by Amy E. Slaton | Oct 4, 2015 | Higher Ed, Media, Uncategorized
Diversity, Katherine W. Phillips writes in Scientific American, is both harder to achieve in science and engineering workplaces than we might hope, and a more worthwhile goal if innovation and new ideas are our aims. At first glance that argument seems like it would...
by Amy E. Slaton | Sep 20, 2013 | Higher Ed, Media, Uncategorized
The line between “freedom of speech” on one hand, and the dissemination of hate speech on the other, vexes everyone who thinks about diversity in a democratic society, or at least it should. How do we protect 1st Amendment rights without also empowering those who...
by Amy E. Slaton | Mar 19, 2013 | Uncategorized
In the pursuit of more affordable higher ed for more Americans the idea of “direct assessment” strikes many as promising, as Paul Fain reports in “Beyond the Credit Hour,” on InsideHigherEd. This is a move to use competency tests, rather than...
by Amy E. Slaton | Jul 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
I have no doubt that racist inclinations underlie Mitt Romney’s claim this week that different “cultures” explain Israeli prosperity and Palestinian poverty. Essentialist characterizations of this kind, which depend on strategic denials of...
by Amy E. Slaton | Dec 16, 2011 | Uncategorized
I wasn’t going to post anything about Gene Marks’ ridiculous Forbes column of the other day, “If I were a poor black kid,” which told disadvantaged young people that if they study a lot and use lots and lots of technology, they will transcend the immense structural...
by Amy E. Slaton | Oct 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
Birdwatching. Rock collecting. Stargazing. These science-centered field activities have lately taken on the label of “out of school experiences” for some STEM educators, and “outreach” for the clubs and organizations that sponsor them. Here,...
