Optimistic Applications of Data

Earlier this week two articles appeared almost side-by-side in my Google Reader feed: David Brooks’s New York Times op-ed “The Philosophy of Data” and Rob Kelly’s “A Data-Driven Approach to Student Retention and Success,” in the Faculty Focus newsletter. Like anyone at all involved in digital humanities, I’m used to reading about how big data is

Facts in Neverland

It’s always nice to find that one’s research bears on topics being covered in non-academic media outlets. While preparing a talk I’ll be giving next week — or rather, while browsing Arts and Letters Daily and procrastinating from said preparation — I came across this article in City Journal, by E. D. Hirsch. For those