For decades, the 40-acre meadow separating Adrian College from a state highway was an afterthought on the modest campus of low-slung limestone buildings. However, in less than three years, the grassy expanse, like the college itself, has undergone a transformation. The newly developed acreage--boasting an ice arena, football and baseball stadiums,…

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education and the China Scholarship Council, the ministry-directed agency that oversees educational exchange, the number of international students at Chinese universities rose dramatically over the past decade, from 39,000 in 1997 to 195,000 in 2007 (although only one-third of them were seeking degrees). While…

It's all doom and gloom in commercial newspapers these days: buyouts, layoffs, and fleeing advertisers. However, most student newspapers seem to be doing just fine. Student publications are not entirely immune to the changes in readership and advertising spending that have severely cut into the profits of much of the newspaper industry. However,…

Melvyn C. Goldstein, an anthropologist at Case Western Reserve University, has spent 40 years, off and on, collecting oral histories from Tibet. As rural Tibetans who have endured decades of tumult approach old age, Goldstein, who is also a director of the university's Center for Research on Tibet, has preserved their stories. He has interviewed…

The Dandelion School educates children of migrant workers, refugees from peasant villages in central China who are vying for crumbs from Beijing's economic boom. Outside the school walls, they are heading to work as maids, laborers, and factory workers. For the children, this is a rare shot at upward mobility. Dandelion is among hundreds of…

In putting up its new, Frank Gehry-designed Lewis Library, Princeton University endured its share of challenges. It constructed models of the building to give the subcontractors a chance to practice. It fired a contractor halfway through the job when the building was past due. It learned that some subcontractors were trying to bribe their way onto…

Senator Charles E. Grassley may be backing away from his threat to offer legislation that would require the wealthiest institutions to spend up to 5% of their endowment assets each year. At a panel discussion on Capitol Hill last week, the Iowa senator, who is the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, strongly hinted that he would…

Sean Wilentz is a Princeton historian of great vigor and ability. He has published a number of scholarly books on American history. He is a liberal activist, and a friend of the Clintons. For some Obama champions, his recent enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton passed from acceptable to treacherous: He did not simply back Clinton, he stabbed Barack…

In a "Chronicle" piece in 2003, Stanley Fish wrote that academics should not use their classes to "save the world." Rather, they should turn their undergraduates into scholars by transmitting knowledge and teaching them how to evaluate it. In a new book, "Save the World on Your Own Time", he again argues that the job of the university--and, by…

Professors and politics blend uneasily in the classroom, especially in an election year. As the election cycle unfolds, professors can expect to be asked about their political views: "How do you feel about McCain?" "Do you think we're ready for a black president?" Nothing in higher-education policy explicitly precludes honest answers to those…

College students in America are not as "digital" as one might wish to pretend. And even at elite universities, many are not rich enough. All the mystical talk about a generational shift and all the claims that kids won't read books are not true. In this article, the author challenges the notion of "digital natives." The author argues that the term…

There is no doubt that as technology continues to change, the generation of students will change also. The best preparation, then, is to train one's own mind to think digitally so that one can best create policies, programs, and interactions that enable a student to connect the two worlds in ways that are productive, satisfying, and meaningful.…

Web skimming may be a kind of literacy but it's not the kind that matters most. In this article, the author contends that web skimming indicates a decline of literacy. The author discusses research conducted by Jakob Nielsen, a Web researcher, on how users skim web pages. He shows how the web is damaging the right way to read.

It is hardly a secret that the United Arab Emirates has recruited universities from around the world to set up outposts in the Persian Gulf. Less well known is that it is also tapping Western academics to run its public higher-education system. Westerners are also filling key positions on the faculty at these institutions and in government…

Isolation and lack of services for members of minority groups can be real hurdles for colleges in small towns and rural areas that want to diversify their work forces. The chance to meet people from the same background, worship in a shared faith, or share cultural interests can make or break someone's living experience. This article describes…