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Americans Say U.S. Schools Stink (But Not Their Own)0
- Culture
- August 24, 2016
To mark the start of the 2016-2017 school year, Education Next released their annual public opinion poll on the state of education. One of the most interesting aspects of this poll is the grades Americans assign to the nation’s local and national schools. In terms of the nation’s schools as a whole, Americans aren’t impressed.
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How Dostoevsky predicted Trump’s America 0
- Culture
- August 23, 2016
As a professor of Russian literature, I’ve come to realize that it’s never a good sign when real life resembles a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, with its riotous rhetoric and steady stream of scandals, calls to mind Dostoevsky’s most political novel, “Demons,” written in 1872. In it, the writer wanted to warn
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How do we spend our time?0
- August 23, 2016
Over at Ted.com, we learn that as a planet we spend 3 billion hours a week playing video games. The article further reports that: “The average young person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21 — or 24 hours less than they spend in a classroom for all of middle and
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What Makes a Sentence a Masterpiece?0
- Literature
- August 23, 2016
A great sentence makes you want to chew it over slowly in your mouth the first time you read it. A great sentence compels you to rehearse it again in your mind’s ear, and then again later on. A sentence must have a certain distinction of style – the words come in an order that
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National Geographic: Jesus Not an Influential Figure of the Ancient World 0
- Culture
- August 23, 2016
In a dumbed-down culture we are often happy to take any scraps of intellectual comfort we can find. In such an impoverished climate, a magazine like National Geographic takes on almost iconic significance. We are tempted to see it as a last bastion of intellectual engagement, offering crumbs of comfort in the age of the
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Teacher: Forget the Homework, Spend Time with Family 0
- Culture
- August 23, 2016
In recent weeks, a report on the value of homework has been making the rounds. In a nutshell? Homework for elementary school children is not beneficial. Texas teacher Brandy Young has apparently taken these homework findings to heart. As USA Today reports: “Last week, mom Samantha Gallagher posted a note on Facebook from her daughter’s teacher reading: ‘After
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