Academics

Future leaders in business, government, and civil society need more than just job skills. The following articles defend the value of liberal education, with a focus on academic quality and rigor, fundamental knowledge, and the ideas that have shaped Western Civilization. They also scrutinize academic programs that have departed from these ideals in the name of progressive ideology.

Mar 12, 2018 · Terry Stoops

Is the UNC System Serious about Teacher Training Reform?

On Valentine’s Day, The University of North Carolina System released “Leading on Literacy: Challenges and Opportunities in Teacher Preparation Across the University of North Carolina System.” For me, it was not love…

Mar 9, 2018 · George Leef

Forcing Students to Apply to College Is a Bad Idea

Legislators in New Mexico are pushing a bill that would make students apply to at least one college while they are still juniors in high school. This legislation reflects the…

Mar 2, 2018 · Richard Bledsoe

University Programs Cultivate the Crisis of Relevance in the Arts

I spent the early 1990s in art school. Little did I know that one of most negative experiences I had there was a harbinger for the direction of college art…

Feb 28, 2018 · John Staddon

Science and Its Discontents: Too Few Jobs—or Too Many Scientists?

“The United States is producing more research scientists than academia can handle,” so begins a July 2016 article by respected New York Times science reporter Gina Kolata. It turns out…

Feb 26, 2018 · Dan E. Way

North Carolina Works to Ensure Success of Military Students

Drone pilots have assumed an increasingly valuable role in military operations. Soon they may be able to leverage their unique experience into academic credits through the North Carolina Community College…

Feb 23, 2018 · Stephen Walters

Urban Universities: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

Look at any map of our recent presidential elections and a key fault-line in our fractured country becomes clear. Cities and their denser suburbs vote overwhelmingly Democratic and show up as blue islands.…

Feb 14, 2018 · L.C. Sheahan

Men Wanted: The Feminized Campus versus Decent Masculinity

In the wake of Harvey Weinstein, #MeToo, increased public attention to sexual harassment, and the growing debate about due process rights of the accused, how are young men to navigate…

Feb 12, 2018 · Shannon Watkins

Great Books Are Key for a Unified Education

The Great Books—the primary texts that include the greatest writings of Western Civilization—once formed the basis of all higher education. The highest levels of society were often closed to those…