Public Knowledge Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2014) The practice of “interdisciplinarity” remains problematic despite the widespread popularity of the notion of interdisciplinary existing as a subject of knowledge. Although interdisciplinary academic programs have been gaining…
by Robert Kirsch It is now Common Knowledge, unassailable for all time, that the states are broke. What better pabulum could there be to justify slashing social safety nets than to simply give the people an image of a state’s empty coffers? So goes the story offered by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. This is pure…
by Natalie Heffernan Presidents have used symbols as a powerful way to convey their vision of the country to its people. They use symbols to respond to crises and disasters. They help to remind us of what use to be, and what the “new normal” could look like. We live in turbulent times. High unemployment,…
by Robert Kirsch The American Political Science Association held its annual meeting this fall. The theme was “The Politics of Hard Times.” The obvious association that we were supposed to make was that, in a global economic downturn, hard times have visited us, and now we are at some kind of crossroads. Of course, social…
by Brendan Brink-Halloran Guatemala has for two years implemented an equivalent of the US Freedom of Information Act. But observers greeted the passing of this law with caution. The Guatemalan state is not well known for its commitment to transparency; while Guatemala jumped up from 3.1 to 3.4 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (0…
by Natalie Heffernan Many historical anniversaries have passed in the last month: the dropping of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech, Hurricane Katrina — and many more not named here. We’ve even seen the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq after…
by Zach Woods As demonstrated by the response to the Haiti earthquake in January 2010, charitable organizations have benefited immensely from the rise of social networking and the ever-increasing connectedness of Web users. Charities now have more means of finding and interacting with potential supporters than ever — and this is a good thing, certainly,…
by Ashley Patriarca A common complaint in teaching is that students have difficulty sorting through the plethora of information that is available to them over the internet, particularly that information available to them via the ever-popular Wikipedia. I can relate plenty of stories – some real, others mythical – about students who start and end…
by Kimberly Carlson With news of General McChrystal’s negative remarks in the Rolling Stone article blasting the headlines of major newspapers around the world, I have been thinking about leadership. As the leader of his staff, GEN McChrystal took full blame for all the remarks that were made and consequently lost his job. Those are…
by Beth Offenbacker We recently interviewed Dr. Carol Brandt, assistant professor in the Virginia Tech School of Education as part of our Research in Focus series (click here to listen to the podcast). Dr. Brandt teaches in the Foundations of Education program and she also has adjunct appointments in the Women’s Studies and Science and…