Crisis in English By Christopher Shea
When the Modern Language Association convenes this year, highbrow literary questions will take a back seat to a thorny debate about the ongoing dearth of jobs.
(12/21/98)
Life of the Mind By Annalee Newitz
The Marxist Wall Street couldn't ignore: How did an English doctoral dropout like Doug Henwood become the first anti-capitalist pundit for the CNN crowd?
(12/21/98)
God save the president? By Jackie Stevens
An anti-impeachment gathering of New York's literary hotshots may not do much for the country, but at least it made them feel good about themselves
(12/16/98)
Harassment backlash By Matthew Dallek
When Angelo Armenti embarked on a witch hunt for professors accused of indiscretions, he became a case in point for why sexual harassment policies just don't work
(12/14/98)
Campus groupies By Allison Landa
Wackos, preachers and EBDs: A visit to the land of campus groupies
(12/11/98)
Is Mike Davis' Los Angeles all in his head? By Veronique de Turenne
He's been lionized as a prescient Marxist prophet of end-of-the-continent doom and gloom. But a growing number of critics charge that the author of "City of Quartz" has feet of clay
(12/07/98)
Getting the boot By Jon Bowen
Kicked out of college for immoral conduct, the only son of a Baptist preacher takes a vacation from reality
(12/04/98)
Hell no! We won't grade! By Sean McMeekin
Will the upcoming strike by University of California graduate teaching assistants raise them from their serflike status -- or spell their eventual doom?
(11/30/98)
Debunking the myths of the Puritans By Maria Russo
A revisionist argues that historians have turned the authoritarian, conformist Puritans into reflections of their own complex, Harvard-educated selves
(11/25/98)
The breakdown of consciousness By Paige Arthur
Confronted by the discoveries of artificial intelligence, some philosophers are questioning the very minds that keep their profession afloat
(11/20/98)
Historiographic revisionism By Christopher Shea
DNA evidence shows that Jefferson fathered at least one of Sally Hemings' children, and his academic defenders are scurrying to cover their tracks
(11/18/98)
What do Jefferson and Clinton have in common (besides randyness)? By Christopher Hitchens
Answer: They're both protected by a group of credulous historians
(11/18/98)
Is the emperor of queer theory naked? By Etelka Lehoczky
An e-mail prankster fans the flames of controversy in the inner circles of queer studies, but the anticipated war never erupts
(11/09/98)
Idiot Savants? By Kristina Zarlengo
Science War II: A new battle cry from intellectual pranksters Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont
(11/02/98)
Michael Bérubé's difficult balancing act By Michele Tepper
"Tenured radical" Michael Bérubé defends his fellow academics to the world which critiquing them from within
(10/26/98)
The power of positive shrinking By Carol Lloyd
Is the new optimistic movement in psychology a theoretical breakthrough or a professional survival tactic?
(10/21/98)
Thursdays at the Clambucket By George Paul Csicsery
Thirty-one years after he was beaten by police in a notorious anti-war protest, a former campus radical goes back to meet his enemies and learn their side of the story
(10/19/98)
Geometry and hot pix By Chris Colin
Nothing is so alien as your family during a college break
(10/14/98)
Creeps on campus By Dawn MacKeen
Do bad guys have a right to higher education?
(10/09/98)
Scholars of smut By Carina Chocano
World Pornography Conference: Academics cheer as porn stars theorize
(10/05/98)
As American as ethnic studies By Joan Walsh
Strange bedfellows: Can ethnic studies survive a marriage to American studies?
(09/28/98)
Recommendation wars
By Tyler Thoreson
While students increasingly sue professors for less-than-gushing letters of recommendation, professors are subtly crafting their criticism in calculated ambiguities
(09/24/98)
Ufology
By Christina Valhouli
After decades of debunking and naysaying, why have academics invited aliens into the ivory tower?
(09/22/98)
Going adjunct
By Andreas Killen
The grueling plight of underemployed academics and the violent
fantasies they entertain
(09/17/98)
Ivory Tower The $10,000 hoop By Zachary Karabell
Has higher education become an exercise in futility for most Americans?
(09/14/98)