Wednesday, July 31, 2013

More (and Less) Hope in Zimbabwe

This past weekend South Africa's Sunday Independent published a lengthy (by op-ed standards) piece of mine on the Zim elections, which are taking place today. It continues one of my prevailing themes in the last few weeks, and indeed represents an attempt to synthesize my last month's writing on Zim. They titled the piece "Only thing left for Zim voters is hope," which, sadly, seems about right, though I am crossing my fingers that I'll be proven wrong as the votes are counted in the next few days.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

When Williams and UT Met

In February 1964 CBS news made its was to the bucolic, isolated campus of Williams College, my undergraduate alma mater. the purpose of their visit was to tape a discussion between Williams' legendary President John Sawyer and the equally outsized chancellor of the University of Texas System, Harry Ransom. Their discussion was far-ranging. What is especially fascinating, though, is just how salient to today's debates over higher education their conversation is. You can read about the discussion, see clips, and read current Williams professors' responses here

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Hope in Zimbabwe

The UK-based Fair Observer just published my "Hope in Zimbabwe." It is basically a republication of something I wrote for the Foreign Policy Association while I was in Southern Africa.