AKA Weekly Review– November 19, 2021

From Los Angeles Times:
Can universities defy rising nationalism around the world?
By Emily J. Levine
Universities stand at the intersection of national interest and universal goals. With many American universities abroad being reorganized or shut down, the open flow of ideas is increasingly in jeopardy. With tensions growing internationally, universities are beginning to act in service of their own nations’ priorities rather than as institutions dedicated to the free exploration of ideas in the classroom and the laboratory. Read this article

From Times Higher Education:
The ‘Western university’ is too taken up with scientific knowledge
By Ronald Barnett
The world is facing many challenges today, among them the climate crisis, inequality, colonialism, and excessive instrumentalism, and some argue that the “Western university” is partially responsible for this. There are questions as to why so much value is placed on scientific over indigenous knowledge and why Western universities are the model for higher education worldwide. Read this article

From Times Higher Education:
Leaders say turn away from humanities will harm critical thinking
By John Morgan
It is imperative for students in all fields of study, whether in the humanities or STEM, to have a solid grasp of critical thinking skills. In an era of fake news, the ability to distinguish between believable and outlandish claims is imperative. With the increase in disciplinary specialization beyond the humanities, there are growing concerns that critical thinking skills are not being sufficiently taught. Read this article

From University World News:
A missed opportunity for the future of HE internationalisation
By Hans de Wit and Elspeth Jones
A recent statement from nine Western nations on the importance of international education for students worldwide mainly promotes the benefits for these developed nations, ignoring the needs and interests of students from the Global South. There are questions about how to square this with the increasing calls for a more inclusive and less elitist approach to the internationalization of higher education. Read this article

From American Academy of Arts & Sciences:
What Becomes of Humanities Majors after College? A New Indicators Report Offers Clues
A report by the Humanities Indicators measuring post-graduate success, income, and overall contentedness finds that humanities majors are similar to graduates from almost every other field with respect to perceived well-being, even though they tend to earn less and have slightly higher levels of post-graduate unemployment. Nationally, around 90% of humanities graduates were satisfied with their lives in 2019, similar to graduates from every other field. Read this article