The author of this article observes that, while much has been written on the overall topic of safety with regard to allowing guns on college campuses, little has been said about how allowing the possession of deadly weapons can create a "chilling effect" on academic discussions. This article considers how some universities have…

Maureen Curtin, associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Oswego, reports in this article on an initiative that is designed to spur teams of faculty and visiting artists to teach "intellectual issues" through students' storytelling. The courses were part of the…

In this article, Robert Golden envisions the current trends in practice at State University of New York (SUNY) in Plattsburgh, being so firmly entrenched as to still be the same practices in place 60 years into the future. He notes the decline of full-time faculty, the rise in the numbers of contingent faculty, the increasing use of massive open…

The push for increased use of online teaching in colleges and universities has been gaining momentum for some time, but even in that context the recent enthusiasm for MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), free online courses that often enroll tens of thousands of students, is remarkable and rightly dubbed "MOOC Mania." As with so many…

On a prime site in Manhattan, a block from the lions guarding the New York Public Library, the City University of New York (CUNY) opened its newest community college in the fall of 2012. Designed to achieve greater student success, as measured through increased graduation rates, the New Community College at CUNY (NCC) is seen as a beacon of hope…

Regardless of whether or how one discloses personal information to one's students, the process is often difficult. This article compares the authors' decisions about and experiences around identity disclosure in the classroom to some of her colleagues' approaches. She explains the concept of strategic disclosure, the revelation of…

"Teaching and Learning" is a photographic essay that the author began in 2005, as a photography instructor at Inver Hills Community College near Minneapolis-St. Paul. At that time, the author gave his students and himself an assignment: to document their lives and the lives of their peers outside the safe confines of their studio…

This author is dropping out from the first college course he has taken in more than 20 years. As a tenured professor, he obviously does not have much to lose from this decision. On the other hand, nobody really seems to care anyway whether he is participating or not. He has been MOOC(h)ing of late. Definition of this lovely neologism? Taking part…

In this article, the author, Kimberly A. Griffin, a faculty member at a research-intensive institution, reflects on what has guided her decision to say "yes" or "no" when requests for academic service are presented. She reports she is evaluated on how much she engages in research, teaching, and service, and that tenure and…

As the co-director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a network founded by Saul Alinsky in 1940 that partners with faith and community-based organizations to improve local leadership and citizen-led action, the author has witnessed how power organizing can work. In the first few months of 2013, the author had been privileged to be part of a…

The alarming stories from adjunct faculty, who now comprise a majority of higher-education teachers nationally, share troubling commonalities. The frustrations are financial, personal, and professional. In decades past, most adjunct faculty worked full-time outside of academe and taught an occasional course based on a particular expertise or…

On February 1, 2012, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a "right to work" (RTW) provision in the state's labor laws, making Indiana the 23rd RTW state in the nation. In addition to becoming the 23rd RTW state in the nation, Indiana is the first in more than a decade to pass a law undermining the ability of unions to organize and represent their…

Why can't colleges act more like businesses? For the past century, legislators, boards of trustees, and private sector leaders have been befuddled by academic traditions. The scions of law-making and industry have scratched their heads and wondered why institutions of higher learning do not respond to the same prompts and incentives that work well…

Inside every airline magazine is an ad in which Chester L. Karrass insists, "You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." This suggests that the "art" of negotiation is more important than the substance of any issue under consideration. When it's time to negotiate at the author's college, the faculty union's "professional…

In this article, the author discusses how a professor can harness the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and use GIS to teach in the social sciences. She shows examples of how GIS can illustrate concepts during lecture or discussion, and provides two specific GIS assignments: one for undergraduate students and the other for graduate…