From The Chronicle, new universities for Muslims, many supported by groups in the Middle East, are spreading through the sub-Saharan region; the story of Sudan's International University of Africa, once known for its militant Islamist approach, illustrates the controversial, complicated role of Islamic higher education on the continent; and the International Peace University South Africa grew out of two religious colleges, but its mission is to prepare students for success in the secular world. Professor John Tulloch was fascinated by the sociology of insecurity. Then he sat down on a train next to a suicide bomber. He tells Peter Kingston how it changed his life. Steps towards better development: A new research centre devoted to making science and technology work for the world's poor has been set up at the University of Sussex.
From Britannica, a look at why math geeks (especially immigrant geeks) rule. Would like to meet: The popular new site Nature Network could see scientists exchanging ideas, posting data... and even finding love online; the ethics of journalism don't work for science: The media and science often clash over published research. Should I study journalism? Should I attend journalism school? Those are questions many college students are asking these days, and the answers, according to various reports, are increasingly being answered with a resounding “yes”.
Wretched excess: Why do donors continue to donate vast sums of money to colleges and universities that truly do not need it? Authoritative Online Editions: While cherishing the material culture of books, an English professor nonetheless sees some distinct advantages to online sources. News Ages Quickly: Scientific publishing moves into the 21st century at last. Are American scientists an endangered species? Marc Zimmer offers a new way of looking at a crisis facing American colleges and universities.
Evolution in Your Brain: Gerald Edelman says only the fittest neurons survive. This century may be the first, in all the twenty-four centuries we have been pondering consciousness, in which we actually find out some true facts about it. Big dreams are once again on the minds of psychologists as part of a larger trend toward studying dreams as meaningful representations of our concerns and emotions.
From n+1, Bruce Robbins remembers Richard Rorty. Beyond Demonic Memes: David Sloan Wilson on why Richard Dawkins is wrong about religion. DNA passed down through generations of mothers could help answer big questions about the human journey across continents, thanks to a massive new database created by the The Genographic Project. From Salon, does the econo-blogosphere matter? Andrew Leonard wants to know. Virtual Worlds as Social-Science Labs: How one professor uses online games as petri dishes of human behavior. The Roots of Punishment: A finding from a theoretical model of cooperative activity reveals that making an enterprise optional also makes it more sustainable.
