Blog Roll

For some unsettling information on ingredients in your food that have been deemed verboten by other countries, check out this MSN Healthy Living slideshow, 10 things Americans eat that are banned elsewhere. (And if you missed our post about some of the changes in the landscape of the GMO debate, it’s right here.) We’d like to hope that future Master of Science in ... Read More »

In this relatively brief take on the recent events involving the (now former) Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, NECN’s Greg Wayland gets Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern, to comment on some possible causes and effects of the Hernandez case. You know, we live in a culture that sort of glorifies violence in many ... Read More »

The Hudson Institute is “a nonpartisan policy research organization dedicated to innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom.” The Institute has just released a report that focuses on the ways in which modern advances in technology can, in themselves, support educational innovation—and the ways in which current technology is merely a platform that needs the skilled and informed implementation of ... Read More »

In an audio interview posted recently on evolllution.com, Kevin Currie, executive director of Northeastern University Online, shares his perspectives on the nature of competition in the higher education market, along with his thoughts on the differences between the adult/continuing higher ed category and other similar services offered by competing institutions. It’s an eight-minute interview, downloadable as an MP3; perfect for the drive ... Read More »

Dan Lebowitz, NU Executive Director of Sport in Society, was on HuffPost Live yesterday, to discuss the contract non-renewal of Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, whose immense popularity is matched only by the success of his track record. The Grizzlies’ management cited “philosophical differences” as their reason for declining to keep Coach Hollins on. Lebowitz joins the panel to discuss ... Read More »

John Tamny, Forbes economics and political writer, has written a column on the next economic “bubble” ready to pop. It’s not another housing implosion or a tech stock meltdown; nor is it another dot-com bust—not quite. Tamny says that there’s a growing dot-edu bubble, and, unlike the rising tuition figures associated with traditional, on-campus education, it’s on its way to ... Read More »

In his article in the New York Times, author Richard Pérez-Peña focuses on the difficulties inherent in cultivating a diverse student body, in regard to race and economic status. “It’s expensive,” said Donald E. Heller, dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University. “You have to go out and identify them, recruit them and get them to apply, and ... Read More »

Looking for a good long read this weekend? This New Yorker article fits the bill. Written by Nathan Heller, the piece introduces readers to the concept of MOOCs, particularly as they relate to storied educational institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT. Regular readers of Aspire will find a number of familiar references (Amherst, San Jose State, edX and more), but as ... Read More »

Nick Anderson, a higher ed writer at the Washington Post, has posted a pair of articles focusing on an uptick in the granting of Master’s degrees by schools across the country, and at Northeastern University in particular. His May 25 piece, “Master’s degree programs surge at nation’s colleges and universities,” attributes this rise to “a surge in demand for advanced ... Read More »

In a recent Aspire post (College at any Price?), we referenced Sophie Quinton’s NationalJournal.com article on San Jose State’s financially-motivated adoption of online education tools. But the story doesn’t end there; on the heels of that article came one in the New York Times, in which a contrasting viewpoint is expressed by members of the school’s faculty. The focal point of the debate ... Read More »