A useful though eminently debatable case for reform in the interest of teaching to today’s needs.
Former Harvard University president Bok examines ways in which higher education can shape better citizens.
The author looks back over seven decades of teaching to examine where tertiary education is and where it’s going. It’s now said that students retain little information from the lecture format, with better results coming from active participation rather than passive reception. Though in days past, Bok’s charges at Harvard filled the halls to hear the likes of Stephen Jay Gould and Michael Sandel, such talented interpreters are rare. All the same, “at least half of college faculty continue to lecture extensively, especially in large college courses, despite persuasive evidence that active forms of problem-solving are more effective at helping students learn to think carefully and reason well.” Meanwhile, writes the author, altogether too many professors resent teaching, and the more renowned the school, the stronger the dislike for it: “Their rewards from the outside world…come almost entirely from their research.” If universities are to weather the coming financial and cultural storms, Bok suggests, they’ll need to retool to offer answers to real exigencies, such as the fact that employers (and donors) complain that students emerging with diplomas lack “soft” or “noncognitive” skills such as a willingness to work as a member of a team and observe basic social niceties. More to the point, Bok also argues that institutions must do more to teach beyond mere rubrics, touching especially on questions of ethics and civic engagement, and point the way to how students might acquire “wisdom enough to decide how to live purposeful, fulfilling lives” and prepare themselves for lifelong learning. Whether faculties will want to take the time to produce “active and informed citizens” remains to be seen, notes the author, and such faculties tend to serve their own interests.
A useful though eminently debatable case for reform in the interest of teaching to today’s needs.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-691-20580-9
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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