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Top headlines
Lead story
The college major, long revered as a symbol of academic depth, may be increasingly out of step with today’s educational and workforce realities. Most students change majors at least once, signaling that the current model may not adequately support exploration or adaptability.
John Weigand, a professor emeritus at Miami University, writes that customizable degrees, composed of certificates, minors and course sequences that cross multiple disciplines, could better serve students and employers. This approach could allow students to integrate varied interests, prior learning and career readiness into their course of study. Weigand also suggests that more flexible majors can highlight students’ unique strengths and ensure that higher education is responsive to the needs of the people the system is designed to support.
Ultimately, the college major is a relatively recent construct, and like the workforce it was designed to serve, it may have to adapt to keep up with the times.
One last note: Today is the final day of our fiscal year − and of The Conversation’s summer membership drive. It is a challenging time for higher education budgets, and for ours as well. We still have a few thousand dollars to go to meet our goal, and we hope you can help us get there.
Please make your last-minute one-time gift or, even more helpfully, become one of our “headliners” with a monthly donation. Thank you in advance for believing in the power of education and quality information.
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Corey Mitchell
Education Editor
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Rethinking the college major could help colleges better understand what employers and students need.
Westend61/Getty Images
John Weigand, Miami University
A scholar and former college dean explains why higher education’s reliance on majors to measure academic quality may be an outdated approach.
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Environment + Energy
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Mariah Meek, Michigan State University
Caribou, migrating birds and many other types of wildlife rely on this expanse of wetlands and tundra. Humanity and the climate depend on a healthy Arctic, too.
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Science + Technology
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Meg Leta Jones, Georgetown University
Kids face risks online, but whether and how the law can protect them is a thorny issue. The Supreme Court weighed in to say states can try with age-gating – essentially requiring ID at the online door.
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Vikash V. Gayah, Penn State
Even though research supports the change, most cities have been slow to ban left turns at even the most congested intersections.
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Adi Foord, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The James Webb Space Telescope has 2 powerful instruments that see light the human eye can’t.
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International
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Shukriya Bradost, Virginia Tech
The Islamic Republic has a history of targeting minority ethnic groups, especially the Kurds, when it feels threatened.
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Health + Medicine
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Olga Ensz, University of Florida
Florida is one of the worst states in the US when it comes to access to affordable dental care – and children are suffering as a result.
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Politics + Society
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Cassandra Burke Robertson, Case Western Reserve University
The Supreme Court just made it harder for judges to block presidential policies nationwide, but lawmakers hold the key to changing that.
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Carol Nackenoff, Swarthmore College; Julie Novkov, University at Albany, State University of New York
Since the earliest days of the nation, any person born on US soil is a US citizen. A new Supreme Court ruling limits judges’ ability to block Trump’s order.
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Katherine Gregory, Mississippi State University
Libraries and archives at universities across the nation catalog and steward the donated papers of members of Congress. But that historically significant work is now in jeopardy.
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Ethics + Religion
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Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder
Traditional Jewish ceremonies, like Christian ones, marked a woman’s transition from daughter to wife − going from her parents to her husband. But there are creative ways to reflect gender equality while honoring tradition.
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