The paradoxical pleasures of reading literature April 21, 2021 Reading literature is a deeply dialectical experience, one that offers a variety of paradoxical pleasures. One of the most salient of these is that in reading well we both submit to the text and resist it. Read More
College presidents and the struggle for Black freedom December 01, 2020 Some of America’s most pressing civil rights issues—desegregation, equal educational and employment opportunities, housing discrimination, and free speech—have been closely intertwined with higher education institutions. Read More
Campus racism and how history can inform college leaders today September 24, 2020 College presidents have described the uncertainty within higher education due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic downturn as “uncharted territory.” Read More
A virtual guide to Leaving Academia September 23, 2020 Two distinct challenges stood in my way when I began to consider leaving academia. The first was psychological. By that point in 2015, my entire identity was bound up in my scholarly work. Read More
Navigating grad school in uncertain times August 26, 2020 Even in “normal” times, grad school is fraught with uncertainty – uncertainty around whether a degree is worth it, whether you picked the right program and whether they were smart to pick you, whether you can get enough funding to keep doing your work, whether you can publish enough to get a job, and whether there even will be any jobs when you’re done. Read More
Education in a changing world August 21, 2020 Colleges and universities are being forced to grapple with how to protect the well-being of their students in new and evolving ways. Perennial issues are mixing with new questions and increased urgencies. Read More
Skills for Scholars: The new tools of the trade August 18, 2020 Any discussion of scholarly tools at Princeton University Press naturally begins with a reverent nod to the printing press—for obvious reasons but also in subtler ways. Since 1911, the Press’s headquarters have been housed in a timeless Collegiate Gothic building (later named for benefactor Charles Scribner), designed by Ernest Flagg and sitting at the edge of Princeton’s campus. Read More
Books that inspire thought August 01, 2020 The academic year ahead continues to challenge students and administrations to plan—and think—differently. From complex puzzle solving skills, to concrete tips from professors on how to succeed in college, to the importance of mental play, these books offer resources for seeking solutions and processing ambiguities that are relevant in classrooms, both remote and virtual. Read More
Robert DiYanni and Anton Borst on The Craft of College Teaching May 19, 2020 Teaching is more than a job or a career; it is a profession and a calling. It is a craft that can be mastered over time with practice and persistence. Read More
Coronavirus got your class? Tips for surviving the transition to online learning April 15, 2020 Has your college just switched from classroom-based to online instruction? Do you feel like you have just been pushed off a cliff? Read More
Jennifer M. Morton on Moving Up Without Losing Your Way September 17, 2019 Upward mobility through the path of higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. Read More
Chester Finn and Andrew Scanlan on Learning in the Fast Lane September 17, 2019 The Advanced Placement program stands as the foremost source of college-level academics for millions of high school students in the United States and beyond. More than 22,000 schools now participate in it, across nearly forty subjects, from Latin and art to calculus and computer science. Read More
Hanna Gray on An Academic Life June 19, 2019 Hanna Holborn Gray has lived her entire life in the world of higher education. The daughter of academics, she fled Hitler’s Germany with her parents in the 1930s, emigrating to New Haven, where her father was a professor at Yale University. Read More
Edward Burger on Making Up Your Own Mind November 09, 2018 We solve countless problems—big and small—every day. With so much practice, why do we often have trouble making simple decisions—much less arriving at optimal solutions to important questions? Read More