Joanne Jacobs
Conservative students learn to argue in college -- liberals stay in their bubble
Conservative students sharpen their ideas and listen to alternative perspectives -- they learn -- on very liberal college campuses,...
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Joanne Jacobs
May 82 min read
New university creates space for debate, but it's not 'safe'
The new University of Austin -- the first class of 100 undergrads starts in fall -- wants to be a "pluralistic community" for discussion,...
Joanne Jacobs
Mar 282 min read
Virtue signaling turns nasty at Stanford, silly at Vanderbilt
"Aggression and abuse" are now "an accepted part of campus activism," writes Theo Baker, a Stanford sophomore, in The Atlantic. When...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 202 min read
Where to find curious, confident, inquisitive students
Her expectations were low she visited Utah Valley University, a large, open-enrollment state university, admits Martha C. Nussbaum, a...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 202 min read
Sympathy for the devil: What's the bad guy's point of view?
Novelist Rachel Kadish tells her creative-writing students to write a first-person monologue by a character with "abhorrent" views that...
Joanne Jacobs
Feb 42 min read
College is now a 'what to think' place, not 'how to think' for yourself
"Professors here teach how to think, not "what to think," college tour guides claim. Don't believe them, writes Caitlin Flanagan in The...
Joanne Jacobs
Jul 9, 20233 min read
Talking 'bout 'oracy'
Teaching students to speak well would "break the class ceiling," said Sir Keir Starmer, the British Labour leader and would-be prime...
Joanne Jacobs
May 27, 20232 min read
High school debate's decline: No arguing allowed
High school debate competitions no longer value debate, writes James Fishback, a debater turned debate coach, on The Free Press. Until...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 19, 20222 min read
Fuzzy civics: Teachers don't value knowledge
I learned about separation of powers, checks and balances and the three separate and equal branches of government -- executive,...
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