Blogs

There must be something in the water in California. A few months ago, the world saw the viral video of campus police tear gassing protesters at a UC campus. This week, students at Santa Monica College -- a community college -- were tear gassed when trying to enter a public meeting to protest the proposed two-tier tuition plan outlined here.

One of the best aspects of working on a college campus is the enormous number of opportunities to hear knowledgeable people talk about interesting topics. Usually for free. Tonight was one of those opportunities.

This week we learned about the newest player in the online higher ed for-profit space, the Minerva Project. Check out Audrey's blog post and and Doug's article for some good background and discussion about Minerva.

In June of 2010, Brené Brown gave an amazing TED talk on vulnerability. When I first watched her talk, I realized that she had articulated the way that I try to live my life -- professionally and personally. Brown emphasized the concept of "wholeheartedness" and how it relates to vulnerability.

Since I have been traveling to film festivals and accompanying students on spring break trips, I have not seen my teenagers for almost three weeks — a situation that makes my eyes start to twitch after a while. I need to communicate to my kids (and to myself) a justification for this lengthy separation from them.

Yale University's approach to its partnership with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to establish an undergraduate liberal arts college in the country is flawed and ill-conceived in ways that call into question Yale’s ability to be a responsible long-term partner for Singapore and its national university.

The Minerva Project announced $25 million in seed funding today from Benchmark Capital, promising to found the first "elite university" in the U.S. in over a century. The university -- online and for-profit -- has some big names on its advisory board. But can it actually live up to this big vision and promise (and investment)?

As I work on the last revisions to my dissertation (by the time this post goes live I will have mailed my dissertation draft to my committee), I oftentimes find myself thinking back to the long road that brought me to this moment. Eight years ago, around this time of year, I was accepted at an upstate New York university for my Master’s degree, and I knew this move would change me forever. In the summer of 2004, I would leave my little island, move to a town a few hours away from New York City, and spend the next five years reading, writing, and thinking deep thoughts in hopes of achieving a PhD in English.