Category Archives: Uncategorized

This morning, Inside Higher Ed published an interview with Peter P. Smith to discuss his new book.   I began reading the article  in a pro-forma way since the “middle third” isn’t a strong interest of mine.  But I found possible … Continue reading →

The other day I was unable to attend my senior seminar.  I was prepared to let the class go on without me—we had planned a discussion that the students were well prepared to carry out (four students each gave a … Continue reading →

For some time I’ve been musing about the role of the faculty member in the university of the 21st century.  In a world of open content, what is the value-added of the teacher?  A couple of my musings are here … Continue reading →

The chairs have given serious consideration to the development of an “Honors Program” as a tool for attracting and retaining high-quality students. How can we develop a program that would bring and keep high-quality students, while not alienating students outside … Continue reading →

If you haven’t seen this video, it’ll make your day if you’re an educator. Taylor Mali on why we do what we do

I had an interesting revelation over the last few days.  I’m teaching a senior seminar in the same mode as my seminar last spring.  This is the course I discussed in my ELI presentation last week (about which I have … Continue reading →

In the previous post, I described my recent trip to the Caribbean.  This trip-of-a-lifetime was marred by the flight home.   I should have expected this, since it was on US Useless Air.  I am somewhere between an infrequent and a … Continue reading →

Okay, some people might consider it a stretch to call this last month a vacation, since I’ve been away from teaching for eight months while on sabbatical.  Still, it was a break from normal life and it provided an excellent … Continue reading →

Jim Groom posted a thoughtful reflection about this article by Gardner Campbell on the history of UMW Blogs in the latest issue of UMW Today. For me, the money quote in Jim’s post is I think what sets UMW apart … Continue reading →

Higher education is in the midst of a revolution, even if the majority of higher education faculty are unaware of this.  What are the signs of this revolution? The growing emphasis in higher education on outcomes assessment, The decline in … Continue reading →