I will live a long time and not forgive the Internet for making me read David Brooks’ New York Times weed opus. If you missed it, I apologize in advance. This week David Brooks responded to Colorado’s recent decriminalization of marijuana with a retrospective on his own experience smoking the wacky tobacky. In “Weed —Read More “Wacky Weed, Tacky Racism: The HigherEd Dead End”
Tag Archives: essays
Dude, Where’s The Race in Your Class Analysis of HigherEd?
A key status marker of any profession is engagement in fights about the state of said profession. For the past few weeks a particularly public fight about adjuncts and academia has been waged across blogs, online media and social media. I do not want to jump into that debate. I do not have a dogRead More “Dude, Where’s The Race in Your Class Analysis of HigherEd?”
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”
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”
When Your Hired Guns Are Hacks: Big Thinkers on HigherEd
Look, I embrace that I am a nobody. It works for me. However, where and when possible, I extend what applied knowledge and expertise I have to issues that I think matter. This blog is an exercise in that activity. I do not do it because it pays well or because I think I haveRead More “When Your Hired Guns Are Hacks: Big Thinkers on HigherEd”
The Privilege of Righteous Indignation and Why You’re Not The Boss of Me
I have piece in Slate on for-profit college students. The TL;DR version: critique structures and not people; descriptive statistics are not prescriptive; respect for-profit students’ agency even while examining the constraints on their agency. It’s a nuanced enough argument even for academics. I have no illusions about how it goes over with a general audience.Read More “The Privilege of Righteous Indignation and Why You’re Not The Boss of Me”
Are All of Your Education Disruptors White?
The answer may be no* but it is the question that I would like to focus on for right now. The question came to mind today as I was thinking through my position on higher education innovation and access. Both are wrapped up in language of justice, equality, and fairness — all things about whichRead More “Are All of Your Education Disruptors White?”
The Power of Thinking in Public
I write a lot but I do not often post my core academic work on my blog. I especially do not often do it when the work is still very much in the formative stages. However, my recent unpacking of prestige and for-profit colleges needed some crowdsourcing. So, after a marathon writing session of aRead More “The Power of Thinking in Public”
There Is No Race in Organizations
I continue to work on a comparative case of organizational structures in higher education. T’is what I do. Central to my theorizing and empirical work is that organizations reproduce racial, gender, and class inequality. You would think that goes without saying but race is seriously under-theorized and researched in organizational studies. For a long time,Read More “There Is No Race in Organizations”
My Latest at UVenus: Risk and Ethics of Public Scholarship
I’ve been asked frequently enough about my public work to know that there is a great deal of fear out there. People pull me aside at talks. They send me private messages on twitter. They email me from non .edu email addresses. I’ve written about that fear here before as it pertains to women. IRead More “My Latest at UVenus: Risk and Ethics of Public Scholarship”