Decades ago, on the first day of a freshman composition class with readings centered on the theme of war, the author asked students to respond to the following writing prompt: "Define an enemy." More than half of the students defined an enemy as "someone who doesn't agree with you" (or closely related wording). Having expected…

In 2015, the city of Springfield, Ohio, finished participating in a $2.5 million federal grant program that assisted low-income families in reducing the health risks from lead paint in their homes. But because of rule changes from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that made it harder to use funds on certain properties (including…

Food pantries are becoming as ubiquitous on campuses as classrooms and quads. More than seven hundred campus food banks are members of the College and University Food Bank Alliance, and a NASPA survey of roughly five hundred campuses found that half offer resources to address food insecurity. This article discusses how the need for food pantries'…

Intercultural communication is both a skill and an issue of global importance. It is not just needed "here" in the United States or "over there" beyond national borders but, rather, within all local, state, regional, national, international, and virtual spaces. Wherever effective intercultural communication occurs, the…

The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has given rise to widespread "mis"information and "dis"information. Even seasoned journalists have to work hard to avoid misinformation, a term for, among other things, inadvertent mistakes made in the reporting process. More troubling are the numerous examples of deliberate fabrications, or…

"Liberal Education" spoke with two higher education policy experts on what they expect and hope for from the Biden administration. Viviann Anguiano is an associate director for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. Eric R. Felix is an assistant professor at San Diego State University, specializing in higher…

Far too often, Black women like the author, and so many others from groups that have been historically marginalized in STEM, are made to "assume some kind of position" as they navigate the hostility of a disciplinary culture that was never intended for them but has, nevertheless, benefited from them. On varying levels, that…

Three academics reflect on how to stay positive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Higginbotham finds that some of her most heartening experiences during this time have been while enacting unrehearsed Zoom Shakespeare plays with colleagues and students. She usually experiences telepresence events as rather flattened interactions, while insulated…

When faced with pervasive--and increasingly creative--forms of plagiarism and cheating, what should faculty members do? Give in? Give up? Or should they consider the classic break-up line "It's not you--it's me" and make changes in the ways they assess student learning? If faculty truly wish to increase student success and decrease acts…

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, many students had to return to communities that they had intentionally left in order to access essential resources on campus. At home, Jadea T. Harris, a senior at Clark University, tried to focus on her academics, but everyone around her was in financial and physical survival mode. Often students of…

The collaboration between the career services office and the general education faculty at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia began with storytelling. In fall 2014, while teaching a course on how people create and use narratives, Meriel Tulante (one of the authors of this article) approached Tracy DePedro, Jefferson's director of career…

The author recently asked a colleague of color in higher education whether she has ever been encouraged to join committees that focus on drafting policies surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices or whether she has any interest in supporting such initiatives during her tenure as a student affairs professional. "I don't get…

Society is accustomed to advancing the meritocratic ethos that sends the children of affluent and professional families on to four-year liberal arts colleges while leaving behind others who are fully capable but who come from low-income or working-class families or from families of color. Such students often feel that a liberal arts college…

Non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty--typically contingent faculty hired on fixed-term contracts--know that budgets tightened during the pandemic likely mean fewer jobs, with little or no hope of professional advancement. Cost-conscious administrators often resist extending benefits to such instructors or look to trim those already in place, leaving…

G. Rumay Alexander is a leader working to transform nursing education and address systemic racism within the nursing profession and the health care system more broadly. At the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Alexander serves as clinical professor at the School of Nursing and assistant dean for relational excellence at the Adams…