Category Archives: Humanities Education

President Obama’s Plan for Higher Education

Posted on August 26, 2013 by briansandberg

Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled his plan for higher education reform. Unfortunately, Obama’s plan focused almost exclusively on the cost of college tuition and fees. His plan misunderstands the reasons for higher tuition rates, which largely stem from a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Information Management, Political Culture | Leave a comment

Supporting the Arts and Humanities

Posted on August 20, 2013 by briansandberg

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are currently leaderless.  Although they have acting directors and staffs, both endowments desperately need active leadership—especially in a time of budget cuts. The New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Humanities, Education Policy, Humanities Education, Museums and Historical Memory | Leave a comment

Cost of a College Education

Posted on August 7, 2013 by briansandberg

As the Fall 2013 semester fast approaches, Illinois students and their parents are expressing concerns about the cost of a college education. Yet, news reports on the costs of higher education are often filled with erroneous data and exaggerated figures … Continue reading →

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

Defending the Humanities and the Idea of America

Posted on August 5, 2013 by briansandberg

Carol Geary Schneider (President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities) and David Townsend (Senior Advisor for Seminars of the Aspen Institute, and Director of Wye Seminars on Citizenship in the American and Global Polity) have proposed a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Debate on Dissertation Embargos

Posted on August 2, 2013 by briansandberg

Debate continues on dissertation ’embargos’ following the recent statement by the American Historical Association (AHA). A previous post on this website discussed the AHA statement and criticisms of its policy recommendations. The Chronicle of Higher Education explores the issue through … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Digital Humanities, Education Policy, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education, Information Management | Leave a comment

Online Locomotive

Posted on July 27, 2013 by briansandberg

The drive to implement MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in higher education has become powerful. An article by Rob Jenkins in the Chronicle of Higher Education is calling the pro-MOOC movement an “online locomotive.” Jenkins, a professor of English at … Continue reading →

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Of Dissertation ‘Embargos’ and Academic Publishing

Posted on July 25, 2013 by briansandberg

The American Historical Association’s Council has issued a statement advocating “embargos” on Ph.D. dissertations. The idea is to avoid having Ph.D. dissertations diffused freely on the internet as soon as they are deposited. Instead, dissertations would be available through limited … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Publishing, Digital Humanities, Education Policy, Graduate Work in History, History of the Book, Humanities Education, Information Management | Leave a comment

Short-Term Fix for Student Loans

Posted on July 25, 2013 by briansandberg

The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that would provide a short-term fix for the interest rates of federal student loans. If the legislation passes the U.S. House of Representatives current students would pay lower interest rates. But, there is a … Continue reading →

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

MOOCs and Remedial Education

Posted on July 19, 2013 by briansandberg

Some community colleges have found a new way of incorporating MOOCs—not by replacing their courses, but by creating online study guides for students taking remedial classes or placement examinations. Community colleges such as Cuyahoga Community College (Cleveland, Ohio) “have created their … Continue reading →

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The New Norm in Dorms

Posted on July 18, 2013 by briansandberg

When considering the costs of higher education, keep in mind that educational costs should be separated from the costs of living. Students (and their parents) are increasingly demanding luxurious accommodations and student facilities that increase the cost of living on … Continue reading →

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