Eleven

A Potpourri of Reading

Here’s eleven stuff:

~Did you know that in Brazil, a 2008 law requires the teaching of philosophy in all high schools? Me neither; it’s fascinating;

~On Why the Posse Foundation is the best “reform”/intervention program in all of higher education;

~This Year’s National Humanities Medalists (including two of my favorite (top five) working philosophers–Kwame Anthony Appiah and Amartya Sen;

~Seven Equations that Rule Our World (and here’s the link to the specific equations without the video and text);

~On “Linsanity” (associated, the author’s website called, “Yo, Is This Racist?”) also, this is interesting, and this is great, and if you want more background, go HERE;

~Education in Sparta–and what it suggests about contemporary reforms;

~Texas’ plan to raise graduation rates (insert Texas joke here);

~A great list of excuses (found on Crooked Timber)–I am making a late new year’s resolution addendum to try to use at least 70 of these before the end of the year, so if you hear me say, “I can resist everything but temptation” or “the stony grey soil of Monarghen” you’ll now know why;

~On DIY Science–about a dude who tried to split the atom in his kitchen. Seriously;

~Campus Themed Internet Memes (featuring a poster about Philosophy that made me laugh);

~Looking for cool ways to present (and visualize) your data? Try THESE;

(Yes, that first sentence was on purpose. I like it.)

Random Readings

Here is a bunch of stuff that I’ve collected for you:

~I know I don’t make enough room for reflective solitude in my classroom. This article reminded me how important is to make space in the classroom for a little solitude now and then.

~If you have not yet read these investigatory pieces HERE and HERE (I’m betting that they win the Pulitzer this year) on one of Apple’s manufacturers in China, you need to.

~I liked this article on Metacognition so much that I posted it for one of my classes. It’s a topic that always arouses student interest I think because it puts words and structure to an idea that makes intuitive sense as important and helpful but rarely explained.

~Speaking of arousal, reading this story was horrifying and kind of funny in a “nutty professor” kind of way. Don’t worry–it’s safe for work. I found it here under the title, “Worst Lecture of All, Or Greatest?” from a link on Inside Higher Ed; some of the comments are amusing.

~Have you ever heard of the Collegiate Learning Assessment? I read about it in this article and then went to the site. It’s interesting.

~Ever heard of a “leap second”? I hadn’t, at least not until I read THIS and THIS (with video!).

~I liked this one, advocating for more working and less thinking as a BS prevention strategy.

~A couple that I pegged for administrators (current or future) were this and this–not that any of our administrators don’t already know these things (they do), but just in case they might want to share them with any peers who might not.

~Here’s the list of free museum days through March.

~An important piece on meetings (namely, how to make them better) is HERE.

~There are a number of new faculty who have recently received (or will soon) their first set of student evaluations. I think this post has helpful advice about how to use them productively.

HW Idol Update

Crystal Bowersox, former HW student, performed on Tuesday night (Rolling Stones night), to generally positive reviews. The voting was announced last night, and so she’s into the final 11 (and generally perceived as a top contender).

Here was the performance you missed, in case you’re interested. By the way, I’m just going to presume that people (except Marta) are interested in this until it becomes clear that y’all aren’t.