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In which I announce my candidacy for University Provost, and make a serious point about salaries as well

Our Provost at the University of Oregon has stepped down, and there’s a call for nominations for a new one. The search will be internal, i.e. the next provost will be a UO faculty member. Bill Harbaugh — economics professor, president of the University Senate, and muckracking journalist — tossed his hat into the ring … Continue reading In which I announce my candidacy for University Provost, and make a serious point about salaries as well

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Bacterial behaviors and the physical landscape of the zebrafish gut [APS talk abstract]

I decided to make a version of the abstract for my upcoming presentation at the March Meeting of the American Physical Society that (i) has a movie, and (ii) is revised slightly from the version I submitted a few months ago. My talk is one of two invited talks at a pair of focus sessions … Continue reading Bacterial behaviors and the physical landscape of the zebrafish gut [APS talk abstract]

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The Year in Books, 2018 (in which I am reminded that I don’t like science fiction)

I’ll start this year-in-review post with some highlights of the year in fiction, noting the larger than usual amount of science fiction I read — a mistake I will hopefully not make again — and then write about non-fiction, graphic novels, and movies. (Past years’ lists: 2017, 2016, and 2015.) Fiction My two favorites of … Continue reading The Year in Books, 2018 (in which I am reminded that I don’t like science fiction)

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Local trends in college majors (Or: Do Oregon students choose offbeat degrees?)

A remarkable graph I came across a few weeks ago, copied below, shows the changes in the numbers of students majoring in various topics between 2011 and 2017. Part of an insightful article by Benjamin Schmidt titled “The History BA Since the Great Recession”, it reports a sharp drop in history majors, a steep rise … Continue reading Local trends in college majors (Or: Do Oregon students choose offbeat degrees?)