In The News

For Asian Americans, A Changing Landscape on College Admissions

Frank Shyong March 24, 2015
Asian American families spend the most on education per capita in the United States, yet many report challenges with admission to prestigious US colleges owing to official and informal diversity policies. A 2005 Princeton study suggested that Asian applicants would be the big winners if race was no longer considered in admissions. College officials counter that a diverse campus offers many...

In Latin America, New Urgency to Educate Stirs Up Outdated System

Whitney Eulich and Ruxandra Guidi March 4, 2015
Teach for America is spreading beyond the US border. Enseña por México, Teach for Mexico, is one of various programs in seven Latin American countries that replicate the model by sending recent college graduates into low-income schools. Mexico’s program operates in 65 schools across four states; similar, older programs in Chile and Peru garner praise for improved educational outcomes. Eight Latin...

Why the West Is Losing the Battle Against Radical Islam

Azeem Ibrahim February 26, 2015
The West can no longer hold its tongue on fundamentalist religious sects that emphasize piety to the point of counting a few followers worthy while dismissing everyone else in the world. Such is the case with Wahhabism, or Salafism, the state religion in Saudi Arabia that’s exported to other Muslim nations with the help of oil dollars. Azeem Ibrahim, PhD, international security lecturer at the...

History Without Borders

Peter C. Perdue February 24, 2015
The conflicts of the modern world are deeply rooted in centuries of history. Historians and social scientists could do more to develop research across disciplinary, regional and national boundaries, argues Peter Perdue, professor of history at Yale University. “Everyone knows that we live in a globalized world, but the history profession stands out among academic disciplines for defining its...

Encyclopedias: The Truths du Jour

Immanuel Wallerstein January 20, 2015
Encyclopedias are plentiful, designed to assist contemporary scholars with research. Yet they're also historical documents, reflecting choices made for a period of time and a society’s understanding of the globe. In making room for new events, encyclopedia editors tend to shrink the past. “We can learn much about the evolution of the world’s institutions and modes of thinking by using...

Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar School Attack Leaves 135 Dead

Aamer Ahmed Khan December 16, 2014
Pakistan Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar leaving near 150 dead, most children. Many of the students were children of military personnel. A Taliban spokesman suggested the attack was in retaliation for hundreds of recent deaths of Taliban fighters in North Waziristan and the Khyber area, reports BBC News. Some in Pakistan’s military and intelligence services have regarded...

To Contain Ebola Outbreaks, First Train Caregivers

Manisha Juthani-Mehta November 25, 2014
Infection rates for the Ebola virus are high when patients are symptomatic and in the advanced stages of the disease. Risks are high for caregivers. As result, diagnosis, treatment and care should be left to experienced, well-trained providers, argues Manisha Juthani-Mehta, an associate professor and director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program in the Section of Infectious Diseases at...