In The News

National Geographic: What Makes a Genius?

Claudia Kalb May 12, 2017
Some ideas and creations are visionary and influential, spreading around the globe to resonate through the ages. The work of Albert Einstein, with the theory of relativity, and William Shakespeare whose plays explore human relationships and emotions, are two examples. Scientists study the sources of genius, which may not be easily identifiable. “Genius is too elusive, too subjective, too wedded...

Al Jazeera: The Lonely Pyramids of Giza and Egyptian Tourism’s Decline

Al Jazeera May 4, 2017
Egypt, reeling from years of political unrest and mounting terrorism, must also deal with a decline in tourism. Before 2011, the country welcomed more than 14 million tourists annually. Then the Arab Spring protests swelled in 2011, deposing Hosni Mubarak, followed by a coup in 2013 that removed President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the constitution. Today, the number of tourists has dropped to...

El Pais: Free Speech in the Twitter Era

Vera Gutiérrez Calvo May 3, 2017
Spain is debating whether some topics are off limits, even terror groups from long ago, now defunct, on social media – and “how to tackle hatred, humiliation and disrespect without being disproportionate and arbitrary,” reports Vera Gutiérrez Calvo for El Pais. “Sources from the central High Court and prosecutor offices state that jokes in themselves are not being prosecuted as crimes, but that...

Financial Times: Ideological Purge for China Universities

Emily Feng April 25, 2017
Societies invest in education for jobs, innovations, creativity and prosperity. Western universities, a tremendous source of soft power, attract students from around the world. Recognizing the value of cross-border learning, universities in China organized joint programs with foreign institutions. But the strongest education programs engage in critical thinking and that challenges ideology. China...

The Guardian: Who Are the New Jihadis?

Olivier Roy April 18, 2017
The contemporary terrorist’s brutal acts against symbolic targets are centered around his or her own death, explains author Olivier Roy in an essay for the Guardian. “Muslim tradition, while it recognises the merits of the martyr who dies in combat, does not prize those who strike out in pursuit of their own deaths, because doing so interferes with God’s will,” he writes. Roy describes jihadism...

The Diplomat: British Trainers Quietly Help Shape North Korean Education

Charlotte Fitzek April 14, 2017
Education in any topic and choices made by teachers can transform attitudes over time. For 17 years, the British Council has run an English Language Teacher Training Program in North Korea. “Against all odds, this program has grown,” including teachers outside of Pyongyang, and focusing on “best practices and methodology,” notes Charlotte Fitzek for the Diplomat. The project – one of the few...

Japan’s Population Outlook and Immigration Talk

April 14, 2017
An April report from Japan’s National Institute of Population and Security Research predicts that the nation’s population will shrink by 30 percent within the next half century unless current government policy aimed at increasing the fertility rate is a rapid success. With a decline of 40 percent, the size of the working population, ages 15 to 64, is forecasted to plunge even further, reports the...