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Missions of Research Museums and Universities
Mission statements are important aspects of academia, inasmuch as they provide a direction for academic work both within and without the institution. But are mission statements really all that...
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Public Belief and the Professoriate
One story about the founding of Cambridge University cites ongoing “town-vs.-gown” problems at Oxford. Conflicts between the citizens of Oxford, i.e. those who kept the town running, and the academics...
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Closing a College, Perpetuating a Mission
In February 2014, an art school’s decision made for some sensational headlines, such as The Washington Post‘s “The end of the Corcoran Gallery of Art.” This is a worrisome development for many art...
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A Collective Noun for Academics?
We talk so much about “the professoriate,” as a term that describes the academicians at an institution. But what is a good collective noun for academics? Faculty may be the official noun, but there...
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Surprised by Unethical Behavior?
Despite unethical actions by Wall Street, teachers, and businesses, we are somehow surprised that academics, especially in the sciences, engage in falsification or manipulation of data. Why is it that...
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Falsified results
In the case of Prof. Thomas, the ORI’s (Office of Research Integrity) findings reduce to this: she falsified results. Yes, this is a serious academic offense. Yes, she might endanger patients through...
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Open Access Won’t Save Academia
At least, not yet. As an academic, I am very much in favor of open access. It provides honed arguments upon which academics can build new work. It allows for research to become publicly visible, and...
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Course Blogs
While Tumblr and instagram might be the “it” social media of the moment, a course blog’s suitability for exchanging ideas, presenting research, and engaging in an open, distributed conversation is hard...
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Being Faculty
What does it mean to be a faculty? The word can refer to the inherent aptitudes, talents, or powers of a person, whether intellectual, physical, or otherwise– in terms of “mental faculties” that a...
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Higher Ed Changes
Is higher education perfect? No. What needs to change? Everything. And nothing. Many of my proposed changes to higher education are cultural shifts, in how the academy perceives its many iterations....
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