Joseph Knippenberg

According to this essay , university philosophy departments are in trouble. In November 2010, The Boston Globe reported that student interest in humanities courses has cratered in recent years. And long-term trends are troubling, too. When adjusted for total enrollment, numbers from the National . . . . Continue Reading »

The New York Times asks whether the obviously non-evangelical Republican frontrunners should lead us to conclude that evangelicals have lost their sway in the G.O.P.  For a variety of reasons, none of the panelists endorses that conclusion. On the social issues—regardless of their . . . . Continue Reading »

By now, you’ve probably heard that the Supreme Court has denied certiorari in the Bronx Household of Faith case, letting stand an appellate court’s ruling that the New York City Board of Education can refuse to make public school space available to churches, many of which will be . . . . Continue Reading »

If I make my course materials availabe to students on their wireless devices, they’ll study a whole 40 minutes more a week!  While they’re working out!  While they’re standing in line!  While they’re in the bathroom!  And if this extra 40 minutes a week . . . . Continue Reading »

Higher education economist extraordinaire Richard Vedder asks whether the cost of higher education will be an issue this campaign season and thinks that Barack Obama is getting his ducks in a row to make it one.  The well-publicized summit earlier this week with college presidents was, he . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe (the other Joe, the original Joe) already linked to Ross Douthat’s little essay on why Chrisitian conservatives should think twice before hitching their wagons to the primary season’s current rising star. Conservative Christianity in America, both evangelical and Catholic, faces a . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at the invaluable  Public Discourse site ,   Helen Alvare offers the first installment of a two-part series on the Supreme Court and family law.  Here’s the takeaway from Part I: In sum, our Supreme Court has time and time again, and in an axiomatic fashion, expressed the . . . . Continue Reading »

But who knows what the future holds in store? Reading op-eds about the principle choices to which we seem to have been reduced in the G.O.P. primaries reminds me of the misgivings I’ve long had about Newt Gingrich.  Consider this from the estimable Charles Krauthammer : Gingrich has his . . . . Continue Reading »

Here are the President’s remarks on the lighting of the national Christmas tree.  Note that he doesn’t refer to it as a holiday tree. More than 2,000 years ago, a child was born to two faithful travelers who could find rest only in a stable, among the cattle and the sheep.  . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes they can , as they remind us every election cycle. They always talk about broadening the agenda beyond the life and family issues.  I’m fine, by the way, with broadening the agenda, so long as we don’t forget and obscure those life and family issues.  But for many . . . . Continue Reading »