#HigherEdNews #highered #news

They don’t tell you this in the books about becoming a parent…

I had such a great time talking about writing and publishing with my #SSSP colleagues today! Huge thanks to Hadi Khoshneviss for the invite! For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:

I’m doing a thing with SSSP colleagues tomorrow! Join us! 9am PST / 12pm EST. #publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology

The finding from this paper: PhDs are an engine of innovation. Want more patents? Produce more folks with PhDs. drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...

Fascinating episode! It’s part of a series that takes one month of 1933 per episode, tracing the rise of Nazism in Germany.

Everyone has a right to live a life with dignity. College degree or no college degree. No argument there. But if you’re one of those college degree critics, at least get the data right.

Faculty colleagues: hear about AI straight from college students themselves. A must-listen for anyone teaching in 2025. #Ai #HigherEd #teaching #pedagogy

"Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation. First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe.

😎✊#UC “When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”

I’ve noticed a funny pattern in my TikTok feed about dog training. Puppy-stage videos are all about positive reinforcement—building trust, using treats and toys to redirect behavior. Basically, it’s the gentle-parenting paradigm but for dogs.

Should have thought of this last night after turning off the porch light didn’t work to signal that we were out of candy. #keptringingdoorbell h/t Matthew Hunt

Student today: “You look tired, professor.” Me: “Correct.” Exhibit A:

Fantastic episode if you want to understand why the Right has such a fraught relationship with American universities. Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that). open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...

I deserve an award for empirically disproving rational choice theory. Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.

Thank you for joining us @mestefan.bsky.social, @kylethegreen.bsky.social, @shamuskhan.bsky.social, Jonnie Lotesta, Myron Strong, and @lisawade.bsky.social

This is tomorrow! Join us!

I'm doing a thing with my #UCSD colleagues in Revelle College! Join us next Wed at noon! #DuBois #HigherEd #Teaching #Pedagogy @ucsandiego.bsky.social #Revelle

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Essential reading by @sivav.bsky.social

Videos on Sora 2 of Bob Ross playing Call of Duty… Ai is definitely going to destroy the world, but at least we’ll all go in a total ASMR lull. 😴

The argument presented by Allen is both politically naive and historically erroneous. Accepting a compact *for higher education at this point in time* is suicidal. A 🧵

Operation: “Logic is Classified” — authorized by the Committee on Unquestionable Decisions.

While Harvard debates why students won’t come to class, my UCSD students fill the room. I grade attendance. I don’t podcast. Laptops stay closed. We do pen-and-paper quizzes every week.

Looking for a guide to teaching theory? See @mestefan.bsky.social's newest Reflection with First Publics, where he introduces 7 principles that you can adopt in any classroom.

🚨🚨red alert, UC colleagues🚨🚨 President Milliken is telegraphing the university’s surrender to the administration’s demands. “Ensuring that UC remains” is administrativeese for “we are giving them all they want”

Social theory is as hard to teach as it is to learn. The hardest part? When students do everything right—read every page, show up every time—and still feel theory won’t open up for them.

“A global academic freedom group has warned that the Trump administration’s assault on universities is turning the US into a “model for how to dismantle” academic freedom.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Every recipe: “Only 20 minutes!” Me: “Cool, so… two hours then.”

This is a really interesting take by a scholar of religion on the religious rather than scientific character of RFK Jr’s take on health.

Nice summary and conversation about the MIT Media Lab study on Ai, students, cognitive-offloading, and learning. #Ai #Pedagogy #HigherEd #Learning

I worked with Jeffrey a bit back when we were grad student teaching consultants at UC Berkeley’s GSR Teaching and Resource Center. Even then, he stood out as a brilliant instructor—his views on teaching struck me as unorthodox and incredibly creative,

Here’s a fascinating, data-driven look at AI and water usage (at the link below). The key point: www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8SWYrpw/

The descriptions of mid-level DHS staff during the trial alone make this worth listening to. #HigherEd #HigherEdUnderAttack #WhoseAfraidOfHigherEd open.spotify.com/episode/0PhV...

A powerful letter to students from an anonymous Texas A&M professor (h/t Michael Yarbrough): "This follows years in which faculty have been lampooned in partisan media and by state officials as “woke” activists, supposedly more concerned with ideology than with research and education.

Affirmative action is often framed on the Right as “undermining meritocracy,” when in fact it was introduced precisely because the existing system was anything but meritocratic.

A defining feature of the elite coalition that sustained the US innovation ecosystem was a shared vision of wealth-through-knowledge-dominance. Performative, superficial investments in science were the domain of countries where elites were wealthy primarily through cheap labor (Mexico).

Quick Thoughts over on TikTok creates great data-driven explanations. #HighlyRecommend #DataDriven www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8SVyqTx/

Check out Michael’s whole thread.

Learn practical equitable pedagogy practices thanks to Dr. Michel Estefan. @mestefan.bsky.social alsolano.substack.com/p/equitable-...

I agree with the student author here. Last quarter I experimented with banning laptops in class. The result? Noticeably better engagement, richer discussions, and a classroom vibe that felt more like a community than a silent co-working space. Turns out, closing the lid can actually open things up.

Inspired by Paul Novosad’s post, here are a few more: 1. You don’t take lecture notes to have notes.

Inequality is a tricky subject. Here are 7 different ways to think about it. Also, R = the rich, P = the poor, arrows refer to increases/decreases in wealth. Two arrows mean faster increase/decrease

@ucsandiego.bsky.social #sociology #gradstudent #research today.ucsd.edu/story/gen-z-...

Interesting paper. Here’s how I would reframe part of the argument:

If you have an MD and a PhD in health policy, I’m okay with you telling me vaccines are good for public health. If you’re a politician looking for soundbites, hard pass. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Nothing gives you a boost like someone catching a glimpse of a picture of you in your twenties and blurting out, “No way! That’s you?!” 👴🏼 #GlowDown