The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, whose political movement targeted liberal faculty and pushed the boundaries of free speech, immediately took on powerful symbolic resonance as a pivotal event in higher education’s long-running culture wars. Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, a provocative right-leaning group popular on college campuses, was killed on Wednesday during a campus speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. His death shocked the country, lending a dark gravity to already-contentious debates about political polarization, intolerance, and free expression on college campuses.Related Reading Making of a Martyr: Charlie Kirk’s Killing Silences a Conservative Voice. His Movement Could Grow Louder. (The Chronicle)
Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence (The Chronicle)
Was an Instructor's Firing a Violation Academic Freedom? Or an Example of 'Academic Responsibility' (The Chronicle)
Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way (The New York Times)
GuestNell Gluckman, senior reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
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College Matters Is Back
Higher education is at the center of the biggest stories in the country today, and College Matters is back to make sense of it all. Tune in for new weekly episodes starting on September 11.
Catch up on previous popular episodes:
Is Reading Over for Gen Z Students?
Why Faculty Hate Teaching Evaluations
Mr. Varsity Blues Claps Back
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.
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Course Catalog: Bruce Springsteen’s American Vision
For decades, Bruce Springsteen’s songs about fast cars, working-class dreamers, and loves lost and found have helped to define a quintessentially American notion of freedom and rebellion. But do the music and lyrics of “The Boss” speak to the college students of Gen Z? Louis P. Masur, a distinguished professor of American studies and history at Rutgers University, thinks they do. After years of teaching a course titled “Springsteen’s American Vision,” Masur says he is as convinced as ever that the rock icon’s songs are as timeless as Huck Finn and as durable as a “big old Buick.”
Guest: Louis P. Masur, distinguished professor of American studies and history at Rutgers UniversityRelated reading
Runaway Dream: Born to Run and Bruce Springsteen’s American Vision (Louis P. Masur)
The Boss in the Classroom (Chronicle)
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
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Course Catalog: Do Dogs Go to Heaven?
After the loss of a pet, many people wonder whether they'll ever see their beloved companions again. In her course, "Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?", Chelsea Jordan King, an assistant professor of Catholic studies at Sacred Heart University, presses her students to answers that provocative question. To do so, King encourages students — believers and nonbelievers alike — to use critical thinking and research to articulate and defend their positions. Along the way, students learn about the Roman Catholic Church's position on evolution, what makes human beings special, and how to better appreciate their natural surroundings.
GuestChelsea Jordan King, assistant professor of Catholic studies at Sacred Heart University
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
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Course Catalog: Food for Thought — Literally
Food shapes our daily lives in profound ways, yet it's often taken for granted or misunderstood. In the course "Sociology of Food" at Texas Christian University, students learn how food functions as sustenance, commodity, and a sociocultural force. The course covers food from its starting point to its end — tracing its path as an agricultural product and a commodity to be traded, marketed, shopped for, prepared, and finally consumed. Edgar Jesus Campos, an assistant professor of sociology at TCU, says some of his students enroll in the course to better understand their own bodies and consumption patterns. While they gain that knowledge, they also leave with a deeper understanding of how global economic and political forces play into their personal diets.
GuestEdgar Jesus Campos, assistant professor of sociology at Texas Christian University
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
Higher education is at the center of the biggest stories in the country today, and College Matters is here to make sense of it all. This podcast is a production of The Chronicle of Higher Education, the nation's leading independent newsroom covering colleges.
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