academia

Conservatives Hate Tenure (Except for Clarence Thomas)

by Tom Nichols

Right-wing politicians with Ivy League degrees are eager to attack tenure at public institutions for political gain, but won't abide questions about Clarence Thomas's integrity.

‘If We Don’t Adapt, We Will Wither Away’: Louis Menand on the University

"What we teach in the liberal arts — hermeneutics, history, and theory — are intended to help you do this. Professional schools don’t teach these things. You are not going to learn them anywhere else."

That Op-Ed About Jill Biden Was Sexist. But the Real Problem Lies Deeper

by Allison Miller

Beyond its sexism and disregard for expertise, the notorious Wall Street Journal op ed highlights a culture of deference to hierarchy that limits the prospects of women and minorities in academic work.

Pandemic Imperils Promotions for Women in Academia

As primary education has gone remote for another term, women professors with children argue that uneven distribution of domestic labor means their scholarly work is at a disadvantage compared to male and childless colleagues. "“I don’t need a clock extension,” Dr. Magdalena Osburn said. “I need an acknowledgment that this year is trash.”

More Doctoral Programs Suspend Admissions. That Could Have Lasting Effects on Graduate Education

Graduate programs in humanities and social sciences, including in history, face difficult decisions about how matriculating new graduate students as the pandemic makes a bad job market eve worse and makes many established forms of research impossible to conduct.

Is Academe Awash in Liberal Bias? Most People Think So. They're Wrong

by Naomi Oreskes and Charlie Tyson

Available data do not support claims that university professors are extremely leftist, that a majority of students are being educated by left-wing professors, or that academe is biased against conservatives. So why do so many people believe these claims? Methodologically flawed studies and a long-running culture war.

Adjunct Professors: Jobs Are Low on Pay and Health Benefits With High COVID Risk

If colleges move forward with in-person instruction for the coming semester, adjunct professors will likely play a greater role in teaching students in the classroom. But they often have little institutional support — in terms of health insurance or other benefits — even during this public health crisis.

To Nichole Nelson Ph.D. ’20, Policy is ‘History in Action’

The American Council of Learned Societies has named Nichole Nelson one of 22 new Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows for 2020.

Legendary FSU History Professor Jim Jones Dies

"Jim used to laugh that students would approach him to say that he’d taught their parents, to which Jim would reply, ‘and how’s your grandmother/grandfather, whom I also taught?’"

Economics, Dominated by White Men, Is Roiled by Black Lives Matter

The editor of a top academic journal is facing calls to resign after criticizing protesters as “flat earthers” for wanting to defund the police.

Law Professor Criticized After Reading Racial Slur In Class

A Stanford Law School (SLS) professor is facing criticism from numerous student groups and instructors after saying the N-word in a class while quoting from historical source material. 

Remaking Ethnic Studies

Recognizing a rift between the words written on a chalkboard and the society that lies outside the classroom door, students are increasingly pushing for a course of study that allows them to learn about traditionally underrepresented figures and reckon with concepts of oppression and justice.

The Coronavirus Is Threatening Diversity In Academia

As budgets are stricken and mass layoffs become routine, scholars of all levels are fighting back to make sure diversity in academia won’t become collateral damage in the pandemic.

From Associate to Full Professor

by Keisha N. Blain

Although securing tenure and tenure-track jobs has received great attention lately, it is important that historians from underrepresented groups successfully pursue promotion to full professorship in their institutions to diversify leadership in the profession. 

Historians Named Among Mellon/ACLS Community College Fellows

Five history professors at two-year institutions have been recognized for their vital contributions to scholarship, teaching, and their communities.

When Will Universities Reward Teaching?

by Jonathan Zimmerman

In 1990, Stanford president Donald Kennedy boldly admitted that his university had neglected teaching in favor of research. Universities have not heeded that warning.

What If Colleges Don’t Reopen Until 2021?

"John Thelin, a University of Kentucky professor and the author of the definitive 'History of American Higher Education,' told me that he’s never seen anything like the dual crisis colleges are facing right now."

Former Stanford President Donald Kennedy Dies of COVID-19

The neurobiologist was appointed in 1980, served 12 years at helm.

Don’t Forget About Graduate Students

by Nadirah Farah Foley

Our labor sustains colleges’ educational mission. Now it’s time for universities to sustain us.

Is Art History Becoming Too Woke?

by Bendor Grosvenor

After Yale made the decision to pull its course "Introduction to the History of Art: Renaissance to the Present," historian Bendor Grosvenor takes a look at the influence of political correctness on art history.