Podcast Archive

Interviews

Charles R. Middleton, president of Roosevelt University, one of 11 openly gay college presidents in the United States, talks about discrimination in the presidency. —October 9, 2007

When Jeffrey R. Docking took the helm at Adrian College two years ago, enrollment was falling and the small institution's future was in question. Hear how his turnaround plan increased freshman enrollment by 91 percent since his arrival. —October 2, 2007

Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas system, talks about why taxpayers, students, and parents have a right to know how well colleges are doing. —September 25, 2007

Waskar T. Ari Chachaki, a Bolivian historian and an Aymara Indian, was one of the first indigenous people from Latin America to earn a Ph.D. at an American institution. Yet for two years the U.S. government wouldn't allow him into the country to teach, only relenting when the University of Nebraska sued. Mr. Ari talks about his long road back to American academe. —September 18, 2007

The Chronicle's Middle East correspondent, Zvika Krieger, talks about Saudi Arabia's plan to overhaul its higher-education system and the challenges it faces in introducing Western-style universities to one of the most conservative countries on earth. —September 11, 2007

Henry Jenkins, co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comparative Media Studies Program, talks about why scholars should look beyond their academic fields in their work. —September 10, 2007

Keeping Score on Affirmative Action in College Admissions Peter Schmidt, a Chronicle editor, talks about his new book, Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War Over College Affirmative Action. —September 4, 2007

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the governor of Louisiana, talks about rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and why higher education is key to the state's future. —August 28, 2007

Virgil Griffith, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, talks about the online database he built that lets anyone hunt for Wikipedia authors who are trying to hype themselves, or bash their enemies. —August 21, 2007

University-trained archaeologists and historians are scared to take on the Bible, says Eric H. Cline, an associate professor of classics at George Washington University. He talks about his new book, From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, in which he argues that Bible studies have become dominated by "junk science" (Noah's ark found in Turkey!) because academics have yielded the field. —August 14, 2007

Tom Boellstorff, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of California at Irvine, talks about his research and forthcoming book about the virtual world Second Life. —August 7, 2007

James L. Oblinger, chancellor of North Carolina State University, talks about relationship-building with corporations and about his recent trips to India and China. —July 31, 2007

Sara Lipka, a Chronicle reporter, talks about the aftermath of a student's murder at Eastern Michigan University. —July 24, 2007

Steven Knapp, provost of the Johns Hopkins University, will become George Washington University's president on August 1. He talks about the transition and the challenges ahead. —July 17, 2007

Shea Shackelford, an independent radio producer in Washington, talks about how professors can incorporate audio projects into their courses. —July 10, 2007

Lawrence Pintak, director of the Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo, describes the changing face of journalism and journalism education in the Arab world. —July 3, 2007

Robert N. Shelton, president of the University of Arizona, talks about how to make the public university truly relevant to the public. —June 26, 2007

The University of Florida's president, J. Bernard Machen, talks about the university's continuing needs on the undergraduate side despite its strong surge in applications, research grants, and extraordinary success in athletics. —June 19, 2007

Lloyd A. Jacobs, president of the University of Toledo and a vascular surgeon, talks about the challenges of merging a university with a hospital. —June 12, 2007

Daniel Colman, director and associate dean of Stanford University's continuing-studies program, runs a blog tracking podcasts made by colleges and professors. He talks about the pros and cons of putting recordings of lectures online, and lists his favorites. —June 5, 2007

N. Katherine Hayles, a professor of English at the University of California at Los Angeles, talks about novels and poems created to take advantage of hypertext and multimedia. —May 29, 2007

Elizabeth F. Farrell and Martin Van Der Werf, reporters for The Chronicle, give highlights of their analysis of U.S. News and World Report's college rankings during the survey's 24-year history. —May 22, 2007

Ann Weaver Hart, president of Temple University, talks about the challenges and opportunities faced by urban universities. She also describes how Temple has maintained its ties to Philadelphia while growing and branching out nationally and internationally. —May 15, 2007

Roger Mandle, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, talks about the challenges of attracting students at a time of reduced support for art education in public schools ~~ even as job opportunities for art graduates expand. —May 8, 2007

Arthur F. Kirk Jr., president of Saint Leo University, in Florida, talks about his institution's long history of providing distance-education opportunities to military personnel, as well as Saint Leo's growing campus and online offerings. —May 1, 2007

John Walda, in his first year as president and chief executive of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, talks about where he wants to take the organization, the problems facing his members today, and where the next generation of college business officers is going to come from. —April 24, 2007

Jack Rothman, a UCLA emeritus professor turned stand-up comedian, talks about what he finds funny and why comedy was so natural after 30 years of research and teaching about public affairs. —April 17, 2007

Tech Therapy

How do you talk about technology on campuses? Is the message getting through? Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a technology consultant, talk about the communications lessons you can learn from children and TV Guide.—October 4, 2007

You want to plan a grand technology strategy for your campus, yet you find yourself putting out fires and making 11th-hour decisions. Sound familiar? Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a tech consultant, tell you how to get your department in order. (Bonus material: How is technology like a drug?)—September 20, 2007

Predictions. College IT officials are often asked to prognosticate, but it's easier to be wrong than right. Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a tech consultant, talk about how to predict the future of technology -- and whether that's even possible.—September 6, 2007

Have you ever had the feeling that your college is behind the curve when it comes to technology? You might not be. Scott Carlson, a Chronicle reporter, and Warren Arbogast, a tech consultant, talk about keeping up with the pack, and about how much colleges should spend on technology.—August 23, 2007

Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast discuss the Big Question: Are large technology departments, including those at colleges, really "the most regressive and poisonous force in technology today," as Walt Mossberg insists? —August 9, 2007

Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast talk about secure information technology and how college leaders can make their computer networks more secure by working to change campus culture. —July 26, 2007