A distinctly unoriginal take on the pathologies of overvaluing academic “novelty.”
Get off my lawn! Are journal demands for “novelty” creating a culture of low-level academic dishonesty?
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Recent Posts
An American died in an Egyptian jail. Why didn’t this well-connected human rights community speak out?
Earlier this week, Mustafa Kassem, an American held in Egypt, died. The Trump Administration did little to help him. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that the international religious...
Twilight of Hope
Last year I attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (CoP) for the first time. It was an experience in dichotomies. The events on the...
Audit Culture in UK Higher Education
In 2016 I took a job at university in the UK. As an American, British academic culture was new to me, especially its ‘audit culture’. The key elements of audit culture are mechanisms for the...
More Recent Posts
Thursday Morning Linkage
Here is some Thursday morning linkage action: In time for the CITES meeting on the trade in endangered species, scientists released a study that showed a 60% decline in the small forest elephant species in Africa in the last TEN years Meanwhile, news accounts reported on the shadowy networks of...
Counter-What?
This article discusses the importance of doing counter-intuitive work in the social sciences: We love our counterintuitive findings. And for fields such as psychology, they’re almost a necessity.If new conclusions already gel with our beliefs, goes the common refrain, why was precious taxpayer...
Snowquestratian Linkage
Yesterday I decided to create an account at thegradcafe.com. In doing so, I joined a handful of political scientists who post there in an effort to increase transparency. Of course, I'm now being flooded with questions about improving applications and the like. Which I don't really mind. But I am...
The Robama Doctrine
Mitt Romney is back in the news with more than a little schadenfreude, talking about how he would be better not only to deal with sequestration but also with Iran. Or so he claims. But had he become president, it would have been interesting to see the Romney Doctrine in action—a foreign policy...
Just When You Thought the Interwebs Were Safe
Someone comes along with a "Call Me Maybe" joke. A mashup of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole" and the insidious zombie-song of last summer. The worst part? It works.
Kenya: Can Technology Safeguard Elections?
Polls in Kenya closed 16 hours ago, but votes continue to be counted. Those familiar with Kenya and with the electoral crisis of 2007-2008 will know to distrust provisional results. In December 2007, challenger Raila Odinga seemed substantially ahead during much of the early voting, only to see...
Rodrik’s Paradox is No Paradox
Last month, Dani Rodrik wrote a piece for Project Syndicate that went all kinds of viral. In it, he explains why he no longer views himself as a political economist. The upshot: because if he believed the stuff he used to believe, he'd have to accept that there's not much room for improving the...
‘Rodman-gate’: Can ‘Useful Idiots’ please Stop Shilling for North Korea?
Studying North Korea inevitably means people ask me pretty outlandish stuff. People have asked, if the North really believes long hair is bad for socialism, if that goiter on Kim Il Sung’s neck made him crazy, if Kim Jong Il’s platform shoes meant that he liked disco, and if North Korean women are...
Monday Morning Linkage
Good morning, ducks! Let's start the week in Pakistan The horrific and systematic killing of the Shia in Pakistan continues in full swing. Sunil Dasgupta asks: "How will India Respond to Civil War in Pakistan" (h/t C. Barwa) General Musharraf has promised (again) that he is coming back to rescue...
Going on the Job Market? Pick up Fifty Shades of Grey or a Ukulele!
Traveling home today from a great conference with some awesome Ducks and non-Ducks. The conference, hosted by Debbi Avant (U of Denver) and Oliver Westerwinter (EUI) at the University of Denver, was on the topic of networks, governance, and security. I learned a lot and will hopefully write a...
Saturday Morning Linkage
I'm at a conference with a surprising number of Duck bloggers and commentators, so this will be brief. I spent some time last night troubleshooting older podcasts. If you notice a problem please email me. Kings of War analyzes the impact of the sequester on the US army. Andrew Yeo looks at "naming...
Friday Nerd Blogging: Presidential Edition
Twitter went nuts when President Obama said he could not get the Republicans to do what is right because of his finite powers, that he could not do some sort of Jedi mind-meld! He mixed his space franchises--Jedis may have Vulcan-like abilities, but the mind meld thing is of Star Trek. So, this...