Monthly Archives: December 2010

Crisis of the public intellectual: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Posted on December 28, 2010 by

December 28, 2010 Here’s an interesting post, from Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic, just before Christmas.  He tells why he is reluctant to accept invitations to appear on cable news shows to discuss racism, something about which he knows a … Continue reading →

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College Pranks

Posted on December 27, 2010 by

December 27, 2010 I’m reminded (isn’t the internet wonderful) that we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the greatest college prank ever, the day Cal Tech students substituted some of their own instructions for the ones designed for a flipcard display … Continue reading →

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Our far-flung alumni: Paul Perkinson (’79)

Posted on December 22, 2010 by

December 22, 2010 Just yesterday came the official announcement that Paul Perkinson (’79) would become Head of School at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, Maine. For the last decade, he has been Head of School at Tandem Friends School, … Continue reading →

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How do we celebrate Christmas?

Posted on December 16, 2010 by

December 16, 2010 How does a Quaker college celebrate Christmas?  To answer that question is to plunge deep into the much bigger question of what it means to be a Quaker college. By virtue of being Quaker, are we Christian … Continue reading →

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Focus on Learning: Measures of Effective Teaching

Posted on December 15, 2010 by

December 15, 2010 “Measures of Effective Teaching” (MET) is a major Gates Foundation-funded, multi-year, complex research project that aims to learn whether and how we can measure effective teaching in K-12 schools.  Do we know it when we see it? … Continue reading →

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Our Far-Flung Alumni: David Shear (’75)

Posted on December 13, 2010 by

December 13, 2010 David B. Shear, a 1975 graduate of Earlham, has just been named the new U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, the fifth person to hold that position since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations fifteen years ago. A much-honored … Continue reading →

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Copyright Struggles: Providing Access Vs. Protecting Rights

Posted on December 12, 2010 by

December 27, 2010 At a retreat just before Christmas at which a group of us reviewed the fall semester, we heard a report that quite a number of our students had received notices from music and movie companies alleging that … Continue reading →

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