The college accreditation process in the United States, governed by six separate regional agencies, is up for reauthorization next year under the Higher Education Act (HEA). A relic of a 19th century regulatory model, this old process is ill-poised to address the needs of a national, 21st century education system. American colleges need a modern … Read more
After watching his first episode of Breaking Bad, Texas Senator Ted Cruz held a press conference to announce his commitment to ending inequality in the meth industry. “It wasn’t until I saw the story of Heisenberg that I realized it isn’t right for one percent of the people to have 99 percent of all wealth. … Read more
Conventional analyses of the 2012 presidential race paint a consistent picture: President Barack Obama’s data-driven, technologically savvy campaign dominated the Mitt Romney campaign, out-organizing on the ground and out-messaging on the airwaves. Yet an emerging body of research is challenging this currently accepted narrative, asking whether the election had an inevitable conclusion despite the endless … Read more
Even before the Gezi Park uprisings this June, staff writer Cansu Colakoglu had been a vehement critic of Turkey’s turn away from secularism. In a brief, prescient article published in mid-May, she wrote of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the organization’s march toward political Islamism. When more than three million gathered in … Read more
Of the collective ideas that define the United States, few are more prominent than the American Dream. Yet in the face of high economic inequality and disappointing intergenerational mobility, an important question is increasingly asked: is that dream still alive? The fact that inequality is rising is undisputed. But the causes and impacts of inequality, … Read more
Drew Gilpin Faust is the 28th President of Harvard University. She is also the Lincoln Professor of History in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and author of several books. Since assuming the presidency in 2007, she has overseen the expansion of financial aid, development of edX, and launch of the Harvard Campaign. Harvard Political … Read more
The tactics and goals of divestment campaigns are generally well documented and understood. Generally, these campaigns seek to persuade and cajole universities into changing the way they invest their endowments so as to remove fossil fuel producing companies from their investment portfolios. Dynamic, fast growing, and media savvy, these campaigns have captured the attention of … Read more
Search “millennial” on Google and one will find endless links discussing how millennials work and what makes them tick. One has only to look to TIME magazine’s controversial May 2013 cover, titled “The ME ME ME Generation: Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents. Why they’ll save us all,” to realize … Read more
“If young people don’t have an equal shot at getting a great education, we’re going to create a society we’re not very happy with,” Catherine Hill, the president of Vassar, firmly believes. Her statement underscores a recent focus in the United States on equalizing the college application process across socioeconomic backgrounds, following a disturbing 2012 … Read more
Superman is the quintessential American superhero. His name is a byword for exceptional performance in a way that is almost hyperbolic, and his red cape and blue suit with the iconic red “S” is a symbol that is recognized around the world. From his creation in the 1930s, Superman has had a special place in … Read more