Although Kate's a professor in the Humanities and as such adds to the archive of material addressing Why Get a PhD in the Humanities?, she also opens up the question to PhD or No PhD? In response to her excellent post, I desire to take the opportunity to extend a call more broadly to faculty across higher education to share their reflections on the topic by leaving a comment/reflection below or by contributing a post of their own. To learn more about posting on the blog, click here. Note: if you are a student who … [Read more...] about PhD or No PhD. That is the Question.
education
Does Education Need to Have a Highest Good?
While mowing the grass on Sunday, here's the question that was put to me through my headphones: Is it possible to really have education —and hence to nourish imaginations —if schools refuse to define some highest good that is ordering educational life, some higher good that is transcendent or spiritual in some way? Maybe this isn't the typical issue that comes up during your yardwork, but it's not uncommon for me. I was listening to the current issue of Mars Hill Audio, specifically Ken Myers' interview with Anthony … [Read more...] about Does Education Need to Have a Highest Good?
Should we “Send Huck Finn to College”?
[poll id="15"] I grew up not only reading edited "classics" such as the Great American Novel, i.e., The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Tom Sawyer's Comrade (1885), and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), but also watching TV/Movie versions of these books. But what do they teach? How are they received across our wider society? What do followers of Christ bring which is unique to this conversation? Note: Before making any comments, please read Send Huck Finn to College (Lorrie Moore. NY Times Op-Ed. … [Read more...] about Should we “Send Huck Finn to College”?
Captain Underpants and Faculty Role Models
Here on the ESN blog, we've often blogged about differing views of education, particularly the conflict between education as personal formation and education as professional training. I encountered these differing views in two articles recently. I expected to see competing visions of education to make an appearance in a column on faculty as role models for students, but it was a bit of surprise to find them in a light (so I thought) opinion piece on the "books for boys" genre. First, the expected: last week, Inside … [Read more...] about Captain Underpants and Faculty Role Models
Twitter: a tool for a new generation of academic conversation or Not? (Updated)
You might remember various Technology in Higher Education posts exploring: “Creepy Treehouse”? Friending Your Professors or Students New Technology and Academic Research Who do you trust? Google and information gathering What Tools Do You Use? Should we not leave Twitter out as a tool for a new generation of academic conversation? A brief piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on how Ed Techie, an education blogger, finds On Twitter, Academic Debates Fall Short. Note: Comments on the The … [Read more...] about Twitter: a tool for a new generation of academic conversation or Not? (Updated)