We hope our readers had a wonderful spring semester. If, like ours, it was a whirlwind, you may have missed some of our best articles. As we head into summer, we look back on some of our most memorable articles from each month this spring. For your perusal, here are our top 50:
January
Swamped: Florida's Earth Charter U
01/06/10 By Ashley Thorne
Florida Gulf Coast University centers its curriculum on sustainability and the UN document the Earth Charter.
NAS Urges Court to Rule Racial Preferences at U Texas Unconstitutional
01/15/10 By Ashley Thorne
The NAS has signed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.
The Roots of Sustainability
01/19/10 By Glenn Ricketts - Academic Questions
This major piece by Glenn Ricketts chronicling the history of the sustainability movement appeared in the "Sustainability" issue of Academic Questions (vol. 23, no. 1).
Baggage Claim at Williams
01/26/10 By Ashley Thorne
Williams College will cancel classes to engage in "pomosexual" poetry performances, politicized art discussions, a "queering communities" panel, and "reclaiming New England's aboriginal history."
Four Rented Rooms and a Big Idea: Shimer College at the Crossroads
01/27/10 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
A tiny Great Books college in
February
The Death of Manliness at the University of Wyoming
02/03/10 By Ashley Thorne
There's bias against "Literature By and About Men" in the
Are Diversity Discussions Useful?
02/04/10 By Brian T. Johnson
Should diversity skeptics bother to participate in diversity discussions? Forums conducive to full and fair discussion would seem to be quite scarce. Is it better to contribute as possible or ignore such events entirely?
The Green Police, They Live Inside My Head
02/08/10 By Ashley Thorne
A Super Bowl commercial prompts confusion as to whether the sustainabullies are good or bad.
Florida Students Petition to Make Mandatory Sustainability Course Optional
02/10/10 By Ashley Thorne
Florida Gulf Coast University students say mandated eco-propaganda actually fosters anti-environmentalism.
Character Lessons: What We Can Learn From the Huntsville Killings
02/16/10 By Peter Wood
The murders at the
An Elbow in the Ribs: Prof-Prodding Toward Sustainability
02/17/10 By Ashley Thorne
Campus administrators and leaders of sustainability organizations come together to think of ways to get "reluctant professors" to teach sustainability. Their answer: "Change how they think."
The Absurdity of "Sustainability" in Economics Education
02/18/10 By Tyler Watts
How sustainability education contradicts the sound teaching of economics.
Shimer College Adopts Liberty-Centered Mission Rejected by Faculty
02/25/10 By Ashley Thorne
Tom Lindsay, president of the Great Books college, has made himself highly unpopular by insisting on a return to the ideals of Western civilization. Faculty members unanimously opposed a new mission statement which emphasizes, "Liberal education at Shimer is an education for and through liberty."
Video: Saving Freedom on College Campuses
02/25/10 By Steve Balch
Watch NAS chairman Steve Balch's remarks at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference on preserving liberty in higher education.
March
Unimaginable Calamity
03/04/10 By Peter Wood
How does global warming doctrine's foothold in higher education fit with the integrity of science?
March Forth
03/04/10 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
On this day thousands of students at universities around the country and especially on
To Infinity and Beyond! Kevin Carey’s Race to Over-the-Top
03/08/10 By Ashley Thorne
Kevin Carey offers some overreaching reform ideas that line up with President Obama's goal to make the United States the most higher-educated nation in the world by 2020.
Expanding Enrollments, Declining Standards: American Higher Ed Prepares to Take the Plunge
03/10/10 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Do we really want to do to higher education what we have to K-12 education? We might achieve the hollow boast of the most college-credentialed citizenry in the world who also happen to be among the worst-educated.
Obama-Care Meets Obama-Ed
03/10/10 By Peter Wood
The health care bill isn't the only government takeover Obama is seeking to pass through "reconciliation." He's also looking to take control of the student loan industry.
Obama Loans, Who Collects? The Not-so-Hidden Dangers of Federal Direct Student Lending
03/15/10 By Peter Wood
Peter Wood paints a picture of what federal control of higher education could look like in practice.
Duncan Donuts
03/18/10 By Ashley Thorne
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan insists that “a college degree is still absolutely worth it.” Is he right?
Monopoly to Marketplace: Diversifying Higher Ed from Inside and Out
03/19/10 By Ashley Thorne
NAS is uniquely positioned to influence higher education for the good. As a non-profit organization, we are outside academia, free of its entanglements and able to provide a detached point of view. As a membership association, we are inside the university, with thousands of our members as professors on campuses all over the nation.
A Half-Dozen Push-Backs for Faculty Hiring Committee Meetings
03/22/10 By Roger Clegg
Tips for standing up against "diversity" hiring.
Statement of Professor John Ellis to the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education of the California Legislature, March 22, 2010
03/23/10 By John Ellis
"A lack of intellectual diversity hurts both left and right," contends Professor Ellis.
The New K-12 Standards Debate
03/24/10 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
Under pressure, 48 states have proposed common standards for grades K-12. Some of them are having second thoughts. What do you think?
Bias, Barriers, or Biology?
03/26/10 By Ashley Thorne
Fewer women than men pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Is this really the big problem AAUW would have us believe?
What is a Gentleman?
03/29/10 By Ashley Thorne
NAS is working not just to reform the university, but to reform the character of the next generation. We want to see the academy produce gentlemen and gentlewomen scholars.
Administrators and Academic Freedom
03/31/10 By Peter Wood
Anyone who is committed to the search for truth through rational inquiry and dispassionate and scrupulous use of evidence deserves the protection of academic freedom.
April
Is Our Children Learning?
04/01/10 By Peter Wood – originally published by The American Conservative
A review of Diane Ravitch's new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.
Ratatat, Sissy, Bay State Boom: Obama Whacks K-12 Standards
04/05/10 By Peter Wood
Critics say Race to the Top and the Common Core State Standards Initiative will make K-12 education worse.
Encyclopedia of Sustainability, 3rd Edition
04/08/10 By Ashley Thorne
A 3rd edition of the NAS 'sustainapedia' of the key names, terms, books, colleges, and organizations in the campus sustainability movement.
Letter to Stanford Committee: Vote Against Sustainability in Gen Ed Requirement
04/09/10 By Peter Wood
Today NAS president Peter Wood sent a letter to the Stanford University Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policy, which is voting on a proposal to make sustainability education part of a requirement for graduation.
2009 Beneficiaries of Work by the National Association of Scholars
04/09/10
Report: NAS by the numbers in 2009
Dictatorships and Double Standards
04/19/10 By Robert L. Paquette
How the campus left insulates itself and bullies dissenters.
Why Texas Should Revive Western Civ Study
04/20/10 By Steve Balch
NAS Chairman Steve Balch urged the Texas House Higher Education Committee to take the lead in reviving the study of Western civilization.
Shimer Unmanned
04/20/10 By Peter Wood
Shimer College lost its nerve in what was ultimately a battle over academic standards.
Earth Day Thoughts on the Campus Sustainability Movement
04/22/10 By Peter Wood
Is everything really connected to everything else?
Attack of the Giant Plethora
04/22/10 By Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne
CSU
“Why Professors Are Liberal”: Explanation or Apologia?
04/23/10 By Steve Balch
New research seeks to show why so few conservatives choose an academic profession. NAS Chairman Steve Balch weighs the evidence.
Indoctrinate Our Kids and Green My Parents
04/27/10 By Ashley Thorne
Today kids are taught to be eco-warriors...and re-educate their parents.
Judge Downes Decides Rightly
04/28/10 By Steve Balch
NAS commends Judge Downes' decision to uphold freedom of speech by ordering the
Profit vs. Proselytizing: Business Lore and Academic Practice
04/29/10 By Herbert London
Academia can learn a lot from the business world.
CAS Letter to California Assembly: Do Not Pass Racial Preferences Bill
04/29/10 By John Ellis
The California Association of Scholars urges the State Assembly not to pass a bill that will overturn Proposition 209 and allow the use of racial preferences in university admissions.
May
For Members Only: Feminism on Campus Today
05/06/10 By Karin Agness - Academic Questions
This essay on campus feminism will appear in the forthcoming "Student Culture" issue of Academic Questions (vol. 23, no. 2).
Achievement Gap Politics
05/07/10 By Anonymous
A graduate's account illuminates why ed schools try to keep students with non-progressive views out.
To Serve Mann: Virginia’s AG Puts Climate-Researcher on the Menu
05/12/10 By Peter Wood
Is the climate fraud investigation a breach or an exercise of academic freedom?
We Told You So: UC Fulfills NAS Prophecy
05/12/10 By Ashley Thorne
NAS predictions come true as the
Arizona Ends Divisive Chicano Studies in Schools
05/13/10 By Ashley Thorne Arizona passed a bill to end La Raza studies, which taught elementary school students to see America as a clash between whites and Chicanos.
Arkansas Toothpick: The Cutting Edge of Academic Reform
05/17/10 By Glenn Ricketts and Peter Wood
To increase graduation rates,
10 Reasons Not to Go to College
05/26/10 By Ashley Thorne
A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone.
