I’ve been writing about the role of philanthropy in democracy for the past few years. Through my work with the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, I’ve come to understand a little better the work of one significant component of American philanthropy: private philanthropic foundations. Foundations are institutional oddities in democratic societies. They are [...]
Categories: Boston Review,PACS,Research
The New York Times ran a front page story by Jodi Kantor on Friday about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In, and her effort to create a women’s social movement through the Lean In foundation. The book won’t be out for another two weeks, but the framework for thinking about the book is being formed [...]
Categories: Stanford
This week marks the release of a new book on the Occupy movement – Occupy the Future, from Boston Review/MIT Press – that I had a hand in producing. (Order information: Amazon, Powell’s, MIT Press). The Occupy movement peaked, it’s fair to say, in the fall of 2011. Occupy Sandy and Occupy Debt notwithstanding, the [...]
Categories: Boston Review,Research,Stanford
There’s no better writer on the lives and ideas of intellectuals than the New Yorker’s Larissa MacFarquhar. Her profiles, frequently of academics, and often of philosophers, are always good reading. As someone who opens the New Yorker and thrills to a MacFarquhar profile as most do to an Anthony Lane review, I’m excited that MacFarquhar [...]
Categories: Ethics in Society,Event,Stanford
Stanford’s Center on Ethics in Society has several fellowships for post-doctoral scholars in two areas: scholars working generally on ethics and scholars (including those with social science PhDs) working in some way on questions concerning educational opportunity. Full details here: The Center for Ethics in Society Post Doctoral Fellowships For 2013-2014, we seek up to [...]
Categories: Ethics in Society,Jobs,Research,Stanford
Thanksgiving. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. And now: Giving Tuesday. Tomorrow is the inaugural Giving Tuesday, an effort to create a national day of giving at the start of the holiday season. The media reports widely about the unabashed consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday aims to deploy traditional media and social media [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society will once more appoint two post-doctoral fellows for a 1 or 2 year fellowship. Full description of the fellowship is below, and information about how to apply is here. Postdoctoral Fellowship Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society Application deadline: January 9th, 2013 Stanford PACS invites applications [...]
Categories: Jobs,PACS,Research,Uncategorized
This fall quarter at Stanford I have been teaching an experimental new class on the Presidential Election. The course is experimental in three ways. First, it’s a collaboration with two colleagues, David Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize wining historian and expert on 20th Century American history, and Jim Steyer, CEO of Commonsense Media and a Stanford [...]
What is the future of higher education in the coming era of online learning and MOOCs (massive open online courses)? One frequently heard story is that MOOCs will provide educational experiences, and eventually credentials, to the world, and for free or at very low cost. We will see the democratization of learning opportunities, and the [...]
Update, 5/24/2012: NOTE TO VISITORS from the New York Times and David Brooks’ op-ed: Grateful that David Brooks gave this question a wider platform, and I welcome further comment on the issues he discusses and that are discussed below by my current and former students. Last week I posted a link on my Facebook page [...]