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Grading Andrew Ross Sorkin
Author: Andrew Ross Sorkin (@andrewrsorkin) Article: “N.Y.U. Crisis in Abu Dhabi Stretches to Wall Street,” May 26, 2014 10:14 pm Grade: C College professors teach their students that written arguments must be based on cited evidence. Depending on the...
Not Just Another Commencement
Deb and I have written a reflection on Sunday’s inaugural NYUAD Commencement. It’ll be published in the “Opinion” section of tomorrow’s National, but the online version is already available here. Also available is the full video of the...
Ma’asalama Class of 2014
I had the honor of serving in the “color guard” during the inaugural NYU Abu Dhabi commencement today, which meant that I got to carry the NYU NY flag at the head of the procession of graduating seniors as they entered the hall. (The other flags...
Rereading a Thirty-Year-Old Letter
I’ve never been very good at keeping journals. I’d always start well, but then I wouldn’t keep it up, and I would leave blank pages to fill in later, and sometimes I would, and sometimes I wouldn’t and … let’s just say that...
Around the World, Thirty Years Ago
Thirty years ago today, I embarked a trip around the world. My parents had given me the plane ticket as a present after my college graduation, and I had saved money for expenses out of prize money awarded to my senior thesis on Finnegans Wake and from six months of...
Dramatizing Ideology: Lethem’s Dissident Gardens
Today’s “Review” section in The National, Abu Dhabi’s English-language newspaper, includes my review of Jonathan Lethem’s latest novel, Dissident Gardens, which dramatizes the lives of three generations in a family of American Communists...
Cosmopolitanism and the Liberal Arts
It was great fun speaking on this subject last Friday at Harvard. Thanks to everyone who came to me over the next couple of days to talk further about cosmopolitanism and its implications. Below is an approximation of what I said. I would love to hear from anyone who...
1983 Thinks Big
The panel on which I spoke yesterday was called “1983 Thinks Big: 5 for 10.” Here’s how it was billed: “Modeled on Harvard Thinks Big and Ted Talks, five classmates who are professors in various fields and at various universities each give a...
Thirtieth College Reunion
I’m on my way to my thirtieth college reunion in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My, oh my, how time flies! This trip marks the furthest I’ve had to travel for a reunion, but this time I’ll be part of the program. I’m giving a brief TED-style talk...
Literary Wandering
My review of Philip Hoare’s latest book, The Sea Inside, appeared recently in The National, Abu Dhabi’s English-language newspaper. It bore the headline “Deep connections: Philip Hoare’s seminal encounter with a blue whale,” and you can...
Sexton and Me
On the basis of some of the things that I’ve written here and elsewhere, I’ve been accused of being a Sexton “loyalist.” Those who make that accusation don’t know me very well. In particular, they fail to see just how a great a test of my...