Columbia announced today that my advisor (and probable dissertation mentor) Alan Brinkley has been appointed Provost of the University. (Fortunately, this won’t seem to affect my plan of study.) Congrats to him, and to Columbia on the choice.
Category: Ivory Tower
One Bad Apple.
Alas, our recent Columbia teach-in on the war, which included some of the university’s leading luminaries in all departments, was singlehandedly derailed by the asinine comments of one anthro prof, Nicholas De Genova. Said De Genova, “The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military…I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus.” He also argued that all self-proclaimed patriots are in fact white supremacists. Sigh…it’s freak show guys like this who give the entire anti-war movement a bad name. As you can see, Eric Foner calls the guy idiotic in the article, and Alan Brinkley has also declared his comments “abhorrent” and “immoral.” (In fact, even Columbia’s President has now distanced himself from De Genova.) The point is, this joker in no way speaks for the majority of Americans against the war, although he’s already getting a lot of run in the warblogger nation regardless. And, while I don’t want to disparage an entire department, I’m not entirely surprised he emerged from anthropology – I’ve heard similar rants from other radical post-structuralist and post-colonialist-enamored students over in Schermerhorn.
Biting that Hand that Fed You.
Dubya comes out against affirmative action in Michigan. Ummm…how does he think he got into Yale? Or got into Harvard Business School after a thoroughly mediocre performance as an Eli? Easy…affirmative action for the rich, which in my own experience brought easily the most unqualified students to the Ivies. If he wants to stop unfair admissions practices, perhaps he should start with the man in the mirror. (On another note, this seems like a really dumb move by the usually smart Dubya White House. Why come out against affirmative action so quickly after the Lott fiasco? Bad call by the politicos.)
The Autobiographical Archives of Malcolm X.
After much negotiation, the Shabazz family donates the papers of Malcolm X to the Schomberg Center in Harlem. Excellent news, particularly for Columbia historians, who benefit from being next door to this fascinating new archive.
Faulty Math: B-.
Slate answers Harvey “C-” Mansfield on the subject of grade inflation. I agree with the former, as noted here (2/7).
Go West, Young Man.
The Washington Post checks in with Cornel West upon his move to Princeton. (Via Random Walks.) Sure enough, Larry Summers comes off as a jackass. As I’ve said over here, West was easily one of the most committed professors to undergraduate life on campus. To accuse him of playing hooky because he has a number of high-profile side projects is both unfair and untrue. All I know is I hope someday I’m both respected and culturally relevant enough as an academic to appear in the Matrix sequels (or their fanboy equivalents.)
An Oxford Stroll.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Oxford, interactive. Also, those well-to-do folks out there looking for a more substantive piece of Middle Earth’s history should go here. (On a related note, how great is it to finally have Fellowship legitimately on DVD? No more “Property of New Line blah blah blah” scrolling over the best parts.)
The Ivy Cradle.
Much as the Bushes have derided Eastern elitist universities during their presidencies, it turns out Harvard kept Harken afloat during Dubya’s stint there. In related news, George Soros – another big Harken investor at the time – admits to David Corn he was “buying political influence” when he gave money to Harken. So much for Dubya’s business savvy.
Loan Relief.
The economy may be going sour and there’s fewer jobs to be had, but there is some good news on the horizon for Generation Y. College loan interest rates will hit record lows at the end of the month.
Struggle in the Ivy.
Are Harvard and Princeton hurting Afro-Am scholarship in their contest over Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West? Hmmm…I don’t really buy it. In my opinion, virtually all the academic disciplines are star-driven with regard to employment. And, while Diaspora Studies may indeed be the most interesting locus of scholarship in this field right now, Gates and West are performing an equally important function in their roles as public intellectuals…a role all too many academics have forsaken. In related news, assorted neocons have used the Summers fracas to blacklist Cornel West. Just like good little orthodoxy-craving neocons to flee at the sound of intelligent opposition, no?