In The News

Why Major in Humanities? Not Just for a Good Job – For a Good Life

Mark Edmundson August 14, 2013
As individuals compete for high-paying jobs, many parents and educators question the value of a humanities degree. Professors in the humanities defend the degree for teaching skills in analysis, writing and logic and serving as a launch pad to practical degrees in medicine, law or business. In an essay for the Washington Post, Mark Edmundson contends that the humanities – including the study of...

Not Going Abroad and Not Coming Home

Beryl Lieff Benderly August 2, 2013
Asian graduate students and post-doctorate fellows dominate some math and science programs in the West. Attitudes about such cross-border exchanges were analyzed by researchers, working separately, in China and Japan. “Japan needs to send more people abroad to study science, while China needs to do a better job of luring foreign-trained scientists back home,” suggests Beryl Lieff Benderly for...

Genius

John Bohannon August 1, 2013
A research team based in China, including scientists in the United Kingdom and the United States, has 2,000 DNA samples and expects to collect thousands more around the globe to determine the source of intelligence, writes John Bohannon for Wired. A US researcher has theorized that genetic mutations may reduce intelligence, and a hunt is on to isolate variations, identify a genetic basis for high...

Indian Farmer Promotes “Magic Farming”

Amarnath Tewary July 29, 2013
The notion of harvesting tons of crops from soil, water, a handful of seeds and fertilizer has a magic quality to it – and an Indian farmer in Bihar has used magic shows to convince other farmers to turn to organic methods. An NGO program on organic farming in 2001 convinced Shreekant Kushwaha that organic farming produced higher yields more quickly, and he credits the methods for changing his...

Chinese Tourists' Westward Wanderlust

Michelle FlorCruz July 23, 2013
Host countries may offer guides, but tourists ultimately decide which sites are worth a visit. Chinese tourism is growing, and Michelle FlorCruz, with International Business Times, describes new attention devoted to a New York sculpture installed in 1989 – the Wall Street Charging Bull, a symbol of prosperity and risk. She notes, “the tourism industry is beginning to understand the profound...

Pakistan’s Malala Problem: Teen Activist’s Global Celebrity Not Matched at Home

Omar Waraich July 19, 2013
A young Pakistani schoolgirl survived an assassination attempt and continues to speak out on free, compulsory education for all. In a speech at the United Nations, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai argued that books and pens are the most powerful tools against illiteracy and terrorism, reports Omar Waraich for Time Magazine. A global audience cheered her message: “One child, one teacher, one book and...

The School in the Web

Nayan Chanda July 15, 2013
The curious with internet access are no longer limited to ideas fed to them within the constraints of communities or jobs with universities increasingly open free online classes to global audiences. Hundreds of thousands of students follow lectures not for a degree or credential, but for a love of learning. Yet as some course developers look to online courses for a new education model, some...