Author Archives: SFHE Forum
Liberal Education as an End in Itself: Retrieving That Crazy Idea (Installment 2)
In the first part of this article, I highlighted the problem of turning higher education into merely a means to the end of economic success. In this second part, I focus on resources that can help academics send a more … Continue reading
Liberal Education as an End in Itself: Retrieving That Crazy Idea
Higher education has a marketing problem—one that is partly of its own making. We all know that the public relations situation of higher education is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the general public continues to believe in the … Continue reading
What’s the Cost? Impacts of ‘Free Speech’ demonstrations on College Campuses
On October 28, 2017, the National Socialist Movement, the League of the South, Vanguard America, and the Traditionalist Worker Party, planned two events entitled “White Lives Matter” in Middle Tennessee, near the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.[1] These groups … Continue reading
“Plays Well with Others”: Can Games Achieve Learning Outcomes?
“Let’s kill Jesus!” Such words are not often heard from evangelical students at Christian colleges, and such playfulness is not usually associated with the sort of serious academic encounters that are expected in higher education. Yet, I listen to my … Continue reading
Democracy and Higher Education in Indonesia and the United States
I was a visiting research and teaching scholar at the Graduate School of the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia during the fall semester of 2014. I co-taught 50 students in four graduate-level courses, including a Ph.D. seminar that explored whether an undergraduate … Continue reading
Reflection: Higher Education and the Public
I agree with Eric’s observations and will just add a few of the lasting impressions the seminar made on me. As a doctoral student in the Philosophy of Education who focuses on higher education and spends a considerable amount of … Continue reading
Reflection: Higher Education and the Public
First, I certainly felt like everyone agreed that there is a gap between what the public thinks of higher education (for example, a credentialing service that helps to prepare young people to make money) and what academics think of higher … Continue reading
Higher Education and the Public
For the last several years, the Society for Values in Higher Education has sponsored a seminar session at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU). We have explored topics such as the role of higher … Continue reading
To Break Through the Ivory Tower’s Glass Ceiling, Let’s Monetize Service to the University
Teaching, scholarship, and service—the “holy trinity” of a professor’s professional life. When it comes time for tenure and promotion, the final decision hinges entirely on these three areas. To be sure, the weight given to each category differs from place … Continue reading
Should the Liberal Arts Resist Marketability?
It is certainly correct to say that many of us in the liberal arts today are concerned about the future of our disciplines as they currently exist in the academy. College enrollments continue to decline, and small liberal arts colleges … Continue reading