Category: issues

“This prayer has been sent to you for good luck. The original copy came from the Netherlands. It has been around the world nine times. …” (You know the rest.) However, “the real origin of the letter wasn’t the Netherlands: Like any truly great crooked scheme, it began in Chicago.”

“I believe critics matter more than ever. And not only because of what we write or say, what we like or don’t like. Critics are living, breathing, persnickety evidence that the arts matter, that the arts unite a community like nothing else ever could.”

“A mapping of bachelor degrees conferred in the humanities from 1966 to 2007 by the Humanities Indicator Project shows that the percentage of such majors was highest in the late 1960s (17-18 percent of all degrees conferred), low in the mid-1980s (6-7 percent), and more or less level since the early 1990s (8-9 percent).”

“Across the country, there is growing evidence that final exams — once considered so important that universities named a week after them — are being abandoned or diminished, replaced by take-home tests, papers, projects, or group presentations.”

Malcolm Gladwell argues that the weak personal ties one develops online aren’t sufficient to motivate people to fight hard for a cause (as did the strong interpersonal ties within Martin Luther King’s movement). Jonah Lehrer counters that the Web enables weaker ties to form among larger groups – making it easier to mobilize a critical mass of people for a cause.

“McLuhan said that “Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity.” Our strength is that our culture and values are a unique distillation of the best from the multicultural and transnational ethos. This is an incredibly powerful advantage in a digitally connected global economy of ideas. . .”

“State Budget Director Bob Emerson said the Detroit Institute of Art is likely to get the full $10 million after accounting of state budgets ends in December. It could be the first act in something bigger — a regional tax to fund the DIA and Detroit Symphony, a leading Detroit lawmaker said Tuesday.”

“Neither original nor path-breaking, this art is derivative hommage; postmodern commentary around the edges of art. It is art born of attitude, not passion. It is art that postures but doesn’t grip. It is art created by those who are more passionate about a career in art than about art itself.”

“The Kennedy Center-Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards will award an unspecified number of grants each year to U.S. teachers in any subject from kindergarten through college. Organizers said Sondheim is a committed mentor and credits teachers for his success.”

“Fans booking tickets for gigs at one of Britain’s most popular arenas have reported being charged up to four times the price of ordinary seats – not by a suspicious-looking third party, but by the venue’s official website.”