My Father, the Madrasah, and Me

In Nigeria, Where Western Education Is King, an Arabic Studies Legacy Lives On

On a phone call the other day with a new friend, Zay, we ended up on the topic of religion. “Did you attend madrasah?” I asked her, referring to the Arabic schools that offer primary and secondary education where subjects like the linguistic characteristics of Arabic and Islamic theology and jurisprudence are taught.

She responded yes, but that she no longer remembers most of the things she was taught there. “I can still write my name in Arabic, I can still write Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, and oh, yeah, I can still …

by Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi | March 20, 2024

Let the Kids Rule School Boards

In the Midst of a Bipartisan Attack on Their Educational Rights, It’s Time for Young People to Fight Back

by Joe Mathews | November 14, 2023

California kids, do you follow the news about the culture wars over the boards that oversee your schools?

If you do, you’ll see these wars portrayed as political contests between groups …

A Mid-Century Playbook for Saving Progressive American Education

Fifty Years Ago, Parents United to Get the Far-Right John Birch Society Out of Their Schools

by Matthew Dallek | September 19, 2023

This May, an email landed in my inbox. The correspondent, who’d come across my new book on the John Birch Society, wanted to share how members of this far-right anticommunist …

Who Needs Student Debt When You Can Get Together for a ‘Conversation’?

The 19th-Century Women Who Educated Themselves Outside the Ivory Tower Offer Inspiration for Learning Today

by Emily R. Zarevich | September 11, 2023

On a dark, chilly evening in November 1839, a woman in Boston, Massachusetts, convened a party at her friend’s house. That might seem an unremarkable event, but this was not …

The Art World I Want My Students to Inherit

For Young Artists, Money Matters. Ethos, Vision, and Impact Should Too

by Jen Hitchings | February 9, 2023

All artists exist within a larger ecosystem of creativity. Artist Ward Shelley’s timeline-inspired paintings and prints of interrelated people, places, facts, and events visualize this ever-evolving cultural milieu on mylar. …

So What Exactly Happened to the MOOC?

In 2012, Massive Open Online Courses Were Supposed to Revolutionize Higher Education. Then They Disappeared—But Only from the Headlines

by Valentina Goglio | December 15, 2022

Ten years ago, in May 2012, Harvard and MIT announced the launch of edX, their nonprofit platform for Massive Open Online Courses (better known by the acronym MOOCs). Together with …

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