Thirty-four million Americans—over a tenth of the nation’s population—have some college credits but dropped out before graduating. They are nearly twice as likely as college graduates to be unemployed and four times more likely to default on student loans. That’s a scandal for the nation, not just for higher education. We like to imagine college as an egalitarian force, which reduces the gap between rich and poor. But over the past four decades it has mostly served to reinforce or even to widen that gap. – New York Review of Books
Author: Douglas McLennan
Performance Reviews For Statues?
While some have suggested placing these statues in a museum or leaving them to deteriorate naturally, I propose another way: a statue of limitations, where towns and cities would hold a mass review of their monuments, say every 50 years. At that point, citizens would be tasked with deciding whether to maintain the memorials as they are, reimagine them, or remove them from the public square for good. – The Atlantic
A New Image Of The Loch Ness Monster (And The Long Culture That Surrounds It)
Nessie may be hiding, the monster’s faithful believers will think. Every time the scientists come, Nessie dives deeper and hides. She’s a diva. She’s the Garbo of the animal kingdom. She knows when to do her headline-grabbing cameos and when to disappear. – The Daily Beast
Cairo’s Bizarre Phantom Architecture
“So much of the city has been demolished before we’ve even discovered and documented it. It means that, despite the generations of development, Cairo is not a place where you can walk around and really feel history, or identify who did what when. It’s so muddled.” – The Guardian
Onstage Star Dancer, Offstage Racially Profiled
“As an artist, I try to portray strength, grace and power in everything I dance. Offstage my experiences with police have left me feeling diminished. I share these stories not for pity, but to create awareness.” – Pointe Magazine
Survey: Racial Gaps In Perception Of Benefits Of Higher Education
New America found that 86 percent of whites and 89 percent of Asian Americans believe that those who pursue higher education will have more job opportunities than those who do not. But only 69 percent of Black people surveyed and 74 percent of Latinos agreed. The study also found generational differences. Nearly all of those in the generation preceding baby boomers, 99 percent, thought higher education brings economic mobility. Ninety-five percent of baby boomers agreed. – InsideHigherEd
Trendlines: 18 Trends Moving The Art World
In consultation with art world professionals—artists, dealers, curators, museum administrators—we identified dynamics and ideas on the horizon, some with trajectories tracing into the past, others more sudden in origination. – ARTnews
Jon Batiste Takes Protest Music To The Streets
Jon Batiste, the jazz pianist and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” bandleader, has spent the last three weekends marching in the streets of New York, leading musicians and protesters through hymns and songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Down by the Riverside.” – The New York Times
A Virtual Cannes Is Open. Are Movies Still In Business?
Given the festival’s date shift from early May to late June, Cannes now looks far better than it did a few months ago at the beginning of a lockdown that stretched across the planet, shuttering theaters from Beijing to New York. But now, cineplexes have begun to reopen in Europe and Asia, with box office figures in some territories like Scandinavia, Japan and South Korea exceeding expectations. Adding to the cautious optimism is the fact that U.S. theaters are poised to open up in July. – The Hollywood Reporter
Pandemic Has Shut Down The Cultural Economy Of The Berkshires
The COVID-19 crisis has devastated the Berkshires, where tourists flock for theater, art, music, and dance, as well as yoga, spa treatments, and hiking and biking amid wooded hills. One after another this spring, world-renowned organizations canceled their seasons or shut their doors, some for the entire year — crippling the Berkshires’ tourism industry and the more than 8,000people working in it. – Boston Globe