Boles University Blog

We in academe like to think of the University as a universal stomping ground for the sharing of ideas and the formation of ideals.  We like to believe we're all equal.  We hope we're really all in this thing together.  The University likes us to believe we are all valuable and we all have the same substance, but the truth in the corridor is that professorial charisma is dangerous to the capitalistic core of any university.

When national emergencies take over current mindsets, the first place people turn to spread information and receive information is Twitter.  Unfortunately, when crises rise and Tweets spike, Twitter often goes into Fail Whale Mode.

I wasn't too different than most children who grow up in the United States and take lessons in history -- specifically, the history of the United States, and how it came to be. We learned about the pilgrims and the Native Americans, and how wonderfully everything went when the pilgrims settled the colonies in an effort to escape religious persecution. We learned about the first Thanksgiving meal and how the Pilgrims learned so much about growing new crops and making homes.

I had a surprising experience thrust upon me this week at my place of work, leading me to see the possibilities for the future of teaching. It happens that this week I have been also looking for a partner with whom I can study advanced topics in Jewish study -- better to study that sort of thing with someone than to be left to ones own devices and just interpret things however one wants. Since I know that there is no such thing as coincidence, I was pleasantly amused when I found myself in the role of the teacher this week.

We are delighted to inform you the Boles University Bog Archives are once again hosted right here in the Boles University Blog!  You can search everything we've written in one place.

How do we learn how much of something makes up something?  We are hardwired to be able to quantify amounts -- that tree has more fruit than the other; that river is faster than the one upstream; that basket can hold more corn than that pail -- but how is the next step learned between that quantification and the ability to divide, subtract and multiply using cognitive and associate math that even preschoolers can comprehend?

There are rumors stinking up New Jersey that Stevens Institute of Technology has a crook for a president.