Academe Today

The Chronicle Review

Stop Trying to Sell the Humanities

Arguments that they’re useful are wrong, anti-humanistic, and sure to backfire.

In Case You Missed It

What Gets Forgotten in Debates About the Liberal Arts

Career success for humanities majors doesn’t always depend on what those disciplines taught you. Sometimes, where you come from and what college you attended are what counts.

Research

Scholars Sound Alarms on Trump’s Border Crackdown. But Academic Nuance Doesn’t Always Break Through.

Through social media and other outlets, experts are marshaling research to engage with the public like seldom before.

Leadership & Governance

At a Brutal Meeting of Trustees, Michigan State’s Wounds Are Laid Bare

After a disastrous 10 days in which calls mounted for John Engler to resign as interim president, the meeting turned into a spectacle of painful survivor testimony and the pleading of a board at wit’s end.

Admissions & Student Aid

Harvard Asks Court to Keep Information on Individual Applicants and ‘Granular’ Admissions Details Under Seal

In a closely watched lawsuit in which Asian-American applicants have accused the university of discriminating against them, Harvard cited students’ privacy and its own “commercial interests.”

Starter Kit: New to Tenure

Are you newly tenured and looking for advice on the next steps in your academic career? In our latest Starter Kit, we offer tips and lessons from experienced professors about how to avoid a midcareer slowdown and stay productive. Buy the new booklet in the Chronicle Store.

Commentary

Thinking About a Merger? Read This First

One year later, here are some lessons learned from the combining of two universities in Philadelphia.

Advice

We Need All Those Ph.D.s in Nonteaching Jobs to Stay in Our Scholarly Societies

Associations encourage graduate students to seek nonfaculty careers and then lose them as members. Here’s why that’s bad for both.

Lingua Franca

One-Eye Connelly and ‘Had Got’: a ‘New Yorker’ Style Book

Ben Yagoda uncovers a sequential time capsule while cleaning out his office. But no matter the era, commas have always mattered.