Woke Me When It’s Over
Many, perhaps most, Americans are just now waking up to the meaning of “woke.” What does “woke” have to do with looting, bricks, fires, and blood in Portland, Seattle, and … Continue reading “Woke Me When It’s Over”
Author Profile
David Clemens
David Clemens is a professor of English at Monterey Peninsula College in California, where he teaches five courses including one on critical thinking.Articles by David Clemens
A Dreamer of the Golden Dream: Jerry Brown’s Future for Higher Education
The title of this article alludes to Joan Didion’s famous essay about “love and death in the golden land,” a cautionary tale about the wreckage left behind when dreams collide … Continue reading “A Dreamer of the Golden Dream: Jerry Brown’s Future for Higher Education”
The High Cost of Cultural Amnesia
Famed literary critic George Steiner once said that cultural knowledge allows one to “resist” and that “no one can make a zombie of you if you carry [cultural knowledge] inside … Continue reading “The High Cost of Cultural Amnesia”
Student Learning Outcomes and the Decline of American Education
Educational fads always come with a shelf life; the implacable resistance of reality eventually makes them expire. Usually, the promised educational miracle has done more harm than good. The wreckage … Continue reading “Student Learning Outcomes and the Decline of American Education”
A New College Makes the (ACTA) Grade
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) advises trustees and alumni about higher education issues, identifies “oases of [educational] excellence,” and examines graduation requirements at various colleges to answer … Continue reading “A New College Makes the (ACTA) Grade”
In (Limited) Praise of Trigger Warnings
One should wish to “do no harm.” Reason must prevail. Professors should take steps to protect the truly damaged, but students who think they are emotionally triggered by imaginary, supernatural beings with magical powers would be better served by paying a visit to the campus health center.
Why Conservatives Should Defend Tenure
Without tenure, higher education would become even more of a progressive echo chamber.
With friends like these, the humanities needs no enemies
Do we still need the humanities? Yes, now more than ever. But the current academicization, politicization, and jargon mean that college may be the worst place to look for them. That’s where you go for Queerness, libidinal data, and negotiated flesh. On the bright side, it may be that the liberal arts and humanities will flourish once they escape the airless vaults of academia.
Here is how academics ruined the critical thinking movement
Here is how academics ruined the critical thinking movement
The Value of the Humanities
A book by a British professor fails to find good arguments for teaching the humanities.