Communications of the ACM
Inside Higher Ed to Carry Series of Commentaries by Academics
Beginning Monday (January 3), the Inside Higher Ed website will begin carrying The Academic Minute, a series of daily 90-second commentaries by scholars speaking about research and other intellectual work taking place on college and university campuses.
The daily feature, developed by Albany, NY-based WAMC Northeast Public Radio in collaboration with Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, has already excited significant interest. To date, scholars from 52 colleges and universities have contributed commentaries, and the feature, distributed for free, has been picked up by 26 radio stations. Newman's Own Foundation is also supporting this effort.
With the participation of Inside Higher Ed, since 2004 a leading online source for news, opinion, and jobs in higher education, expectations are high that the feature's reach—to both the public and the academy—will increase exponentially.
"The Academic Minute is a perfect reflection of 'the life of the mind'—of the excitement academics bring to their scholarship and teaching," says Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed. "For our readers, Academic Minute provides a chance—in 90 seconds—to check in on what their colleagues are doing, across the quad or around the world."
The Academic Minute will appear each day on Inside Higher Ed's homepage at http://www.insidehighered.com, in the "Quick Takes" section of its website, and will also appear in the publication's daily e-blast to over 90,000 people. The website will also feature an archive of the minutes at http://www.insidehighered.com/academicminute.
Using old and new media to bring the ongoing contributions of institutions of higher education to the public, The Academic Minute represents a unique pooling of the strengths of public radio, the Internet, the academy, and online journalism. The concept was conceived by Alan Chartock, president and CEO of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
"We've done a lot of wonderful things at WAMC, but this show is at the top of our list. We've always wondered why if academics can talk to a few average readers in an academic journal, they can't reach millions about what their research entails," says Chartock. "It'll be good for the academics and the universities, and the public will understand what college professors do for a living. We are indebted not only to [Mount Holyoke President] Lynn Pasquerella, Mount Holyoke College, and Newman's Own Foundation, but now to Inside Higher Ed for this valuable partnership."
"The Academic Minute promotes participatory democracy and civic engagement by making cutting-edge academic issues accessible to everyone," says President Pasquerella, who introduces the daily commentary. "At a time when the societal contributions of colleges and universities are too often undervalued, this segment highlights the transformative and consequential scholarly work at the heart of higher education."
Since its launch in July, the segment has spotlighted researchers, authors, and scientists from various disciplines representing a growing list of institutions, including Amherst, Columbia, Williams, the University of Connecticut, Skidmore, Duke, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Mount Holyoke, Notre Dame, Hamilton, Middlebury, St. Michael's, Vassar, Western Connecticut State University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Harvard University, and the University at Albany.
Preliminary data regarding pick-up of the feature by public radio stations are impressive. As of December 2010, the feature had been picked up by stations in Denver, CO, San Antonio, TX, Greensboro, NC, and Madison, WS, among numerous other locations.
Commentaries delve into topics both serious and lighthearted—from updates on groundbreaking scientific research such as work on possible genetic explanations for anger, to the development of new disciplines such as nanoeconomics, to the historical evolution of Santa Claus and the use of the board game Monopoly to explain the recent recession.
More information on The Academic Minute can be found at
http://www.wamc.org/academic-minute.html.
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