Opinion
Lessons from the Emerald Isle: Tourism and Identity in Ireland
Tourism is a truly massive global industry. There were 922 million tourist arrivals in 2008 and, on the eve of the world economic meltdown, the industry was growing steadily at 2 percent per year. All told, the World Tourism Organization reports that the industry was worth US$1.1 trillion in 2008—that’s about US$3 billion a day. To quote the late US Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, “a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
March 7, 2010
A Tale of Two Casablancas
In Laila Lalami's second novel, Secret Son, there are two Casablancas: one where families like Youssef and Rachida El Makki live in rusty, tin-roofed shacks amidst the stench of garbage, car exhaust and sardines. Then there is the Casablanca of Nabil Amrani, whose residents have private pools, vacation in Europe and educate their children in the West.
March 6, 2010
The Future of Knowledge
In his latest book, the Harvard cultural intellectual Louis Menand reminds us that the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge are crucial to human civilization. But is the university, with its 19th-century assumptions and system of disciplines, still relevant today? And what about the future of the liberal arts and the humanities in an age of high professionalization?
March 3, 2010
A Case for the Humanities
Like most sectors of society, colleges are affected by the current economic downturn. Well-endowed universities have lost billions; many others have frozen their budgets and stopped hiring for the short term.
October 12, 2009