state’s colleges and universities. One of the provisions ordered the University of North Carolina system Board of Governors to produce an annual report on two major categories of intellectual freedom: free speech … Continue reading “Free Speech at UNC 2018”
Postmodern academia no longer searches for truth. Except in the physical sciences, objectivity is too often replaced with moral relativism, “critical theory,” and the “lived experience” of individual scholars. But none of this is new. It is an outgrowth of the cultural problems C.S. Lewis observed 75 years ago in one of his shortest and … Continue reading “C.S. Lewis Was Right About Education”
The Paradigm Shift Not long ago I was working with my occasional co-author, an associate dean in the school of economic, political and policy sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, on creating a campus research institute focused on spontaneous orders. That is a field that attempts to explain how social order emerges from … Continue reading “Perverse Incentives in Science: 21st Century Funding for 20th Century Research”
Last year, the Pope Center’s Board of Directors decided that there was too much confusion between the Center and the John W. Pope Foundation, a private grant-making foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina. It concluded that a name change was in order. The name chosen was the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. James G. Martin is the former governor … Continue reading “A New Era: The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal”
The college novel is a staple of Anglosphere literature; academia is an especially target-rich environment for social critics and satirists. Yet, the best-selling college novels usually aim at a relatively small subset of that environment. Most merely use the campus as a backdrop for stories that could take place almost anywhere: coming of age stories, … Continue reading “The Novel A Theory of Nothing Says Something”
On the surface, Pokémon Go players appear to be zombified millennials walking aimlessly, eyes fixed on their cellphones. But in reality they are engaging with a new community of young adults who are embracing a healthy, stimulating, and socially beneficial technology. The game, which has become a global sensation, brings out the best in those … Continue reading “Pokémon Go Is Booming on Campus, and That’s a Good Thing”
In an article I wrote for the Pope Center last year, I explained how my academic field, anthropology, is increasingly dominated by activists who want to use it for their political purposes. In keeping with that trend, last year, a task force of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) passed a resolution calling for the association … Continue reading “The American Anthropological Association Barely Defeats “Boycott Israel” Resolution”
Mark Twain’s famous quip about the rumors of his demise applies to the private higher education lending industry. Many people think that because Congress did away with the nominally private Federal Family Education Loan Program in 2010 and the Education Department’s Federal Direct Loan Program has been mushrooming, the private lending business must be dead, … Continue reading “The Private Student Lending Industry’s Death Has Been Greatly Exaggerated”
A few weeks ago I went camping with some fellow members of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Young Americans for Liberty chapter. Whenever we get together, there is sure to be an impassioned discussion—not just about the Carolina Panthers or the best brands of bourbon, but also American foreign policy and free … Continue reading “UNC-Chapel Hill’s Economics Program Lacks Historical Perspective”