universities

Julia Schleck on The Function of the University Today

by Michael Meranze

Julia Schleck's work ties the idea of academic freedom to the social role of the university and its internal labor practices, which threatens scholars with attacks from inside and outside the campus. 

Neither Neoliberal nor Woke: What's Really Going on in Elite Higher Ed

by David A. Bell

Critics from the right and left who argue that universities are captured by some interest group or other ignore the way that universities pursue their own distinct instutitonal imperatives. 

Building Racial Dialogue (and a Department) In a Time of Backlash

by Leora Auslander and Atom Getachew

When many stakeholders were inclined to suspicion or outright hostility, building an academic department to study race, ethnicity and migration required labor-intensive dialogue not to split the difference between opposing sides but to build a majority coaltion of support. 

Weaponizing Accusations of Racism to Squash Political Criticism of China

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Two recent incidents show the dangers of allowing a foreign government to leverage college speech and bias codes to squelch criticism, and the need for administrators to understand the difference. 

UNC Chapel Hill Cancels In-Person Classes as Coronavirus Cases Climb

"It shouldn't have taken so many infections," said UNC-CH history professor Jay Smith.

Monument Movement: Historians Ask Who is Missing from Community Memorials

Dickinson College's House Divided Project researched the complex role of the school in slavery. The result? A dormitory and a gateway to the campus will be renamed to acknowledge prominent African-Americans in the college's history.

Back to School

by François Furstenberg

It’s not that university leaders necessarily want to open their campuses with new outbreaks looming in the fall. It’s that their business model leaves them no alternative.

George Washington University Is Reconsidering ‘Colonial’ Moniker

“Colonialist, terrorist, murderer. In a lot of places that’s what colonials mean to people,” said one student. “Why would we continue to call ourselves that?”

Did Rutgers Find The Perfect President For 2020? Meet Jonathan Holloway, Black Historian.

On Wednesday, the student of the past makes history himself by becoming the first Black president of Rutgers University, founded in 1766.

We’re Reopening Notre Dame. It’s Worth the Risk.

by John I. Jenkins

The President of the University of Notre Dame argues that the university's mission is a higher good that requires informed and cautious embrace of risk. 

College Calendars in the Pandemic: No Fall Break and Home by Thanksgiving

As universities announce plans to bring back students, a pattern is emerging: shorter semesters to avoid late-fall infections.

When University Leaders Fail

by François Furstenberg

A university governed by long timelines and long-term thinking grows conservatively and cautiously and prepares itself prudently for potential crises. If you turn a university into a giant corporation, on the other hand, it will rise and fall with the business cycle.

Faculty Cuts Begin, With Warnings of More to Come

Faculty grow wary of cuts to instructional staff as universities respond to fiscal crisis.

Not the Same University

Missouri Western cuts 30 percent of the faculty, along with programs in history, political science, sociology, economics, music and more.

California State U. System Will Conduct Most Fall Classes Online

Chancellor Timothy P. White told California State trustees that it would be irresponsible to bring the system’s nearly 500,000 students back to its 23 campuses in the fall.

Commission on History, Race and a Way Forward Hears from UVA Leaders, Looks Ahead

A commission at the University of North Carolina looked to the University of Virginia for guidance on reckoning with the institution's historical involvement with slavery and the Confederacy.  

The ‘Public’ in Public College Could Be Endangered

State legislatures are likely to respond to falling tax revenues by slashing budgets for public colleges and universities.

Canaries in a ‘Toxic Mine’

Professors at Ohio U say tenure-track faculty cuts can't simply be blamed on COVID-19, but rather long-term financial mismanagement.

Updated: Campus Reopening Hits Major Snags

COVID spikes threaten in-person instruction, community transmission defies administrative control, and technology may be unreliable. The latest on the new academic year.

What If Colleges Don’t Reopen Until 2021?

"John Thelin, a University of Kentucky professor and the author of the definitive 'History of American Higher Education,' told me that he’s never seen anything like the dual crisis colleges are facing right now."