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Sometimes I can become so engrossed in a project that I forget to take a break. Or I don’t realize that I’ve been sitting with terrible posture at the computer and have neglected to stop and stretch. Before I know it I have an aching neck or back and can no longer work effectively. Why can’t I just remember to take a break?

Dante doesn't get one. There's no Hemingway holiday, no Emily Dickinson Day. Do people all over the world, once a year, all at the same moment, gather to read Othello? No. No writer gets a whole day of the whole world reciting, performing, singing and celebrating his or her work. No writer except James Augustine (James Disgustin' to his detractors) Joyce.

A professor thinks we have a generation of students that cannot learn. I disagree.

On 19 May 2012, Dr. U Myint issued an open letter (reprinted below, and available here in PDF format) to inspire action regarding the restoration of the University of Yangon "to its Former Glory." This letter is noteworthy given the rapid pace of reform underway in Myanmar, and the critically important role of higher education institutions in shaping the development process at multiple levels (from the urban, to the national, to the regional).

Last week I had the privilege of attending the 65th Education Writers Association (EWA) National Seminar, held this year at the University of Pennsylvania. I was invited to sit on a panel discussion with the topic "Will Open Source College Courses Roil the Waters?" The session description read:

Anyone who wants to understand the reality of academic administration should read this article. (Hat tip to Joanne Jacobs for highlighting it.) It’s about some shady dealings come to light recently at Bergen Community College, in northern New Jersey. According to a report prepared by a retired judge at the behest of the trustees, the president of the faculty union was caught getting his granddaughter’s failing grades changed.

While much is still in transition, the fall of Muammar Qadhafi offers great opportunity for higher education and intellectual freedom in Libya. For Libya, a country of only six million people, transitioning and modernizing its entire higher education system cannot be done alone; it will take meaningful engagement with the international community.

As I suggested last week, the first couple of weeks of May were taken up with professional development of various sorts, necessitating large chunks of time out of the office and away from the computer. While that kind of change of pace is good, especially right at the end of the semester, it conflicts with the kind of change of pace I really want in May: the one where I get back to my research full time.