This paper describes a pedagogical technique employed for an interdisciplinary course on Cold War America. Students had to "become" a fictional person and discuss how political and social changes during the Cold War era would have impacted that person. By doing a semester-long project that required primary source research, this…

Quality education in the United States has been compromised via public discourses that reinstitute racism on a daily basis. In its current manifestation, racism survives through the guise of neoliberalism, a kind of repartee that imagines human agency as simply a matter of individualized choices, the only obstacle to effective citizenship and…

Background: The impact of speech therapists' conceptual frameworks on their clinical methods tends to be ignored or taken for granted by today's practitioners. One way to show the importance of such frameworks is to study how they were used previously. John Thelwall, a 19th-century elocutionist, offers a rich source for studying the influence of…

In this article, the author relates his experience of being attacked for teaching American history at a rural school in north Alabama using a critical, more inclusive approach to American history and social studies. He describes how he struggled with the notion of perspective in teaching primary documents, particularly papers written by those not…

This article outlines certain problems and challenges facing the qualitative researcher who enters fields that are either extremely difficult to access or potentially hostile towards outsiders. Problems and dilemmas in such contexts are highlighted by reference to fieldwork research among PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) guerrillas in North…

Opportunities for higher education in China have grown continually since the reestablishment of the college entrance examination system in 1978, with a percentage of overall enrollment that soared from 1.56 percent in 1978 to 15 percent in 2002, showing that China had already entered the era of mass higher education. However, does the expansion of…

A renewed call from national and state governments to strengthen connections between public schools and their communities invites people outside of the school system to play an active role in the decision-making process. Despite recent efforts to connect public schools and their communities, the two parties remain disconnected. This paper reflects…

This report on the public perception of higher education is based on a review of 30 recent public opinion polls. The review found: (1) higher education enjoys a reservoir of goodwill; (2) a college degree is seen as an essential credential for success; (3) the public is broadly committed to equity, but as an income issue and not gender- or…

This issue of "Media & Values" explores the growing influence of mass media on the election process in the United States. The essays present various interpretations of that influence and the implications for the nation. The magazine is divided into three sections. The introductory section includes: (1) "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" (Daniel…

Computing involves social issues and political choices. Issues such as privacy, computer crime, gender inequity, disemployment, and electronic democracy versus "Big Brother" are addressed in the context of efforts to develop a national public policy for information technology. A broad range of research and case studies are examined in an…

The purpose of these guidelines is to help the reader organize and lead a study circle--a participatory, democratic discussion group that focuses on a social or political issue. It provides detailed instructions on how to organize and lead a successful study circle. Following the introduction, section 2 focuses on the role of the organizer and…

This program guide provides the information a study circle will need to discuss the death penalty. It offers a balanced, nonpartisan presentation of a spectrum of views. The four positions and the supporting material are designed for use in a single-session program of approximately 2 hours. The four positions are as follows: (1) the death penalty…

Teachers' educational methods to procure or enhance parent involvement in their children's learning processes in schools in German-speaking countries are examined in this comparative study. This Austrian replication of a study conducted in the United States (Epstein, 1986) administered questionnaires to 124 first-, third-, and fifth-grade teachers…

This report presents a panel discussion at which participants discussed the question of political correctness and what the debate shows about what is happening to higher education in the United States and what it suggests about the relationship of higher education to current events in this country, to the world, and to the students who attend.…

An objective assessment of the politically correct movement on college campuses casts much doubt on the positions advanced by conservative critics in the popular media. Through "Time,""Newsweek,""The New Republic,""Nightline," and other media, conservative critics, backed by well-established right-wing…