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I’m back with another “Take It or Leave It” panel! I know it’s only been a couple of episodes since the last one, but there’s a lot happening in higher ed in the US right now and I find these panels helpful for making sense of it all. Once again I’ve invited three smart colleagues on the show to discuss recent op-eds that address the challenges that colleges and universities and their teaching missions are facing here in 2025. For each essay, we decide if we want to Take It (that is, agree with the central thesis of the essay) or Leave It (that is, disagree). It’s an artificial binary that generates lots of useful discussion about the state of higher ed.

The panelists for this edition of Take It or Leave It are Stacey Johnson, director of learning and engagement at the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and co-editor of the book How We Take Action: Social Justice in the PK-16 Language Classrooms; Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Mississippi and author of the book The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching; and Viji Sathy, professor of the practice of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-author of the book Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom.

Episode Resources

·       Stacey Johnson’s website

·       Liz Norell’s website

·       Viji Sathy’s website

·       Essay 1: “Higher Ed Is Adrift,” Kevin McClure, April 25, 2025

·       Essay 2: “I Teach Computer Science and That Is All,” Boaz Barak, May 2, 2025

·       Essay 3: “Ghosts Are Everywhere,” Patrick Scanlon, April 18, 2025

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