Author Archives: Bryan Alexander

A new campus climate change group appears: Cornell on Fire

How can academics respond to the unfolding climate crisis? One was is to organize your campus to think hard and to take serious steps about global warming.  Today’s example comes from upstate New York, with the launch of a faculty … Continue reading

Posted in climatechange | 1 Comment

America’s higher education consensus is breaking up: responding to Paul Tough

What happens to academia and society if we stop thinking higher education is for everyone? A new entry into this emerging line of thought comes from Paul Tough, who recently published a powerful article in the New York Times.  “Americans … Continue reading

Posted in future of education | 12 Comments

An update on my summer crises

Last month I shared with you all the story of two awful things which happened this summer: my father’s death and my wife having a heart attack.  People responded with a lot of concern and care, which helped things here … Continue reading

Posted in personal | 29 Comments

One big reason webinars suck

My question for today is: Why are so many webinars so bad? I’ve been thinking and working on this question since the 1990s (he typed, wiping a furrowed brow and gazing at grey hairs).  I remember working with facilitators, technologists, … Continue reading

Posted in videoconferencing | 5 Comments

How high will today’s largest endowments grow by 2055?

How might the richest American colleges and universities develop in the future? I’ve been looking at this small yet superinfluential slice of higher education for a while.  For example, since 2018 I’ve been trying to forecast when the most expensive … Continue reading

Posted in economics, future of education | Leave a comment

To grow or not to grow? Take this with a giant pile of salt.

One of the great questions of our time is: shall we continue to grow? I’m referring to our civilization and its massive, complex footprint, which we can measure in many ways.  Will we keep growing our economy, making more goods, … Continue reading

Posted in climatechange | 7 Comments

One nation mandates climate classes for its entire higher education system

How might academia respond to the climate crisis? One way is for colleges and universities to teach more content and classes on the topic. This is a path individual faculty who are passionate about global warming can follow, to the … Continue reading

Posted in climatechange | 2 Comments

Starting my future of higher education seminar at Georgetown

Today I’m holding the first class for my Georgetown University Learning, Design, and Technology future of higher education class.  It’s one I created from scratch and am enormously fond of. I’ve taught it several times, and am keeping the majority … Continue reading

Posted in automation, classes and teaching, teaching | 6 Comments

Solarpunk as a way of redesigning higher education for the climate crisis

One well-known risk of working on climate change is depression.  The topic presents so many terrible futures that dwelling in it can be mentally brutal. In response to this grim issue, people have been offering hopeful ways of thinking about … Continue reading

Posted in climatechange, Future Trends Forum | 5 Comments

More campuses under extreme weather

Yesterday I wrote about two Canadian campuses endangered by fires. Climate change played some role in intensifying those conflagrations. Today I offer a related story.  This post will be relatively brief, as I’m with my wife, back in a hospital … Continue reading

Posted in climatechange | 2 Comments