In recent years, some very smart people--like Michael Berube, Marc Bousquet, Anthony Grafton, and William Pannapacker, to name a few--have offered on these pages their thoughts about how to fix graduate education and, by extension, the academic labor market, which, everyone seems to agree, has "unraveled". The author approaches this issue from a…

Going to law school to get a law degree has become a little like going to an ice-cream parlor for a scoop of vanilla. Plenty of people still do it, but many schools' brochures--like the elaborate flavor-and-topping menus on ice-cream parlor walls--now tempt them with something different, something more. Law students can have their "juris…

The job openings for college English and second-language faculty advertised through the Modern Language Association have increased by 50 percent over the 1984 number and include more full-time, tenure-track positions as contrasted with lecturer and instructor openings. (MSE)

Some academic administrators have long felt that colleges are too much influenced by specialized accrediting agencies. Under pressure to control costs and improve general education, some are attempting to limit the agencies' authority. Proponents say accreditation is needed and conflict is inherent in the system. (MSE)

Many public colleges feel that, rather than offer specialized curriculum to the entire state, they should provide a wide range of courses to the immediate vicinity. State governments often prefer to cut quantity of programs offered, especially by regional four-year institutions. Massachusetts is proceeding with specialization in seven regional…

Abandoning the case method, traditional grades, and the law review, the City University of New York's experimental law school uses an integrated curriculum and focuses on public interest law in its mission to serve the legally underserved in the United States. (MSE)

Increasingly, college textbooks written to the specifications of individual professors are being produced on demand by custom publishers, often prepared very quickly to contain up-to-date information. Students prefer them to photocopied packets of readings. The trend is a reaction to the emergence of information-on-demand computer networks. (MSE)

Johns Hopkins University has abandoned use of the Medical College Admission Test as a medical college admissions requirement in an effort to reestablish the validity of humanities in medical students' educational background and is encouraging other medical schools to make the test optional and underscore their support of general education. (MSE)

Suggestions from college public relations directors on promoting expert faculty members in the media include: knowing the needs and formats of various media, campus reporters, op-ed articles, a weekly tip sheet for reporters containing story ideas and faculty contacts for them, a media directory, and sending alumni publications to the media. (MSE)

Describes a new undergraduate minor at Emory University (Georgia) that focuses on the causes and consequences of violence through interdisciplinary courses, campus programs, and community service. Undergraduates study the causes and consequences of violence from the viewpoints of more than a dozen disciplines. (DB)

Sudden growth in the number of doctoral programs in black studies is helping to legitimize the discipline in academe, and diversity of curricula is providing students with many more choices of emphasis. Programs have a wide range of focus, from the broadest, the black American experience, to the African diaspora and comparative black studies.…

Data on foreign scholars at United States research institutions include information on leading countries and regions of origin, the 12 institutions with the most foreign scholars, gender distribution, leading fields of specialization, and their scholarly activity (research and/or teaching) in the United States. (MSE)

Officials at colleges of veterinary medicine feel their field is overdue for major changes in areas including teaching strategies, breadth of curriculum, keeping pace with growing agricultural and medical knowledge, faculty emphasis on research, livestock industry needs, and computer applications. (MSE)

The text of a report released by the American Council of Learned Societies is presented, covering: the contemporary view of the humanities, specialization, ideology and objectivity, method and substance, core curriculum, enrollment, teaching, responsibility, interdisciplinary centers, and recommendations. (MLW)

Recent college graduates in technical fields are faring worst in the job market, with sharp declines in job offers and some decreases in salaries, but humanities students are doing significantly better, especially in merchandising and services. Generally, 1987 starting salaries are two percent to six percent above 1986. (MSE)