Blogs

Increasingly, industries need individuals with a blend of bth content expertise and business acumen. As market forces become increasingly intertwined in both K-12 and postsecondary education, individuals with both content knowledge and management expertise have much to offer.

I read Itir Toksöz’s post on the merits of scholarly travel in August of last year, just as I was finalizing the details for my most recent trip to Brazil. Toksöz recognizes that traveling too frequently may be costly in terms of neglected “school” work, but argues persuasively in favor of traveling to conferences, in particular, as necessary for academic exchange and networking. I agree; however, scholars who are also parents need to consider the impact their work-related travel can have on their families.

Given how under-preprared our many of our students are, how can we be expected to overcome those deficiencies in one 15-week course?

Given the level of stupidity regularly emanating from Arizona, I’m almost reluctant even to raise the topic. But stupidity has a way of metastasizing if left unchecked.

The content industry has come out barreling after the failure of their pet bills, SOPA and Protect IP. Carey Sherman writes with real feeling in his NYT Op-Ed Column last week, and the movie industry, with its representative Alfred P. Perry, has reached out in a softer mode to legal scholars, many of whom have criticized either, or both, these industries and current U.S. Copyright law.

I often wish there was a BOOK IT program for adults. I’m thinking of something different from the “grown-up” reading groups sponsored by talk show hosts where everyone, regardless of their interests, gathers to read the same chick-lit fare. And I’m definitely thinking of something different from traditional academic reading groups where copious notes and discussion questions are the norm. Both kinds of groups are well-meaning and there’s a place for them, to be sure. But really, I’m thinking of something with no guilt, no pressure, and no real agenda other than sharing and having fun.

Thank you Barbara Fister for your excellent review of David Weinberger's Too Big To Know, and to William Badke, Matthew Loving, Steven Paschold, Carl Hess, and Theron Snell for continuing the conversation about this terrific book.

On Friday, February 3rd, I was waiting for the economic update. The jobs picture is a key indicator (even though it is considered a lagging indicator) of economic recovery, and I was looking to see if there were tangible signs that a real and perhaps more robust recovery was underway. But even though I was tuned into the economy, my greatest attention was focused on the decision by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation decision to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.