Category Archives: Uncategorized

Two prominent republicans have taken NSF to task, in the pages of USA Today. Overall, it’s a rather toothless piece:

For those this may engage: A fellow student from Reed College and I would like to introduce you to a new journal that will be coming out February 2014. Welcome to TableTalk. TableTalk will be a space that will bring … Continue reading →

An interesting article, at

Is interdisciplinarity a neoliberal plot? Are interdisciplinarians simply neoliberal tools? There’s a danger of that happening (for that matter, there are instances that we can point to that qualify already). By bypassing disciplinary standards for quality, or even acceptable theoretical … Continue reading →

One might imagine that thinking about inter- and transdisciplinarity would require a wide acquaintance with the world, e.g., one part philosophy, another policy studies; some historical perspective, some understanding of how science works; some educational theory and a smattering of … Continue reading →

Disinterestedness as an ideology within the natural sciences — described as ‘curiosity-based research’ — serves to protect the natural scientists from the social consequences of his discoveries. Disinterestedness as an ideology in the social sciences seeks to inoculate the social … Continue reading →

From Andrrew Sullivan’s Dish:

From Rawls: “Pure procedural justice obtains when there is no independent criterion for the right result: instead there is a correct or fair procedure such that the outcome is likewise correct or fair, whatever it is, provided that the procedure … Continue reading →

An interesting read: on the leading universities of India.

Even if you don’t go read this article — which you should do — you have to watch the video. The Economist explains: How does copyright work in space? | The Economist. This is transdisciplinarity at it most fun, if … Continue reading →

Fascinating. Before MOOCs, ‘Colleges of the Air’ – The Conversation – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Some good ideas here. Interesting to compare with our description of field philosophy. 8 steps to making your research punch above its weight | Impact of Social Sciences.

An embedded culture of research impact will not emerge unless universities think beyond the REF | Impact of Social Sciences.

CSID’s Progam Manager, Keith Brown, was a recipient of the UNT Staff Contribution Award! Keith was nominated by Shaun Treat, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at UNT, for his role in organizing the UNT Comics Studies Conference. Congratulations to Keith … Continue reading →

This is a bit dated now–July, 2012–but I just ran across a striking step in the development of online education at NAU

Nota bene: Age 25 and Over (2011)[2] Education Percentage in the US High school graduate 87.58% Some college 56.86% Associate’s and/or Bachelor’s degree 39.89% Bachelor’s degree 30.44% Master’s degree 7.95% Doctorate or professional degree 3.00% -what conclusion can we draw … Continue reading →

So, I worked hard, wrote a paper, and submitted it for publication in a special issue of a prominent journal in the philosophy of science. The paper went through peer review and two rounds of editorial comments, which I responded … Continue reading →

Interdisciplinarity is motivated by the 20th century failure of disciplinary knowledge to be relevant. But rather than questioning whether knowledge itself is relevant to our problems, rather than, say, being a matter of will (cf. Nicomachean Ethics Book 7, on … Continue reading →