Bernie Krause, who turns 77 this month, has spent half his life recording wild soundscapes close to home and all over the world. Now he wants to find a home for his archive--and convince humanity to take natural sounds more seriously before it's too late. Read More at The Chronicle of Higher Education »
Journalism
“New Leaders Bring Marketing Chops to University Presses”
The constriction of budgets, the decline of the monograph market, the arrival of digital publishing, the rise of open access: University presses have weathered many changes over the past decade. One recent shift hasn’t gotten much attention outside the scholarly publishing community: a major turnover in press leadership, as longtime directors retire and make way for a new set of leaders, many of them with increasingly valued experience in marketing. Read More at The Chronicle of Higher Education »
“Faculty on the Front Lines”
Erratic moods in class. Struggles to complete assignments. Essays that describe thoughts of self-harm or suicide: Students in the grip of mental distress often show signs of it in their academic work and classroom behavior. Faculty members, especially those who interact frequently with them, are well placed to pick up on warning signs. But professors often need help figuring out how to respond. Read More at The Chronicle of Higher Education »
“Social-Media Skirmishes”
Can colleges regulate what faculty members say online--or punish them for saying offensive things? Many observers argue that guidelines work better than rules. Administrators sensitive to the sometimes competing issues at stake should recognize that attempts to control what scholars do online may be more damaging to a college’s reputation, and to the campus community, than isolated cases of offensive behavior. Some are finding that accentuating the positive aspects of social media is a more compelling approach than attempting to eliminate the negative. Read More at The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) »
“At U. of Kansas, Social-Media Policy Leads to More Conflict”
The policy is an attempt to protect the university from the consequences of employees’ controversial behavior online. But such attempts can have unintended consequences. For instance, professors might decide not to venture onto Twitter, or they might become reluctant to publicly associate themselves with their university. Read More at The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) »
