Audiobooks for College Students?: A Q&A With the Co-Founder of Libro.fm | Inside Higher Ed

Follow on Twitter as @joshmkim

"How should higher education approach audiobooks, and what are the alternatives to Audible / Amazon?" says Dr. Joshua Kim, Director of Digital Learning Initiatives at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL).
 

Technology and Learning

Are you as obsessed as I am with the idea of college students listening to audiobooks? If not, what is wrong with you?

What would happen if audiobooks moved from an academic scarcity to and academic abundance? If students had the ability to easily get access to digital copies - both e-book and audiobook - of books assigned by their professors.

Or even if college students decided to read more audiobooks for - wait for it - pleasure.
Would that be such a bad thing? College is about many things. It should at least be about creating the habit of reading. If we want to create lifetime learners, then we need to create lifetime book readers...

The folks at Libro.fm have been kind enough to let me try out their audiobook platform. I think you should do the same. As you check out their site, and read the Q&A with Libro.fm co-founder below, try to imagine what a partnership with this company might look like on your campus. At this point, nobody has any idea what this sort of partnership might look like. How it would work.  That is okay.

Maybe the knowledge that colleges and universities are interested enough in audiobooks will get Amazon / Audible to also engage with us.
Read more...

Source: Inside Higher Ed (blog)

The 10 most educated countries in the world | Careers - CNBC

"Canada tops the list" observe" Abigail Hess, News Associate at CNBC.
 

Photo:  Thomas Barwick | Digital Vision | Getty Images

More Americans are going to college than ever before. But even as students attend college at record-breaking rates, the country continues to fall behind other nations.

Every year, institutions in the United States dominate rankings of the best colleges in the world. Of the top 10 best universities in the world, eight are located in the U.S. But despite having some of the best educational institutions on earth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks the U.S. sixth for adult education level.

The OECD defined a country's adult education level as the percentage of people between the ages of 25 and 64 who have completed some kind of tertiary education in the form of a two-year degree, four-year degree or vocational program.

Here are the 10 most educated countries:
Read more... 

Recommended Reading
   

5 hacks to help you learn anything from CNBC.

New study from Stanford University finds that positivity makes kids more successful by Abigail Hess, News Associate at CNBC. 

Source: CNBC

Learning to lie has cognitive benefits, study finds | Psychology & Psychiatry - Medical Xpress

It's a tenet of Parenting 101 that kids should tell the truth. But a recent study co-authored by the University of Toronto's Kang Lee suggests that learning to lie can confer cognitive benefits. 

Photo: CC0 Public Domain

"As parents and teachers – and society as a whole – we always worry that if a kid lies there will be terrible consequences," Lee says. "But it turns out there is a big difference between kids who lie earlier and those who lie later. The kids who lie earlier tend to have much better cognitive abilities."

Lee, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and his co-authors in China, Singapore and the United States, based their findings on an experiment in which they asked 42 preschool-aged children in China – who showed no initial ability to lie – how to play a hide-and-seek game...

On standardized tests used to measure executive function, including self-control and "theory of mind" – the capacity to understand another person's intentions and beliefs – the kids who were taught deception out-performed the control group.

"With just a few days of instruction, young children quickly learned to deceive and gained immediate cognitive benefits from doing so," the researchers write in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Read more...

Additional resources
Xiao Pan Ding et al. Learning to deceive has cognitive benefits, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (2018).  
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.008 

Source: Medical Xpress

Professor Who Worked On Common Core Tests: Math Education Needs To Downplay ‘Objects, Truth, And Knowledge’ | Education - The Federalist

Joy Pullmann, executive editor of The Federalist and author of "The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids," out from Encounter Books in 2017. Get it on Amazon reports, "This professor who teaches K-12 teachers is planning 'an insurgency by the people' to use politicized 'math education' to subvert public institutions and American self-rule. It's already happening."  

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Austin Harvill/Released

A U.S. professor who teaches future public school teachers will “argue for a movement against objects, truths, and knowledge” in a keynote to the Mathematics Education and Society conference this coming January, says her talk description.

“The relationship between humans, mathematics, and the planet has been one steeped too long in domination and destruction,” the talk summary says. “What are appropriate responses to reverse such a relationship?” We can already guess University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor Rochelle Gutierrez’s answer, from reviewing her published writings and comments. Her plans for “an insurgency by the people” to subvert public institutions and American self-rule through “ethnomathematics” will knock your eyebrows off your face. Let’s take a look.

Her bio says Gutierrez specializes in teaching future K-12 teachers “forms of creative insubordination” and the importance of infusing math with politics. Because, apparently, American kids are already so good at math they have extra time to spend on indoctrination. Oh, wait.

More Proof Ed Schools Routinely Promote Failed Ideas 
Gutierrez is an education professor who also teaches in Urbana-Champaign’s “Latino studies” program, of course. Her CV says she helped write federally funded Common Core math tests and has been on a host of taxpayer-funded committees, including several of the National Science Foundation.

She’s also affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which wrote notoriously terrible curriculum rules that destroyed math instruction in many states before helping form Common Core. She’s helped decide which education professors to grant tenure at more than a dozen public universities, and been given visiting lecture position at Vanderbilt University, which is reputed to have one of the most pre-eminent teaching degree programs.
Read more...

Source: The Federalist

Teaching Students about the Interplay of Ethics and Technology | Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech - The Tech Edvocate

"Philosophers have had thousands of years to ponder the deep issues of human ethics" summarizes Matthew Lynch, Author at The Edvocate.

Photo: The Tech Edvocate

Modern tech adds unanticipated twists to the classic questions about the relationship of the self to others. It will require not only ethicists but also technical specialists and curriculum experts in order to ensure that today’s students learn what they need to know about the interplay of ethics and technology.

Cyberbullying
Bullying has always been a problem, but the anonymity of various social media platforms has exacerbated the issue. Traditionally, students escaped their bullies when they went home at the end of the school day, but cyberbullying means that students have no escape. Various anti-bullying efforts seek to teach students how to navigate this treacherous situation.
A key theme is helping students understand that anonymity can’t be a cloak for their worst impulses when there is a real human on the receiving end of their invective. Plus, students can be taught to be “upstanders” instead of bystanders so that they will intervene when they become aware that others are being mistreated...

Copyright
The ease with which any digital media can be copied and distributed has made it difficult for some students to understand that copyright violations actually constitute theft. Often, teachers do not emphasize copyright issues since most of what a student might do in a classroom will be covered under educational fair use carve-outs to the standard copyright law. This means that students are usually ill-prepared to comply with the law when they are out of school. Thus, copyright law is a primary area where students need to be taught not only the legal but also the moral responsibilities that they will have.
Read more... 

Source: The Tech Edvocate

Study: Gen Z prefers YouTube over books for learning | Kidscreen

"A new US study by Pearson has found that 60% of Gen Z kids prefer YouTube for learning over printed books, but still value "traditional" methods of instruction" according to Jeremy Dickson, Features Editor of Kidscreen.

Photo: Kidscreen

New field research by global education company Pearson has revealed that Gen Z kids in the US like learning from YouTube more than printed books.

Conducted for Pearson by New York-based global market research firm The Harris Poll, Beyond Millennials: The Next Generation of Learners surveyed 2,587 14- to 40-year-olds to examine the differences between Generation Z and Millennials in terms of their outlooks, values, education experiences and technology usage.

According to the study, nearly 60% of Gen Z respondents prefer YouTube for learning compared to 47% who prefer printed books. Millennials, meanwhile, prefer printed books (60%) over YouTube (55%).

Gen Z’s preference for learning from apps or interactive games (47%) is also equal to its preference for printed books. However, Gen Z prefers in-person group activities (57%) for learning, more than their older counterparts (47%)...

A full version of the Pearson study can be found here.
Read more... 

Source: Kidscreen

Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media | Young people - The Guardian

"Generation Z has grown up online – so why are a surprising number suddenly turning their backs on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat?" observes Sirin Kale, London-based journalist specialising in women's rights, politics, music, lifestyle, and culture.

Mary Amanuel, who does not use social media.
Photo: Alecsandra Raluca Drăgoi for the Guardian

For 17-year-old Mary Amanuel, from London, it happened in Tesco. “We were in year 7,” she remembers, “and my friend had made an Instagram account. As we were buying stuff, she was counting the amounts of likes she’d got on a post. ‘Oooh, 40 likes. 42 likes.’ I just thought: ‘This is ridiculous.’”

Isabelle, an 18-year-old student from Bedfordshire who doesn’t want to disclose her surname, turned against social media when her classmates became zombified. “Everyone switched off from conversation. It became: ‘Can I have your number to text you?’ Something got lost in terms of speaking face to face. And I thought: ‘I don’t really want to be swept up in that.’” For 15-year-old Emily Sharp, from Staines in Surrey, watching bullying online was the final straw. “It wasn’t nice. That deterred me from using it.”

It is widely believed that young people are hopelessly devoted to social media. Teenagers, according to this stereotype, tweet, gram, Snap and scroll. But for every young person hunched over a screen, there are others for whom social media no longer holds such an allure. These teens are turning their backs on the technology – and there are more of them than you might think...

The fact that Gen Z have had their every move documented online since before they could walk, talk, or even control their bowels helps explain their antipathy to social media: it makes sense for them to strive for privacy, as soon as they reach the age when they have a choice over their online image.

“I’ve seen parents post pictures of their child’s first potty online,” says Amy Binns of the University of Central Lancashire. “You think: ‘Why are you doing this to your child? They wouldn’t want this to be public.”

Gen Z has an interest in privacy that subtly sets them apart. “Young people want to get away from the curtain-twitching village, where everyone knows everything about you,” Binns says. So while today’s teens spend a lot of time online, they don’t actually share that much personal information. And when they do share, it’s strategic. “You’re painting a picture of who you are and your image,” says Binns. “It’s your own shop window or brand.”
Read more...

Source: The Guardian

Q&A: Is Gen Z afraid of AI? (Includes interview) | Technology - Digital Journal

With AI courses becoming more common in universities, how will this subject impact on other types of education? Moreover, what do Generation Z make of AI? Expert Tom Hebner offers some answer.

In the past ten years AI has rapidly expanded in education, transforming from sparingly offered classes to majors to full blown dedicated universities. Due to the rapid growth of AI in the education space at advanced levels, there is reason to believe AI will soon have a major influence on the grade school curriculum.

However, it remains uncertain how this will this impact Generation Z. Will AI education begin in grade school? How can we prepare the next generations for jobs we don’t know exist yet? To assess these points, Digital Journal caught up with Tom Hebner, who is the Worldwide Leader of the Cognitive Innovation Group at Nuance Communications. 
Read more...

Source: Digital Journal

The top 10 tech companies where Gen Z wants to work | Tech & Work - TechRepublic

Generation Z, or people between the ages of 18 and 25, listed working at Google as their top dream job, according to a Tuesday study from Comparably, as TechRepublic reports.

Photo: iStockphoto/yacobchuk

Gen Z ranked Google, Amazon, and Microsoft as their top three dream companies. Here's why. 

Comparably surveyed 23,000 people ages 18 to 35 to determined the top tech firms where older millennial, younger millennial, and Gen Z employees would want to work. With 61 million Gen Zers about to enter the workforce, it's important to know what companies are on their employment radar so you can attract the best new tech talent.

Younger millennials are those between the ages of 26 and 30, while older millennials are between 31 and 35, said the report. The main contributing factor to each group's tech job preference was the age range's familiarity with technology...

Here is the full list of the top 10 companies where Gen Z reportedly wants to work:

1. Google
2. Amazon
3. Microsoft
4. Facebook
5. Uber
6. Apple
7. Twitter
8. Snap Inc.
9. LinkedIn
10. Airbnb

Read more... 

Recommended Reading   

Photo: iStockphoto/bernardbodo

10 questions machine learning engineers can expect in a job interview by Alison DeNisco Rayome, Staff Writer for TechRepublic.
"Experts in AI are in high demand. Here are some tips on how to answer common machine learning interview questions and land the right job." 

Source: TechRepublic 

Connection between philosophy and science | Speaking Tree - Times of India

"Leonardo da Vinci’s words, “Learn how to see. Everything is connected to everything else,” awakened my mind and I could feel the connection between philosophy and science" says G S Tripathi, teaches Physics at Berhampur University.

Speaking Tree

I fell back to two of my favourite sources of knowledge, the Bhagwad Gita and my chosen subject Physics, which represents the philosophy of all sciences, for a possible connection between east and west. The Gita represents the east and quantum theory, the west. In the process, a connection between philosophy and life emerged.

In the classification of material qualities, Krishna said in Chapter 18 of the Gita: “Understand that knowledge to be in the mode of goodness by which a person sees the one undivided imperishable reality within all diverse living beings.” It talks of connections between anything with any other thing. A saatvik person sees a world of many, connected to each other. The world is conceived as a truly many-body system of interacting entities, controlled by an all-unifying force.

Talking about rajasik nature, Krishna said: “That knowledge is to be considered in the mode of passion by which one sees the manifold living entities in diverse bodies as individual and unconnected.” Rajasik persons see the world as isolated, non-interacting and unconnected.

The idea of interconnection is the basis behind the many-body theory in statistical physics and is handled by both classical and quantum theories, more so by the latter. The unconnected picture in Physics is described by an independent-entity model, which has its limitations.
Read more... 

Source: Times of India

Gain a deeper understanding of machine learning with these e-learning courses on Matlab and Simulink | Mashable Deals - Mashable

In case you haven't noticed, machine learning — the practice of designing algorithms to equip computers to collect data, identify patterns, and learn from them without human interference — has gained fresh momentum. 

Learn how to create algorithms for machine learning with this powerful tool.
Photo: Pexels

Although the concept is not new, its recent applications gave rise to a massive digital revolution. Think self-driving cars, Netflix's recommendation engine, Uber's arrival and pick-up estimations, and Spotify's Discover Weekly playlists. Without machine learning, all these things would not exist...

First things first, what are Matlab and Simulink anyway?

A conversation about machine learning won't be complete without the mention of Matlab and Simulink. To the uninitiated, Matlab — which stands for Matrix Laboratory — is a tool that was initially invented to help in teaching linear algebra but has now evolved into a platform that can explore, analyze, and visualize big data. It can be used for creating predictive models that work best with your data sets. Just think of Matlab as the engineer's Excel, only with far greater capabilities. 

On the other hand, Simulink is a visual programming environment for creating simulations without the need to write code. Say you're developing a prototype for an automobile (FYI: Tesla uses Simulink), you can use the program to build a dynamic model quickly to test and validate your design before even moving to hardware. Both of these powerful tools complement each other, and when used together, you can test thousands of algorithms on different simulations.

Sounds complicated? These online courses are a great place to start.
Read more...

Source: Mashable

Universities must lift their game on digital learning | Education - The Australian Financial Review

James Frost, Financial Services Writer insist, "Learning institutions need to get the basics right and get broader faculty buy-in for technology pushes to succeed."
 

The Financial Review Higher Education conference is part of the National Policy Series and was held at The Langham Hotel.
Photo: Eamon Gallagher

Leading educators have acknowledged universities can do more to embrace technology and deliver students with value for money but they need to get faculties onside and the basics right first.

University of Technology Sydney deputy vice-chancellor Shirley Alexander said 90 per cent of the universities' course material could be delivered online but it was not longer good enough to simply deliver videos of talking heads giving lectures...

University of Melbourne's pro vice-chancellor of teaching and learning, Professor Gregor Kennedy, said while there was much to get excited about in terms of developments in technology, universities also had to get back to basics.

"Look it's all very well to get excited ... but you also need to ask is single sign-on working and can students print in the library?"

Deloitte's digital strategy and innovation partner Robert Overend said it was important for higher education institutions to implement strategies to maintain relationships with students for longer and "help them dip in and out".

A report from Deloitte has highlighted the rising life expectancy rate as an opportunity for universities as careers begin to span six or seven decades or more...

Macquarie University's Professor John Croucher spoke of the need to embrace technology within limits. He referred to a colleague's refusal to adopt email as perhaps going too far but had banned himself from using powerpoint during lectures.

"As soon as I turn my back they are on their phones, checking their mail or checking something else," Professor Croucher said.

Victoria University's vice-president Ian Solomonides said it was not uncommon to meet resistance when pushing for change.

"You need a thick skin and a great deal of resilience if you want to innovate in this area," Professor Solomonides said.
Read more... 

Source: The Australian Financial Review 

Why E-Textbooks Haven't Taken Over Schools | Education - Forbes Now

Peter Greene, look at K-12 policies and practices from the classroom perspective argues, "Twenty years ago, educational futurists predicted that some day--probably some day soon--students would no longer stagger through the halls of their schools balancing giant stacks of books."

 

Yes, it does look good, doesn't it.
Photo: Shutterstock

Instead, they'd carry one single device loaded with e-texts. Easily updated, always current, and wonderfully inexpensive, these e-textbooks would replace the clunky old forest-killing paper texts.

It hasn't happened.

Why not? There are several reasons, some visible on the large scale and some obvious to teachers in K-12 classrooms...

Many students would rather read paper books. Various studies over the last decade repeatedly show that students prefer to read on paper rather than a screen, that they believe they concentrate better, even that they retain information better from print formats. For many students, the screen device of choice is a smartphone. That's a tough format in which to read War and Peace, but many of the current crop of digital natives find a laptop or tablet nearly as antiquated as an actual paper text.

E-texts also lag behind when it comes to interaction. It can be exciting for a literature teacher to realize that, since the bulk of English literature is public domain, she can assign virtually anything with just a link. But what I and several colleagues have seen is that students will often follow the link to the work--and then print out a hard copy. Paper allows for greater interaction, including note taking. Curling up in a comfy chair works better with paper. And paper provides a quick, simple, even visceral sense of how far you've gotten in the work. There is still something wonderfully tactile about reading that is appealing even to digital natives--particularly elementary students, who are busy learning the world in a tactile and immediate way.
Read more... 

Source: Forbes Now 

Brick-and-Mortar Learning with a Generation of Digital Natives | UNLV NewsCenter

Juliet V. Casey, Communications Director inform, "Digital Learning Innovation Showcase highlights how traditional universities navigate the digital age."

Photo: Rakitha Perera/OIT

UNLV is not an online institution. 

Yet in the 2017-18 academic year, the university offered more than 958 online or hybrid courses. And, more than 90 percent of last year’s graduates took at least one online course on the way to completing their degrees.

Photo: Laurel M. Pritchard, Ph.D.

“Many of the students we serve are digital natives,” said Laurel Pritchard, UNLV interim vice provost for undergraduate education. “They have grown up with an expectation that nearly every service they consume can and should be delivered digitally.”

The question for universities now is how best to deliver a higher education using digital tools and resources while giving them a well-rounded college experience.

UNLV Executive Vice President and Provost Diane Chase is taking the question seriously...

The UNLV Office of Online Education is expanding its programming and resources to help faculty translate their classroom courses to online platforms. Its new  Teach Online website helps faculty develop online courses and adapt their teaching methods for the online environment.

Meanwhile, the Digital Learning Initiative supported by the fellowship project, has focused on improving achievement for students who want to enter fields in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Read more...


Fall 2018 Welcome Message from President Marta Meana by UNLV News Center.
"Meana reflects on what will make student achievement, creative activities, research growth, and community partnerships happen this year."

Source: UNLV NewsCenter and University of Nevada, Las Vegas Channel (YouTube)

Suggested Books of the Week 34, 2018

Check out these books below by Cambridge University Press and Ancient Origins.

Photo: Storyblocks.com

Optimization in Practice with MATLAB® - For Engineering Students and Professionals 

Optimization in Practice with MATLAB® 
For Engineering Students and Professionals

Optimization in Practice with MATLAB® provides a unique approach to optimization education. It is accessible to both junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as industry practitioners. It provides a strongly practical perspective that allows the student to be ready to use optimization in the workplace. It covers traditional materials, as well as important topics previously unavailable in optimization books (e.g. numerical essentials - for successful optimization)...
Additionally, supporting MATLAB® m-files are available for download via www.cambridge.org.messac. Lastly, adopting instructors will receive a comprehensive solution manual with solution codes along with lectures in PowerPoint with animations for each chapter, and the text's unique flexibility enables instructors to structure one- or two-semester courses.

• The realistic examples differentiate this book from others on the market
• Offers a wide-ranging collection of examples and exercises, providing a unique platform for linking the theoretical, computational, and practical
• A MATLAB® chapter and prerequisite math chapter address diverse students' preparation levels
• A robust ancillary support package includes comprehensive PowerPoint lectures with animations, a comprehensive solutions manual with solution codes, and MATLAB® codes for examples and solutions

Read an extract

Numerical Methods in Engineering with Python 3 

Numerical Methods in Engineering 
with Python 3

This book is an introduction to numerical methods for students in engineering. It covers solution of equations, interpolation and data fitting, solution of differential equations, eigenvalue problems and optimisation...
This new edition demonstrates the use of Python 3 and includes an introduction to the Python plotting package Matplotlib. This comprehensive book is enhanced by the addition of numerous examples and problems throughout.

• An introduction to numerical methods for students in engineering
• Introduction and liberal use of the Python plotting package Matplotlib
• Numerical algorithms used are robust and up-to-date with the current practice

Read an extract

Numerical Methods in Engineering with MATLAB® 

Numerical Methods in  
Engineering with MATLAB®

The third edition of this successful text describes and evaluates a range of widely used numerical methods, with an emphasis on problem solving. Every method is discussed thoroughly and illustrated with problems involving both hand computation and programming...
The third edition features a new chapter on Euler's method, a number of new and improved examples and exercises, and programs which appear as function M-files. Numerical Methods in Engineering with MATLAB®, 3rd edition is a useful resource for both graduate students and practicing engineers.

• A new chapter featuring Euler's method
• Numerous new and improved sample problems and exercises
• Online supplemental materials including a solutions manual and MATLAB® source code

Read an extract

Uchronia? Atlantis Revealed 

Uchronia? Atlantis Revealed

Nearly 2,400 years ago, ancient philosopher Plato wrote the story of Atlantis, a compelling tale of an 11,000-year-old island civilization which has since captivated the imagination of poets, authors, and the minds of many scholars who over the centuries kept on searching for the legendary island. 

Today, numerous speculations place Atlantis in locations like the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic, in Spain, somewhere off the coast of southeastern Cyprus, in Malta, or in more exotic locations like Indonesia, Antarctica, even in the "Bermuda Triangle" off the coast of the United States. 

Of course, while some past claims seemed more probable than others, never before has there been a discovery where all the physical characteristics matched Plato's description, until now! Author and researcher Christos A. Djonis, reveals a tangible find where not one or two, but every aspect of the proposed location matches Plato's physical description.
Read more... 

Sacred Science: The King of Pharaonic Theocracy

Sacred Science:  
The King of Pharaonic Theocracy

R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1887-1961), one of the most important Egyptologists of this century, links the sacred science of the Ancients to its rediscovery in our own time. Sacred Science represents the first major breakthrough in understanding ancient Egypt and identifies Egypt, not Greece, as the cradle of Western thought, theology, and science. 
Read more...

Enjoy your reading!

Source: Cambridge University Press and Ancient Origins

Quiara Alegría Hudes’s 10 Favorite Books | Books - Vulture

James Baldwin, Haruki Murakami, José Rivera, and more.

Bookseller One Grand Books has asked celebrities to name the ten titles they’d take to a desert island, and they’ve shared the results with Vulture.

Photo: Quiara Alegría Hudes

Below is In the Heights playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes’s list.

Read more...

Source: Vulture

If You Could Add One Book to the High School Curriculum, What Would It Be? | Books - New York Times

Teachers often turn to the same tried and true books for high school reading assignments. So we asked a group of writers: What books would you add to the curriculum? Here are their answers.

If you’re a teacher and you have your students read “1984” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” why not have them also read “Parable of the Sower,” by Octavia E. Butler?

Students sometimes show up at college with the idea that economics is some kind of master science. Worse, some of them leave with that idea reinforced. 
Robert L. Heilbroner’s THE WORLDLY PHILOSOPHERS is an inoculation against that mistake. An accessible but serious study of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes and more, it presents economics as “the science that has sent men to the barricades” to fight over how people should live together. This book is a resource for a time when young people have realized that those fights are not settled, when students are once again puzzling and struggling over political economy, from Trumpist kleptocracy to libertarianism to democratic socialism. — Jedediah Purdy, author of “After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene”
Read more... 

Source: New York Times 

UNT history professor puts himself, university and Texas history into record books | Star-Telegram

UNT history professor Andrew Torget made history on Saturday walking barefoot off the stage after completing a marathon history lecture lasting more than 26 hours, as Star-Telegram reports.

University of North Texas at Denton history professor Dr. Andrew Torget lectures during the longest lesson at Saturday August 25, 2018. Torget is attempting to set a Guiness record.
Photo: (Special to the Star-Telegram Bob Booth) Bob Booth

Torget’s day-long lesson on Texas history from the caveman to President Franklin Roosevelt’s third presidential election run makes him eligible to be placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s longest history lesson.

Torget also raised more than $12,000 for The Portal to Texas History, another monumental effort, which when completed will digitize the state’s available historical documents.

About 100 people, many of them students, were there for the lecture Saturday morning. The Guinness rules called for at least 10 students to be present at all times in order for the record attempt to be valid.
Read more... 

Source: Star-Telegram

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article217341050.html#storylink=cpy