Author Archives: SFHE Forum

Future People: Make Postdigital Literacy the Cornerstone of Post-COVID-19 Higher Education

 On April 1, 2020, mere weeks into our shared “COVID spring,” The New York Times opined that the COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge the United States has faced since World War II. Projections at the time showed anywhere from … Continue reading

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Campuses as Models of Democracy

The 2020 presidential election has put into sharp relief not only the political polarization of the American people but also the widespread confusion and skepticism among the citizenry about democratic practices. While this confusion and skepticism threaten our electoral politics … Continue reading

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Feminar 103: Notes on Teaching about Women, Gender, and Sexuality

In my Feminar 102 column, I argued that Kate Manne’s Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny (2018) deserved our immediate attention. Manne’s latest book—Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women—has just now been released by Crown Publishers, a popular press. It … Continue reading

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Feminar 102: Notes on Teaching about Women, Gender, and Sexuality

In a speech in the House of Commons on 11 March 1873, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli proclaimed that “a university should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.” Those of us in the humanities have seen our … Continue reading

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A Market-based Argument for Liberal Arts Degrees

In 2013, Jaison Abel and Richard Deitz of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a study about the extent to which the jobs of Americans with college degrees matched their undergraduate majors.[1] Two of this study’s findings have … Continue reading

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Feminar 101: Notes on Teaching about Women, Gender, and Sexuality

If you are a teacher, you might recognize the following scenario. It’s the beginning of the academic term, and you’re pulling together syllabi, texts, and notes for your first class meetings. You check your email and find a few messages … Continue reading

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Beyond the Bibliography: Academic Style as a Venue for Teaching Values

As evidenced by the infamous “Prof or Hobo?” online quiz,[1] professors are not known for being particularly stylish. Whether due to a sense that matters of style are trivial or a lack of time to plan nice outfits, many professors … Continue reading

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Can Personal Identity Survive Personalization?

Algorithms, especially computer algorithms, are playing a larger role in everyday life. Algorithms work well when they serve as filters that limit data overload and increase relevant search results. Facebook’s algorithms, for example, use a ranking system that examines the … Continue reading

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Cultivating the Virtue of Immodesty

In June 2018, an opinion piece in The New York Times titled “Women, Own Your ‘Dr.’ Titles” commented on the explosion of the #immodestwoman hashtag following Fern Riddell’s documentation of her experience of adding her title (“Dr.”) to her Twitter … Continue reading

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Academic Knowledge and Democratic Practice: Dewey’s Case for Accessible and Interdisciplinary Education

In the chapter “Search for the Great Community” in The Public and Its Problems, John Dewey establishes a case for interdisciplinary, accessible education to foster forms of public democracy and social unity. According to Dewey, knowledge for democratic practice must … Continue reading

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