Essays & Commentary

Biology makes us want to retaliate for aggression even if we can't direct the retaliation at our aggressor, writes David P. Barash, author of a forthcoming book about redirected aggression.
(Illustration by Geoffrey Moss)

How can a critic of big-time college sports get so excited come game day? asks Murray Sperber, a professor emeritus of English and American studies at Indiana University at Bloomington.

The near poor outnumber the poor, include a fifth of the nation's children, and are largely absent from the national conversation on inequality, write Katherine S. Newman, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, and Victor Tan Chen, a doctoral student in the sociology and social-policy program at Harvard University.

For all their differences, Jim Thorpe and the Duke lacrosse team have something in common. Both are victims of stereotyping, writes Michael Nelson, a professor of political science at Rhodes College.

In the corridors of some Italian universities, faculty members can look around and see a lot of famiglia faces, writes Francis X. Rocca, a journalist based in Rome and a correspondent for The Chronicle.

Repressive regimes know that dialogue, criticism, and analysis are their enemies, which is why studying such regimes will always be risky business. Just ask Haleh Esfandiari, writes Daniel Byman, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University.

The benefits of studying abroad are increasingly recognized. The benefits of teaching abroad are less appreciated, but no less significant, writes Donald E. Hall, chairman of the English department at West Virginia University.

CRITICAL MASS: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia.

The Arts

The photographer Alen MacWeeney observes the Travellers of Ireland.
"Mary Ellen Stokes and Her Children, Labre Park," by Alen MacWeeney. Copyright © Alen MacWeeney.