Education (College/University) Archives

DeSantis pushes ban on gender studies at Florida colleges and universities [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

February 27, 2023

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is championing legislation that would ban Women’s and Gender Studies and other academic majors and minors from public colleges and universities in Florida.
DeSantis claims his proposal is an effort to support “intellectual freedom in higher education”, but groups dedicated to preserving intellectual freedom in education disagree, calling the proposal “the most draconian and censorious restrictions on public colleges and universities in the country.”
The proposal would also centralize the hiring of faculty, giving political appointees control over the process, and weaken the tenure system, allowing a politically-controlled board of trustees to “initiate a post-tenure review of a faculty member at any time.”
The bill contains a slew of undefined terms with no clear definition, creating an environment of self-censorship and fear, maximizing the control that DeSantis and his allies can exert over these institutions.
The DeSantis administration and the legislature are seeking to put faculty involved in disfavored activities on notice, requesting each Florida public college and university provide a list of all employees involved in “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and all related emails, text messages, and social media messages.

Published February 27, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post DeSantis pushes ban on gender studies at Florida colleges and universities

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Why Students in Kentucky Have Been Praying for 250 Hours [Olivia Reingold, The Free Press]

By William McClain

In [The Free Press]

February 20, 2023

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For the last four years at her Christian college, Gracie Turner had been keeping a secret: she had lost her faith. She had been blaming God for the struggles she was facing, including cancer ravaging her great-grandmother, family falling apart, and anxiety, depression and a back injury.
Last Sunday, something changed: Gracie spontaneously blurted an idea to her roommate to go to chapel. When she opened the doors, the same chapel that had never spoken to her before was suddenly alive with more than a thousand people weeping, swaying and singing with their eyes closed. Gracie felt at peace and protected.
This sparked a movement: tens of thousands poured into that Kentucky chapel to experience what Gracie felt, coming from states like South Carolina and Oklahoma, Canada and Singapore. The pews were packed with people who shared a single conviction: God was visiting a two-stoplight town in Kentucky.
The revival started with a sermon from Zach Meerkreebs, a volunteer soccer coach: He spoke about experiencing radically poor love, even from the church, and invited people to experience God’s perfect love. His message moved people to stay and pray, and then spread via social media.
This is not the first time Wilmore has combusted with prayer: Asbury University’s website lists eight prior revivals, with the largest cresting in 1970. Revivals were at their height in eighteenth-century America, and more recently, college campuses have been the center of revivals.
This revival is happening at a time when Gen Z is the most likely generation yet to say they don’t believe in God: They are also the least religiously affiliated and the least likely to attend church, and their rates of depression and anxiety are soaring. This revival provides hope and freedom to a generation that is feeling heavy and desolate.

Published February 19, 2023
Visit The Free Press to read Olivia Reingold’s original post Why Students in Kentucky Have Been Praying for 250 Hours

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Neuroscience Has a Race Problem [Jackie Rocheleau, Nautilus]

By Spencer Chen

In [Nautilus]

February 15, 2023

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• Jasmine Kwasa, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, noticed that EEG technology had limited functionality with thick curly, kinky, and textured hair types, leading to potential exclusion from research.
• Biases against physical characteristics like dark skin and thick curly hair are baked into all major neuroimaging technologies, including EEG, fNIRS, and MRI.
• Neurobiological datasets are overwhelmingly white, with 95% of the data collected by the UK Biobank corresponding to white study subjects and the Human Connectome Project (HCP) being 76% white.
• Carla Bailey, a neurophysiologist at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, says she only encounters issues with EEG and Black hair when people don’t remove hair extensions that obscure the scalp.
• Precision Neuroscopics is perfecting the Sevo clip, which holds electrodes against the scalp between cornrows braided to accommodate electrode placement, and collecting evidence that it improves the quality of EEG data.
• A 2022 study found that machine learning algorithms trained on large neuroimaging datasets that favor white populations inaccurately predicted the behavior of Black Americans.

Published February 15, 2023
Visit Nautilus to read Jackie Rocheleau’s original post Neuroscience Has a Race Problem

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Why Science Needs Diversity [Carlee Ingersoll, Nautilus]

By Spencer Chen

In Uncategorized

February 15, 2023

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• Wilbur Walters, Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Jackson State University, discussed his role as an educational leader and activist, the potential of AI to create a more equitable society, and how he sees greater Black representation in STEM fields as transformative to community empowerment.
• The National Science Foundation reported that in 2021, Black representation in STEM fields totaled only 9 percent.
• Walters believes that exposure is the most important factor in increasing Black representation in STEM fields, and that AI can be used for good to eliminate unnecessary jobs and open access to academic or creative labors.
• He also believes that historically Black colleges and universities have an important role to play in driving larger change in STEM fields.
• Nautilus will donate 10 percent of all new member subscriptions toward initiatives to increase opportunities for young Black people to imagine and succeed in STEM career paths.

Published February 15, 2023
Visit Nautilus to read Carlee Ingersoll’s original post Why Science Needs Diversity

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Who is included by “inclusive” language? [Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring]

By Spencer Chen

In [Slow Boring]

January 18, 2023

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• The article discusses the use of etiquette in elite educational institutions, such as Carne and Harvard, and how it has changed over time.
• It compares the traditionalist religious schools to the Fancy-Pants Prep Schools, which primarily serve an elite demographic.
• It notes that many of these institutions have gone all-in on DEI rhetoric, despite their exclusive nature.
• It uses the example of eating an apple to illustrate the arbitrary folkways of the British elite.
• It references philosopher Liam Kofi Bright’s essay on culture wars as white psychodrama and how etiquette work is not enough to achieve real change in material conditions.
• It mentions a recent memo from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work about replacing the term “field” with “practicum” as part of an effort to be more inclusive.
• USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work recently announced they would replace the term “field” with “practicum” in order to be more inclusive and anti-racist.
• This change was met with criticism from right-wing circles and USC administrators.
• The author argues that language is always changing and that it is important to consider who is included and excluded by the language we use.
• They also point out that elite educational institutions often have their own codes of manners and language that are used to maintain an elite class and exclude those who are not up to date.

Published January 18, 2023
Visit Slow Boring to read Matthew Yglesias’s original post Who is included by “inclusive” language?

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How DEI Is Supplanting Truth as the Mission of American Universities [John Sailer, The Free Press]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Free Press]

January 9, 2023

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• UCLA accounting lecturer Gordon Klein was placed on leave and banned from campus after refusing to grade black students more leniently in the wake of the George Floyd protests.
• After a counter-petition signed by more than 76,000 people, Klein was allowed to return to the classroom.
• The principles of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) have become guiding principles in higher education, valued as equal to or even more important than the basic function of the university.
• DEI has become a priority for many of the organizations that accredit universities, and universities are pressured to adopt DEI measures.
• College students are now required to take DEI, anti-racism, or social justice courses, and DEI is becoming a de facto academic discipline.
• Faculty position listings at universities across the country illustrate how a focus on race, gender, social justice, and critical theory can be crucial to landing a job.
• DEI initiatives are becoming increasingly prevalent in higher education, with many universities now considering faculty members’ contributions to DEI as a criterion for hiring, promotion, and tenure.
• The federal government is also doing its part to infuse DEI into the sciences, with the Department of Energy’s Office of Science mandating that all new research proposals include a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan.
• This fixation on DEI can have a stultifying effect on medical research, and eventually medical care, as it crowds out other, more consequential areas of scientific research.
• Jonathan Haidt, a professor of ethical leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business, has warned about this redefinition of racism and the rise of ideological groupthink in academia.
• Organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the National Association of Scholars have issued numerous statements opposing DEI requirements that violate the First Amendment.

Published January 9, 2023. Visit The Free Press to read the original post.

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Will Jordan Peterson Lose His License for Wrongthink? [Neeraja Deshpande, The Free Press]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Free Press]

January 6, 2023

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• Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson has been threatened with the revocation of his license to practice psychology by the College of Psychologists of Ontario for making controversial comments on Twitter and a podcast.
• The College is demanding that Peterson go through a re-education program and sign a statement admitting he “lacked professionalism” in his public statements.
• The College’s ultimatum is part of a larger trend of institutions of higher learning punishing dissenters and pathologizing political disagreement.
• The College’s actions have revealed its prioritization of punishing wrongthink over facilitating open discourse.

Published January 6, 2023. Visit The Free Press to read the original post.

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Hamline University And Cancel Culture [Ken White, The Popehat Report]

By Spencer Chen

In Ken White [The Popehat Report]

January 5, 2023

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• Hamline University’s decision to not renew the contract of an art history lecturer who showed an image of the Prophet Muhammad in class is an example of “cancel culture” – a response that is disproportionate to the speech in question.
• Hamline’s communications about the incident, which downplayed free expression and academic freedom, were also an example of “cancel culture”.
• Hamline’s student newspaper, the Oracle, engaged in “cancel culture” by deleting a statement from the chair of the Department of Religion defending the lecturer.
• Actionable items to address this type of “cancel culture” include: not firing, disciplining, or non-renewing teachers based on violating sectarian religious rules unless the teachers and students know up front they’re under those rules; not condemning pedagogically appropriate and on-point teaching to soothe sectarian demands; and not issuing vague, ambiguous, and unworkable speech “standards”.
• Student newspapers at non-sectarian schools should not delete defenses of speech because some people think it’s offensive to disagree about whether the speech is offensive.
• The Hamline students’ response to a lecturer showing a picture of the Prophet Muhammad was disproportionate and censorial, and can be fairly called “cancel culture”.
• Demanding that the lecturer be fired, not renewed, or disciplined is wildly disproportionate and should not be condoned.
• Saying “as a Muslim I find visual depictions of the Prophet offensive and blasphemous” is not cancel culture.
• Throwing around the word “Islamophobia” is censorial, entitled, and ignorant, but not wildly disproportionate.
• The criticism of the lecturer is indecent, as the lecturer showed sensitivity and explained the pedagogical context.
• This incident is a huge culture war victory for the anti-progressive Right.

Published January 5, 2023. Visit The Popehat Report to read Ken White’s original post.

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TagEducation (College/University)

DeSantis pushes ban on gender studies at Florida colleges and universities [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

Why Students in Kentucky Have Been Praying for 250 Hours [Olivia Reingold, The Free Press]

Neuroscience Has a Race Problem [Jackie Rocheleau, Nautilus]

Why Science Needs Diversity [Carlee Ingersoll, Nautilus]

Who is included by “inclusive” language? [Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring]

How DEI Is Supplanting Truth as the Mission of American Universities [John Sailer, The Free Press]

Will Jordan Peterson Lose His License for Wrongthink? [Neeraja Deshpande, The Free Press]

Hamline University And Cancel Culture [Ken White, The Popehat Report]

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