Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity, one of the most high-profile private sector attempts to “disrupt” higher education discovered inequality this week. Thrun has spent the last three years dangling the shiny bauble of his elite academic pedigree and messianic vision of the future of higher education before investors and politicos. He promised nothing short ofRead More “The Audacity: Thrun Learns A Lesson and Students Pay”
SJSU Talk on The MOOC Moment: Ethics, Discourse, and Promises
I had the privilege of speaking to the San Jose State University community at two talks hosted by the California Faculty Association, Department of Philosophy and Center for Ethics yesterday. For such talks I often provide resources and materials in a post before I lecture as to free up the audience to engage rather than record.Read More “SJSU Talk on The MOOC Moment: Ethics, Discourse, and Promises”
Loving Black Women and Richard Cohen’s Gag Reflex
Richard Cohen’s gag reflex was triggered by the visual of white Bill DeBlasio being married to his black wife Chirlane. Cohen couched his disgust in the everyman approach, attributing it to “conventions” of normal middle Americans. I do not have much patience for linkbaiting. I encourage you to read a summary of the comments, likeRead More “Loving Black Women and Richard Cohen’s Gag Reflex”
On Writing and Teaching and Going Viral
It has been a big week. Thank you to everyone who read and shared my thoughts on status, poverty, and culture. As with my thoughts on gender, race, and Miley Cyrus, I thought the piece a narrow meditation with very limited readership potential. Just goes to show that I do not have much of anRead More “On Writing and Teaching and Going Viral”
The Logic of Stupid Poor People
We hates us some poor people. First, they insist on being poor when it is so easy to not be poor. They do things like buy expensive designer belts and $2500 luxury handbags. To be fair, this isn’t about Eroll Louis. His is a belief held by many people, including lots of black people, poorRead More “The Logic of Stupid Poor People”
Brief Reflections on Living Structure
Is there a more enviable job than working for StoryCorps? Other than being Beyonce, I cannot think of many. Today’s story on a father who took his daughter to college with him is a tearjerker. It prompted me to quickly share some of my private thoughts on structure and marginalized groups. One of the mostRead More “Brief Reflections on Living Structure”
Lessons from Research: It’s The Numbers
There are lots of numbers in social science research but here are a few you rarely see from backstage. 9 = the number months I spent going from degree requirement to principal investigator. 24 = the number of months I wish I’d had to go from degree requirement to principal investigator. 47 = my totalRead More “Lessons from Research: It’s The Numbers”
My Syllabus for “Class, Status, Power”
As I mentioned before, I teach stratification. I approach syllabi kind of like I approach the Constitution. It is a living, breathing, collaborative document constantly under revision for attention to different voices and standpoints. The trick is always balancing that against a necessary framework that cannot be totally negotiated away. There is some appeal toRead More “My Syllabus for “Class, Status, Power””
One of These Things is Not Like The Other: Speaking While Black
I had a great time this week speaking to a collection of some of the nation’s higher education leaders. I also spent some time with my family. The story about family time is much more entertaining but the story about the keynote panel at the National Association of Community Colleges and Entrepreneurship is more enlighteningRead More “One of These Things is Not Like The Other: Speaking While Black”
Academic Whores
When Does an Academic Become a Whore? That’s a question weighing heavily on me today after biologist Danielle Lee was called a whore when she declined to write an essay for a science blog. Danielle does things with rats in labs. I do not always understand it but I read her blog at Scientific AmericanRead More “Academic Whores”