The fine art of UNFINISHING, or why I still like MOOCs.

I intend to run for 30 minutes today.  But it is hot and I stop at 25. I pick up the latest issue of The Economist, drink deeply of an […]

Responding to emails, calls, and more re @macaulayhonors #CUNY and the first day of our Professor #Petraeus seminar.

Monday, Sept 9 2013 was a great day for learning. Millions of NYC school children returned to their classrooms. New Yorkers were preparing to exercise their right to vote. And […]

What’s a university good for….and other mysteries.

Our university is a place where complex issues and points of view across the political and cultural spectrum are considered and debated in the hopes that we might offer solutions to the […]

Dr. Petraeus teaching at Macaulay for $1, no typo there, just good will. Wonder if you know it when you see it?

Macaulay has been much in the news lately.  So here is an update: Dr. David Petraeus, our Visiting Professor of Public Policy for 2013-2014, will be teaching his honors seminar, “Are We […]

That Earp Curse! I hope it didn’t follow me to Santa Barbara.

Leaving beautiful Santa Barbara this morning.  Never thought of it as setting for one of my favorite dystopia films, though Day One:  Saw the wild fires as soon as we […]

Why Matisse repeated himself, and other stimulating questions at the Metropolitan Museum.

First Saturday night of the year for us at the Metropolitan Museum, great combo of the new Matisse exhibition and dinner upstairs, where I always sort of like being among […]

@CShirkey had the right idea about stimulating innovation in higher ed. Most academics I know don’t like shortcuts, though: they prefer to “show your work!” #thecollegeproject

“Do not put together an interdisciplinary team from 12 departments and give them a budget of a quarter of a million dollars, and a year and a half deadline. Find […]

A love letter to @plibin. @pachikov. The secret story of how I wrote a book in four years and 2,279 @evernote.

Dear Phil Libin, I hope it’s ok if I call you Phil, since I have been your secret admirer since October 2008.  And I hope it’s ok to write you […]

Remember the British class structure? Rigid? Unwelcoming? Turns out that it’s US who are getting that way.

nytimes.com:  12 Sept 2012 Britain: British Schools Offer More Upward Mobility for Students Than American Ones, Report Says By D. D. GUTTENPLAN British schools now do a better job than American […]

Here’s how those University of Virginia trustees’ emails became public. http://huff.to/PA3Rh3

I’m all for transparency, but this is a timely reminder  to imagine every email you write could end up on the front page of your local newspaper.  If, that is, […]