Due to the prosperity of sports and continued growth of sports media, colleges and universities are offering an increasing number of courses and majors related to the sports media industry. Via a systematic analysis of 76 syllabi from courses under the sports media umbrella at 30 colleges and universities, this study reveals what is being…

Some leaders in higher education have called for "institutional neutrality." The sudden prominence of the concept in discussions over how universities should handle controversial issues warrants an attempt to recover the history of the concept. This essay is in part an effort to trace where the idea came from, but the author also is…

Higher education within the U.S. has become increasingly complex over the past few decades. In a field where the majority of those working within student affairs departments are women, there is little research on the experiences of women serving in these roles. More specifically, there is little research on women serving in dual roles as leaders…

This article analyzes links between the origins of higher education institutions and the university "faculty development" movements. University faculty development programs surged during the peak of Cold War geopolitics. Thus, we trace the genealogy of higher education institutions to the surge in faculty development programs,…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the lived experiences of nine human resource (HR) professionals who worked for land grand institutions on the East coast during disruptive workforce events such as COVID, the great resignation, and quiet quitting. These lived experiences are important, as they describe the continual…

Historically, institutions of higher education (IHE) have been cautious and slow in making changes. Yet in today's fast-paced and dynamic world of content availability and information flow generated by 24-hour news cycles and the ubiquity of social media present a challenging reality for colleges and universities in their public relations and…

Since the publication of the first edition of "Understanding Academic Freedom," the never-ending struggle to defend academic freedom has entered a demonstrably new phase. Legislation determining what can and cannot be taught in schools in Florida, Texas, and other states has intensified governing board activism that impinges on widely…

Popular culture exists as an expression of cultural history. It speaks to who we are, what we aspire toward, and where our generation stands in relation to the major issues of the day. This article is a conversation about the myriad perspectives offered in this issue of "New Directions for Student Leadership," exploring the contributions…

In 2021, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) implemented its recognition standard on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), identifying their combined importance in assuring quality in higher education, and recognizing their essentiality in realizing the vision of higher education as a public good. Recent Supreme Court decisions…

Today's teachers seek to address the Holocaust not just as history, but also in relation to current events. Featuring stories from middle school, high school, and university classrooms across the United States, this collection offers a comprehensive argument for the inclusion of purposeful Holocaust pedagogy rooted in literacy practices and…

There has been little work on entangled intra-actions, or the simultaneous constitution of subjectivities and performances, between these discursive and material understandings of racial difference in higher learning. As a result, research and practice endorse a binary narrative either privileging discursive constructivism (looking to what…

These stories from art educators highlight how art and visual culture can bridge learning with lived experience. Written "by" and "for" art educators from all backgrounds and contexts, this volume offers guidance for expanding students' opportunities to critically examine current events, histories, and cultural assumptions in…

What should teachers do on the days after major events, tragedies, and traumas, especially when injustice is involved? This beautifully written book features teacher narratives and youth-authored student spotlights that reveal what classrooms do and can look like in the wake of these critical moments. Dunn incisively argues for the importance of…

Many urban public schools are often perceived as inclusive due to the demographics of their diverse student populations. This myth of inclusivity reifies notions of equity in both education and broader society. However, upon closer inspection, this myth of inclusion crumbles once immersed within an urban high school. In this article, I present the…

Nancy Thomas is director of the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. In the Question & Answers (Q&A) presented in this article, New England Journal of Higher Education (NEJHE) Executive Editor John O. Harney asks Thomas about her insights on higher education, citizen…