Category Archives: education

The fight over college athletics is really a fight over what the University means

1. In some ways, it was natural for the university to become a type of sports franchise. I think of the pettiness of various professors, administrators and students I’ve encountered at a number of schools – schools that may not have Division I teams – and can’t help but wonder what end that spirit of …

January 29, 2012 – 9:39 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (0)

The Accessibility of Philosophy

1. At Barnes & Noble today. It looked trashed from holiday shopping. There wasn’t much left on the Philosophy shelves. Very few volumes of Nietzsche or Plato; couldn’t even find a copy of “Twilight and Philosophy” (my favorite book, besides this). The store was also reorganized. Philosophy was back in a corner that it took …

January 5, 2012 – 6:36 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (1)

Arianna Stern, “growing up is crazy 1/2″

Arianna Stern’s post appeared on tumblr and I know it’s important to take note of that. The audience there for the most part is younger and may want to hear stories about things like this: When I look back, I’m embarrassed at how uptight and socially awkward I was [in high school]. I know that …

December 19, 2011 – 12:22 am | By ashok | Posted in education | Tagged | Comments (0)

On the Classroom Experience

At least in my experience, a lot of teachers waste the opportunity of the classroom. Granted, it’s a very difficult opportunity to take advantage of. You’ve got to make sure most of your students are on the same page, so drilling basics into their head of some sort is a must (this reaches an absurd …

August 11, 2011 – 7:15 am | By ashok | Posted in education | Comments (2)

5/9/11

No one mentions how much time the liberal arts takes, and that makes me wonder. I’m seeing a lot of people I know and trust as teachers try to cram 50 million bits of information into their students’ heads – thoughts on things like thumos and logos in Plato’s Republic – with absolutely no consideration …

May 9, 2011 – 3:33 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education, personal | Comments (2)

Yet Another Rant on Education, 4/15/11

I think I should resolve to speak about education less. The last two articles on the topic I attempted to read, both courtesy aldaily, were insufferable in different ways. “Why Bother?” in n + 1 was far too pretentious for me to finish reading. The fundamental premise was terrible: it reviewed three books by fairly …

April 15, 2011 – 12:51 pm | By ashok | Posted in education | Comments (6)

On the University of Dallas’ Groundhog Celebration

Campus life can surprise you in good ways, even when older. Tonight was “Groundhog,” where University of Dallas students celebrate the founding of the school (ed. – see the comment below by “David:” this might not be true). There were several alumni attending the formal festivities I wanted to meet, but one hadn’t responded to …

February 6, 2011 – 4:58 am | By ashok | Posted in education | Comments (3)

From Ice to Snow in Dallas

All of you are asking what it is like down here, so I’ll tell you. This place was a sheet of ice the last few days. I don’t want to comment too much on how well things were cleaned in the apartment complex or campus; suffice to say, the work was barely adequate. What actually …

February 4, 2011 – 5:49 pm | By ashok | Posted in education, personal | Comments (0)

The High-School Picture [republished from tumblr]

The rant below was originally published on Tumblr, which has an awesome community that took it very seriously. If you’re curious about tumblr generally: the free templates they offer are very well-designed and it is terrific for posting photos. It’s not hard to create a visually stunning Tumblr. In any case: The High-School Picture [or: …

January 10, 2011 – 5:46 pm | By ashok | Posted in blogging, education | Comments (6)

Professors, please think carefully before making your students blog

There are a number of professors – usually in literature departments, or cultural or gender studies – who create blogs specific to a course and sometimes even try to get their students blogging about the material. Generally speaking, my reaction to this sort of thing is *groan.* Don’t get me wrong, there are some teachers …

October 19, 2010 – 10:22 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (0)