Category Archives: Education Policy

Restrictions on Academic Speech

Posted on April 6, 2012 by briansandberg

Universities normally tout their star professors, celebrating each newspaper op-ed or magazine article that showcases new scholarship and highlights the value of their institutions.  The marketing arms of universities effectively use faculty members’ media publications and appearances to advertise their … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Education Policy, Humanities Education | 1 Comment

American Women in France

Posted on April 3, 2012 by briansandberg

Study abroad programs have fundamentally transformed American higher education and presented new opportunities for thousands of students. Often forgotten is how crucial study abroad programs have been for female students from the United States.  A new article by Alice Kaplan, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, European History, French History, Humanities Education, Study Abroad, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Lower State Funding for Higher Education = Higher Tuition

Posted on March 16, 2012 by briansandberg

State governments in the United States continue to slash funding for “public” higher education. For a generation, states have been gradually gutting public funding for state universities, shifting the costs of college education to students, who must pay higher  tuition … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Undergraduate Work in History | 1 Comment

Graduate Programs in the Humanities

Posted on March 12, 2012 by briansandberg

Graduate programs in the humanities across the United States are scaling back considerably by cutting their admissions.  The pattern of humanities departments limiting graduate admissions periodically (especially during economic recessions) is nothing new, but the scale of the cutbacks are … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Wikipedia’s Useless Knowledge

Posted on February 17, 2012 by briansandberg

Wikipedia has become the ubiquitous source of information for millions of users worldwide.  High school and university students rely on Wikipedia for basic information and evidence and for their own research and writing. Indeed, many students engage in cut-and-paste plagiarism, … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Education Policy, History of the Book, Humanities Education, Information Management | 1 Comment

A Growing Francophonie

Posted on December 9, 2011 by briansandberg

Francophonie is apparently growing rapidly. Demographic studies of French-speaking populations suggest that French language use is increasing worldwide.  Francophonie is normally defined as the group of nations that have adopted French as an official language—including France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Haiti, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, French History, Globalization, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

College Student Study Habits

Posted on December 3, 2011 by briansandberg

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a new report on university and college student study habits, measures the number of hours that students spend a week in their studies and other activities.  The results provide some indication of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Faculty Productivity Demonstrated

Posted on November 15, 2011 by briansandberg

A new report demonstrates that faculty can be incredibly productive, producing much more revenue for universities than their salaries cost. The report examines faculty at the University of Texas at Austin and was prepared by Mark A. Musick, an Assistant … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Understanding Europe

Posted on September 4, 2011 by briansandberg

American business students often wonder why they should be concerned with learning about European culture, society, and history. Here are a few data points that suggest the importance of Europe for American businesspeople and for the American economy: The American … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, European History, French History, Globalization, Humanities Education, Northern Illinois University | 1 Comment

Today’s College Freshmen

Posted on August 24, 2011 by briansandberg

Welcome to the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year as summer ends and classes begin again. Each fall semester, Beloit College publishes “The Mindset List,” a humorous attempt to capture the attitudes and experiences of incoming college freshmen students. Here … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Northern Illinois University | Leave a comment