I published this op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News two years ago, in the early stages of the pandemic. Here’s a link to the original. If anything, its relevance is even more apparent now than it was in 2020. Consider the enormous shipping and trucking backlogs that clogged up our economic system at the tail end … Continue reading The Triumph of Efficiency over Effectiveness — in Both Public Health and Public Schooling
This post is a reflection on some of the insights I culled from Irena Smith's new book, The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays. The book is a memoir a Jewish immigrant from the Soviet Union, who got a PhD in comp lit, taught college, became an admissions reader at Stanford and then … Continue reading Irena Smith — The Golden Ticket
This post is a piece that is included in my new book, Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. In it I focus on an issue that I’ve been thinking about for quite a while: How to understand the core business model that governs American universities. The answer is in … Continue reading Universities Give Away Knowledge and Sell Degrees
This post is an essay by Francis Fukuyama in the latest issue of American Purpose. Here's a link to the original. It's part of a series of pieces he wrote for the magazine in defense of the Deep State, the specialized bureaucracies that allow the modern state to function effectively while political leaders come and … Continue reading Francis Fukuyama — Balancing Bureaucratic Autonomy and Political Control: Covid Lessons
This piece was published in Inside Higher Ed in June, 2020. Here’s a link to the original. It speaks for itself. It also appears in my new book, Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. DOCTORAL DYSFUNCTION Many doctoral students today are tending to fall into one of two disturbing categories: academic … Continue reading Doctoral Dysfunction
This post is an essay by Michael Ignatieff published in the most recent issue of Liberties. Here's a link to the original. What he's talking about is independent thinking. Universities are supposed to be places where we teach people how to think for themselves, he says, but all too often we teach people to think like … Continue reading Michael Ignatieff: Epistemological Panic, or Thinking for Yourself
For anyone who’s interested, I’m posting below an updated list of all my publications and course syllabi, including links to these works and to full course materials. Here’s a link to the list as a Word document, which is way more useful. Feel free to share. Links to Publications and Course Materials March 31, 2023 David … Continue reading Links to All My Publications and Course Materials — An Updated List
This post is an essay by one of my favorite historians, Johann Neem. It's a review of a new book, After the Ivory Tower Falls, written by Will Branch. In this review, Neem examines the way that the divide between those who attended college and those who didn't has defined and defiled American politics in … Continue reading Johann Neem — Revenge of the Poorly Educated
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 