- March 9, 2024
- Accountability, Education, Ethics, Higher Education, HigherEd Assessment, HigherEd Management
Universities must be accountable, yes, but to whom? Whether public or private, universities cannot be exempt from regulation, but it should come in the form of self-assessment and a duty to society, not politics. The most radical critics suggest that the best law on university action is one that refers to an institution’s mission and […]
University change is inevitable. Progress and innovation is a choice
- February 2, 2024
- Education, Educational Philosophy, Higher Education, Innovation, Lifelong Learning, Philosophy, University
The future of universities is closely linked to their capacity to change and innovate and their internal coexistence. To remain in the same place, you must keep moving; otherwise, you will get left behind. However, higher education has shifted many times to and from positions based on individuals who learn and advance to corporate structures that […]
How to hack your happy hormones: A sample list
- February 1, 2024
- Happy Hormones, Mental Health, Mental Hygiene, Neuroscience, Neurotransmiters, Psychology
How to hack your happy hormones from a psychological, psychosomatic, and mental health point of view. The neurotransmitters of well-being are dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Each hormone is generated in response to a particular activity and has specific bodily and mental functions. Here are some basic examples of my Preventive Mental Hygiene classes. Dopamine: […]
Ithaca or the interim homelands
- January 14, 2024
- Emigration, Essay, Identity, immigration, Psychology, Social Philosophy, Sociology
An intimate reflection on learning, nostalgia, and liquid identities in the migratory context “As you set out for Ithaca hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep […]
The fragmentation of knowledge
- December 29, 2023
- Essay, Humanities, Philosopy of Science, Psychology, science, Social Ethics, Social Philosophy
One of the pioneers of computing, Konrad Zuse, once said that “the danger of computers becoming human-like is not as great as the danger of humans becoming a computer.” (Hersfelder Zeitung, September 12, 2005). The fear of the machine person, of the person naked of feelings, pains, joys, and passions, has arisen several times in […]
Distance Higher Education and Academic Socialization
- September 10, 2023
- Distance Education, Education, Educational Philosophy, Higher Education, Online Ed, Open Learning
Rereading some of my works from decades ago, I read with anguish that the world has changed, not universities or education. We have replaced the blackboard and chalk with LCD screens, PowerPoint presentations, virtual toys, or sophisticated ways to plagiarize with ChatGPT. We make assumptions with Artificial Intelligence, but genuine education, with valuable exceptions, remains […]
And the plow passed
- July 31, 2023
- AI, Education, Emotional Intelligence, Future, Graduation, Higher Education, Pandemics, Student
A message to the students of the Class of 2023, wherever they are, the Class of the Pandemic (2019-2023). At the beginning of the sowing, we prepared the land, the seeds, and the plow. This sowing was expected to remain the same as the previous ones. This cohort of students reaching the end of their […]
Humanism and Educational Technology Must Coexist
- June 24, 2023
- AI, EdTech, Education, Educational Theory, Humanism, Learning, Liberal Arts, Philosophy, science, Technology
The segmentation of fields of knowledge has led to the fragmentation of language, producing a generation of professional people incapable of communicating between one branch of knowledge and another and, increasingly, between the cultures of science and the humanities. The false dichotomy between formative education in the sciences and the arts requires a radical change […]
The Academic and Administrative Ethnocentrism of the Contemporary University
- April 12, 2023
- Education, Ethics, Faculty, Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, Staff, Student, University Culture
Much of the crisis in the quality of university education has this dichotomy as its background: the crisis of the relationship between the person who teaches and the person who learns. A university where professors and students must foremost be lifelong learners; and where the study programs are designed, modified, and transmitted daily based on […]
Learning To Live Together
- March 22, 2023
- Cultural Learning, Education, Educational Philosophy, Educational Theory, Learning, Psychology, Teaching
Nothing is more important in the early stages of a child of any cultural and social condition than being prepared for cooperative behavior and social learning. We need more education of the heart if we are keen to learn to live together. The future of humanity depends more on education for the heart than on […]