Historian of Haiti ðŸ‡ðŸ‡¹ and democracy in the Americas at @uncfsu. Working for a welcoming + transformative @UNC_System & NC. Views own. Formerly @edpartners.
Fayetteville, NC
Joined July 2012
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More: "As universities…emphasize workforce preparation, they risk reducing attention to civics, the humanities, and related social sciences — the very disciplines that teach students to think critically, evaluate evidence, communicate effectively, and work across differences."
OPINION | "Our nation’s political health depends on citizens who can disagree without dehumanizing one another, challenge ideas without abandoning evidence, and pursue truth without retreating into ideological camps." - @RobTaber & Kenneth Zagacki
#ncga #ncpol
carolinajournal.com/opinion/…
One thing about working on civil discourse? You get to talk a lot about civil discourse!
It was great to join @NewFrameInc and @skydiving11 to talk about the faculty task force report and the UNC System's Common Ground Collaborative. open.spotify.com/episode/2BU…
Happening tomorrow night at Fayetteville State University! Fayetteville / Cumberland friends, come join us as we kick off #America250 and #BlackHistoryMonth!
ALT Flyer for the annual Lafayette Lecture, titled "Enslaved Afro-Virginian Women in a Revolutionary World," occurring on January 29 from 6 to 7:30 PM in 242 Rudolph Jones Student Center at Fayetteville State University. Presenter is Dr. Adam McNeil.
Part of what drives this is a generally-shared but mistaken perception that college selectivity = quality. A couple of antidotes that I've found on the way:
First and always is @YCBKpodcast, including the school profiles it features and the general philosophy of "it's a match to be made, not a prize to be won." So helpful to have it in my podcast rotation.
yourcollegeboundkid.com/
Second is programs such as NC College Connect, which offers automatic acceptance to several schools just based on high school GPA & info about scholarships and financial aid. Some of these are very good schools with world-class programs!
cfnc.org/nc-college-connect/
When I started at Fayetteville State in 2016, my then-provost still taught at least one class a semester. Starting two years ago, the college dean told department chairs they had to stop teaching—if they wanted to teach still, it had to be outside of the 9 to 5 schedule.
When I interviewed for faculty positions in the early 2010s, I was told the job had three components: research, teaching, and service. Service meant pitching in to keep the university running, a kind of partnership where professors governed themselves and took turns in roles like chair or dean. These were part time responsibilities layered on top of academic work. It was not perfect, but it reflected the basic idea of what the academy was supposed to be.
That model has been replaced by sprawling bureaucracies. A vice dean is now a full time administrator with multiple associate and assistant vice deans, a chief of staff, media relations staff, a secretary, and entire offices of people who report to them.
The great Alex Shieh asked the key question: what do these people do all day. They tried to discipline him for saying it out loud, which only proved he was right to ask.
Rob Taber retweeted
Scam PACs are bad! They exist to trick donors and make the people running them richer. They also make it harder for real orgs and candidates doing real work to raise money to actually elect Democrats. This does not immediately fix all of the problems, but we're taking action.
Scoop: DNC ramps up crackdown on alleged "scam PACs" trib.al/POIjZiM
Pour one out for the @NCSSM admission staff, committed to keeping admits roughly balanced by Congressional district.
I started covering #ncpol in 2016. We're about to be on our 7th Congressional map in the 9 years since then, assuming state lawmakers follow through next week on their promise to give Republicans even more seats.
Rob Taber retweeted
BREAKING: A new First Presidency for @Ch_JesusChrist has been announced: President Dallin H. Oaks has selected Elder Henry B. Eyring and Elder D. Todd Christofferson as his counselors to lead the worldwide faith. @KSL5TV
Rob Taber retweeted
The past few days, as house after house on the OBX tumbles into the sea, a common reply here has been "They never should have built that close to the water."
That said, when the houses were built, they WEREN'T "that close to water." Here's what's happened over the last 7 years.
Rob Taber retweeted
I worked with gifted black and brown kids in Washington, D.C. in the mid-90s and I always find these attempts, almost always in the name of racial equity, to be such a slap in the face to those kids who finally got to feel normal for once in their life.
They NEEDED to be around other smart kids or else they just felt like weirdos and outcasts.
As someone else wrote, high IQ IS a special need and it's not one that our society can afford to squander
AND it's cruel to squander it for kids who otherwise could be bright, excited, full of hope and feeling seen for, perhaps, the first time in their lives.
Zohran Mamdani plans to phase out Gifted and Talented program in NYC elementary schools trib.al/yOv3dOo
Pushing Vought to the center of the spotlight has been an interesting political choice, that's for sure.
Rob Taber retweeted
How about we stop normalizing the idea one unelected bureaucrat can undo congressionally appropriated funding (not to mention projects with legally binding contracts). Just a thought!
Russell Vought's sadistic threat to kill projects in blue states will blow back on GOP. One getting defunded is reportedly a huge hydrogen project in northwest that would also serve Montana. Its GOP governor has hailed it as a big job creator.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2012…
Rob Taber retweeted
Reporter: "Without Obamacare tax credits, healthcare premiums will go up 114%. 19 million of the 24 million people who rely on that coverage are in states that President Trump won."