It’s no surprise that current events regularly lead us to update our syllabi. That doesn’t mean we can’t make “surprise” an important feature of our courses.
Our syllabi should be full of surprises
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Academia
The Leaky Pipeline
This piece is written by Bridging the Gap co-Director Naazneen H. Barma, Director of the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy, Scrivner Chair, and Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel...
Ant-Man as a metaphor for the modern professor
In Marvel comics and movies, Ant-Man is a super-hero who can change his size using a special suit and "Pym particles." When giant, he's...giant. But when he's tiny he keeps the same density as a...
Why are we so quick to dismiss the UAE-Israel peace treaty?
In September, the UAE and Israel signed "the Abraham Accords," normalizing relations between the UAE and Israel. The Trump Administration presented this as if it was equivalent to the Camp David...
More Academia Posts
Let’s Talk About Contingency
Ah, the spring semester: When the thoughts of many turn to the promise of summer, while the thoughts of panicked ABDs turn to the question of what they’re going to be doing beyond the end of this academic year. Right on schedule, the jobs boards are filling up with this year’s crop of “visiting” professor positions--inviting young (and not-so-young) ABDs and early-career faculty to gamble on a choice that will uproot their lives without any promise of permanent or even long-term employment. Having spent my early career off the tenure track, I wanted to take this opportunity to make a...
Trump and Truth: Or What Arendt Can Teach Us about Truth and Politics
Today’s revelation that Mike Flynn resigned from his post as National Security Advisor is another strong sign that the struggle between Truth and Politics is not a foregone conclusion. Indeed, we ought to actually celebrate the fact that when Flynn lied about speaking with the Russian ambassador, and the lie was made public, he was forced to resign. This victory notwithstanding, we still must be extremely vigilant against the Trump administration’s attack on Truth. For the administration apparently knew that he lied some time ago, and it was only with increased public scrutiny that Flynn...
Defending Democracy from the Ivory Tower
What is the role of the academic in defending democracy at a moment like this? I am 46 years old and have lived through some politically searing times in U.S. and world history, but the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States feels different. It feels like an existential threat to world order and American democracy like nothing else. It has turned all of us in to news junkies hanging on every inflammatory, norms-busting tweet from POTUS at the expense of productivity and mental health. This is not about partisanship. It is about country (if you are American) over...
Trump Wants People to “Study the World!” IR Scholars Can Jump All over This.
"Study the world!" brayed Trump on Twitter last week, in defense of his travel ban. Dan Drezner, who studies the world for a living, shot back: "I have studied it, and I can tell you with some certainty that your words and actions have harmed US national security." On Facebook, I've seen friends and colleagues with PhDs in international relations post their own versions of Dan's tweet: Andrew Moravcsik: "I have studied the world, and people who say they are going to change history generally repeat it." Richard Price: "Those who seek power by dividing ultimately succumb to those who unite to...
Bannon’s Incoherent Vision of Disruption
In 2013, Bannon is reported to have told Ron Radosh of the Daily Beast that he was a Leninist. He is quoted as saying “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” Yet this is such an odd thing to tell someone, particularly a journalist, when one’s very wealth, political power and caché depend on the very institution that he wants to destroy. Lenin, after all, wanted to bring down capitalism and the bourgeoisie to usher in the proletariat as leaders of a communist government and society. ...
Announcement: Online Achievement in International Studies Reception and Winners of the Duckies
On behalf of the Online Media Caucus of ISA, I’m happy to announce the following shortlist (in no particular order) for this year’s Online Achievement in International Studies Awards (The Duckies): Best Blog (Group) in International Studies Progress in Political Economy (PPe) Political Violence at a Glance Best Blog (Individual) in International Studies Peter Trumbore Raul Pacheco-Vega Best Blog Post in International Studies Gareth Bryant for 10 Talking Points from Jason W. Moore’s 'Capitalism in the Web of Life' Elizabeth Saunders for What a President Trump Means for Foreign Policy...
Talk Intel To Me
I remember laughing about an article in The Medium about a TV Sitcom that triggered the downfall of Western Civilization. In case you were wondering, it’s Friends with its “tragic hero” Ross Geller. The author lamented the awful mistreatment of the most cerebral character on the show that signified the harsh embrace of anti-intellectualism in America in the early 2000s. For instance, most of Ross’s academic stories were cut off by his bored friends and audience laughter. Why? Maybe some people would like to know more about sediment flow rate?! In the age of an amazing accessibility of...
ISA Takes Strong Stand for Academic Freedom
In a letter released today, the International Studies Association has taken a strong stand against Trump's Executive Order closing US borders to nationals of several Muslim-majority states: As a scholarly organization, ISA has a professional obligation to promote and protect the values of academic freedom. As such, the ISA strongly condemns any action by any government which prevents the free movement of scholars engaged in research on international affairs, or any other scholarly discipline. Indeed, the charter of the Academic Freedom Committee of the ISA includes the following language:...