Interview Pinning our hopes on our machines September 12, 2022 One day in 1999 some children playing in the streets of Kalkaji, New Delhi, found a computer fixed in a wall that separated their poor neighborhood from a rich office district. It might have been a strange sight for these young residents of such disadvantaged circumstances, but within hours they had mastered some basic workings of the device and had begun surfing the web. Read More
Reading List A student’s guide to a good-enough year August 18, 2022 As schools begin to stabilize from COVID-19 disruptions, the pressures that have long been accumulating on students show no signs of slowing. Employment uncertainties, rising financial burdens, and unrelenting competition have layered on top of decades of cultural messaging to persevere doggedly and push oneself beyond the limits to achieve excellence. Read More
Video Eddie Cole on town and campus conflict June 30, 2022 In recent months the media have closely followed the issues of student housing at Berkeley, highlighting the tensions that frequently arise between university campuses and those living around them. Read More
Essay It’s time to end systemic racism in faculty hiring June 20, 2022 The United States is amid a reckoning; it is being judged by its citizens for the world to see. Its institutions and organizations, which have been touting their commitment to racial and ethnic diversity, have been confronted overtly. Read More
Video PUP Speaks: Marybeth Gasman on poor faculty diversity June 08, 2022 The diversification of the academy will not be achieved under within the current academic environment. In this video, PUP Speaks author Marybeth Gasman explains what must change for equity to be achieved. Read More
Essay Bottom line up front June 02, 2022 Anyone receiving a bachelor’s or master’s degree has learned how to produce a lengthy paper on a complex topic. But that’s not the only writing skill needed in the workplace. Read More
Interview Richard J. Light and Allison Jegla on Becoming Great Universities May 05, 2022 Becoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus—from presidents to first-year undergraduates—can take to enhance student life and learning. Read More
Essay Power, racism, and the role of the university February 23, 2022 In October 2020, I sat down with historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad for an event about my book, The Campus Color Line. It was a lively conversation, ranging from discussions about reparations in higher education to questioning who should lead U.S. colleges and universities. Read More
Podcast Listen in: Rescuing Socrates January 19, 2022 What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Read More
Essay Educating citizens November 11, 2021 The presidential election of 2016 prompted many academic leaders and faculty members to ponder the implications for their own institution. Read More
Video PUP Speaks: Rachel Gable on The Hidden Curriculum October 11, 2021 Rachel Gable, PUP Speaks author of The Hidden Curriculum, presents the results of her investigation into the difficulties first generation students must overcome to succeed. Read More
Podcast The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors September 15, 2021 The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. Read More
Podcast Moving Up without Losing Your Way August 24, 2021 Upward mobility through higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, little attention has been paid to the personal compromises such students make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Read More
Essay Pandemic lessons to take to college August 19, 2021 What have you missed most during the isolation of the pandemic? For most of us, it’s being in the same room with real humans, visiting with friends and family, and meeting new people. Read More
Essay Why are no-excuses schools moving beyond no excuses? August 09, 2021 This past year has forced schools to make significant changes to their practices. It has also prompted teachers and administrators to reimagine education and to rearticulate a new vision for their schools—as I’ve seen at “no excuses” charter schools, which I have spent the last decade studying and observing. Read More
