Robert E. Martin (Centre): The Humanities Dilemma, Postmodernism and Critical Thinking. Stanley Fish on the triumph of the humanities. Study of the best that has been thought and said is under attack — Fred Inglis turns to F.R. Leavis for the ordnance with which to defend the humanities. UNESCO debates the uses and misuses of academic rankings. An interview with Louis Menand, author of The Marketplace of Ideas. From The New Yorker, Louis Menand on why we have college: A review essay (and a response). College? There's an app for that — how USC built a 21st century classroom. Richard Vedder on why university presidents are clueless about the real world. An interview with Naomi Schaefer Riley, author of The Faculty Lounges and Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Paid For. Quarantining the PC Pathology: Let’s face it, our noble efforts to detoxify today’s PC-infected university have largely failed and the future looks bleak. Are students a captive audience? The Tenured Radical on constructive disagreement and classroom politics. Opposition to affirmative action has drastically reduced minority enrollment at public universities; private institutions have the power and the responsibility to reverse the trend. Back in the mid 20th century, colleges and universities helped America beat down economic inequality — now they reinforce it. A plea for real-world research: A journalist who turns to academic papers finds more questions than answers. Marx, Pandora and the Tower of Porn: The truth is in here, but so too are countless myths — Colin Higgins on the strange world of the academic library, where cod-antique book curses jostle for shelf space with thieves, tourists and treasures.
