Paul Campos may have closed his “Inside the Law School Scam” blog, but his longstanding feud with Brian Leiter continues (see here and here), and is spilling over onto other blogs. If you ask me, it’s getting a bit ridiculous. UPDATE: Brian Leiter responds to Campos’ latest charges in an addendum to this post. FURTHER […]
Archive | Academia
A New Civility Standard
Prof. Brian Leiter is apparently grossly offended that an attorney sent him an email stating “You’re a ‘Law and ______’ Professor, not a lawyer. How would you know how to ‘think like a lawyer’?” Leiter not only sent his correspondent a pointed lengthy response criticizing his “impertinent,” “juvenile,” and “insolent” email, but added at the […]
Paul Campos Ends Law School Scam
Paul Campos has posted a farewell post at his “Inside the Law School Scam” blog. UPDATE: Comments from Paul Horowitz and Brian Leiter.
National Jurist Acknowledges Widespread Errors in Flawed Rankings
In response to widespread complaints, the National Jurist has reviewed its use of data from Ratemyprofessors.com. While NJ still insists it was appropriate to use this haphazardly collected data for one-fifth of each school’s rating, it has been forced to revise the RMP score for two-thirds of ranked schools. Let’s say that again: The National Jurist went to press with a […]
When Everyone Wins … With a Zero
Inside Higher Ed has an amusing story of the unanticipated consequences of a professor’s grading system. (“Dangerous Curves,” Zack Budryk, 12 February 2013.) Johns Hopkins computer science professor Peter Frohlich used the following rule for his grading curve: [E]ach class’s highest grade on the final counts as an A, with all other scores adjusted […]
Haymarket Revisited
On May 4, 1886, a peaceful labor protest turned violent after a bomb exploded and police fired on the protesters. Eight activists were subsequently indicted and, according to the conventional account, railroaded at trial. All were convicted and four were subsequently executed. What if the conventional account of the Haymarket protest and trial are wrong? The February […]
National Jurist to Correct Rankings, But Keep Ratemyprofessors.com
National Jurist will revise its much-maligned law school rankings, according to an announcement from NJ editor Jack Crittenden on the publication’s website. Although NJ defends its decision to rely upon Rateemyprofessors.com for 20 percent of each school’s rating (for those schools for which sufficient data is available), it has acknowledged some data disparities and is going to revisit the […]
More on Washington and Lee Law School
By David Bernstein on February 14, 2013 4:35 pm in Academia, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools, Legal Profession
Professor Jim Moliterno of Washington and Lee Law School has a lengthy post over at The Legal White Board, which is in part a response to my post on this blog suggesting that the jury remains out as to whether W & L’s innovative curriculum is a hit among prospective law students. I noted that […]
Ranking Law Schools with Ratemyprofessors.com
National Jurist decided to toss its hat into the law school rankings ring, and the result is something of a joke. Among other things, NJ decided to base 20 percent of each school’s score on the haphazard evaluation of its professors on Ratemyprofessors.com. (No, really. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.) As […]
A Call For Drastic Changes In Educating New Lawyers
By Nick Rosenkranz on February 11, 2013 1:30 pm in Academia, Education, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools, Legal Profession
New York Times coverage of the mid-year ABA meeting, and the report of its Task Force on the Future of Legal Education, here.
Too Soon to Pronounce Washington and Lee Law School’s “Experiential Curriculum” a Hit with Law School Applicants
By David Bernstein on February 3, 2013 10:00 pm in Academia, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools, Legal Profession
Bill Henderson has a post over at The Legal Whiteboard that has been getting a lot of attention in law school circles, praising W & L’s innovative curriculum, which focuses on practical lawyer skills, as both an educational success and as a hit with law school applicants. Bill goes over some of W & […]
More on the Law School Business Model
By Kenneth Anderson on February 3, 2013 7:47 pm in Academia, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools, Legal Profession
A few days ago I posted on WSJ and NYT articles talking about the opening of new law schools in the midst of a crash in law student applications. Since then, a couple of other professors have posted comments on the topic, and I thought I’d flag them. NYU law professor Robert Howse, writing at […]
More New Law Schools Opening
By Kenneth Anderson on February 1, 2013 2:49 pm in Academia, Law School Tuition and Loans, Law Schools
Coming on top of news of the sharp declines in law school applications, the Wall Street Journal reports today on new law schools opening. The headline captures it: “A Crop of New Law Schools Opens Amid a Lawyer Glut.” Jennifer Smith reports that thought law school applications are at “their lowest in a decade,” a […]
Professor Hagel
Former Senator (and Secretary of Defense nominee) Chuck Hagel spent three years teaching at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. What did he teach? Buzzfeed has an interesting report on “What Professor Hagel Taught.” Among other things, the story suggests that Hagel is skeptical of the need for dramatic greenhouse gas emission reductions.
What’s the Business Model for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)? And What Does Online Education Strategically Mean for the Long-Run Rent Structure of Higher Education? Is this Truly Disruptive?
Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz ask a good question in a news article about so-called “Massive Open Online Courses” in today’s Wall Street Journal: what’s the business model? How do they generate revenues? There is a lot of discussion about how online education is going to shake up the cosseted business models of today’s brick […]