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Category: Now Reading

Robot-Proof

If you’re looking for a book that is not too heavy, analyzes how changing technologies impacts skills, and does a great job of sketching out some possible attractive responses from higher education institutions: have I got a book for you.  It’s called Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Joseph Aoun. You’re surprised, I can tell.  The book does have the kind of title that suggests it has a point of view that ordinarily would set me off on

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March 1, 2018 1 Comment

Science Federalism

A couple of months ago, I read a rather interesting book called National Innovation Systems and the Academic Enterprise, which is a collection of essays edited by David Dill and Frans van Vught.  It’s a collection of essays about national – and in the case of the US, subnational – innovation policies, and while the quality of the national essays is a bit uneven (the Canadian one was marked mainly by overuse of the word “neoliberalism” and excessive off-point moaning about

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February 14, 2018 2 Comments

The Case Against Education

Sorry for the delay this AM, all.  Long flight over the Atlantic yesterday. There is a new book out from George Mason economics professor Bryan Caplan called The Case Against Education: Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money.  It’s causing some brouhaha south of the border (you may have seen this article in The Atlantic). There is a longstanding argument in economics about how to measure gains from education.  Basically, there is the “human capital” view, which says that

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February 1, 2018 1 Comment

Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Li…zzzzzz

So, the University of Toronto’s Jordan Peterson, who the Guardian describes as one of Canada’s leading public intellectuals, has written a self-help book called “12 rules for Life”.  I read it so you don’t have to. Honestly, the things I do for you folks. First things first: the book is not some cheap attempt by Peterson to profit from his recent notoriety.  In fact, the book seems to have been in the works well beforehand and has its origins in a Quora

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January 29, 2018 1 Comment

Degrees that Matter

One of the huge – and insufficiently studied – differences between North America and European higher education is the way programs are structured, at least as far as Arts and Sciences go. In most of Europe, entering a program in (say) history means you have to learn a set field of knowledge and skills.  By entering into a 90-credit program in a particular field, you have a fair idea of which courses you will be taking over the next three

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January 26, 2018 1 Comment

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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