critical thinking – The Smell of Evolution

Higher Education in crisis

I am currently doing a certificate in academic practice at Durham University. My two projects for the certificate have focused on the intrusion of neoliberal values into higher education in the US and the UK. Put as succinctly as possible, one project focused on the challenges I face (as a result of these values) asContinue reading “Higher Education in crisis”

Academic entrepreneurship

I recently read Paul B. Brown’s October 2013 Forbes’ article on the habits of successful entrepreneurs. As with most habits of successful people, the applications extend beyond the specific profession of the group studied. Academics–especially those of us creating new fields of interdisciplinary study or working in new, less traditional, or less well-established areas ofContinue reading “Academic entrepreneurship”

The Use and Misuse of Allostatic Load in Bioanthropology

I have noticed a recent trend in bioarchaelogy referring to odontoskeletal stress markers as measures of allostatic load. Allostatic load was first described by McEwan and Stellar in 1993. They argue (quite well and rightly) that the concept of homeostasis (or internal maintenance of system functioning) fails to consider the complex biological negotiations over timeContinue reading “The Use and Misuse of Allostatic Load in Bioanthropology”

Data, Central Tendency, and Normalcy

In exploring some old data recently to see if it was publishable, I began to contemplate the things we take for granted in scientific studies. Statistics are so commonly used today that any paper is expected to have a smattering of tests and the all important p-values. (The incorrect use of alpha as inter-changeable withContinue reading “Data, Central Tendency, and Normalcy”