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Current News

The Impending Demise of the University

Although I find it a little Libertarian for my tastes at times, I still read the online magazine Edge regularly. Don Tapscott's recent piece on The Impending Demise of the University is wonderfully provocative. He identifies five challenges to the current model of the university: a challenge to teaching, a challenge of the revenue model, a challenge to credentialing, a challenge to the campus, and a challenge to the relationship of the university to other institutions. My favorite sentence after my first read: "Universities should be places to learn, not to teach." Posted: 6/10/09; 3:24:15 PM #

Ethics and Nonprofits

Although the topic is important, I am always a little worried when I see attention directed at the ethical lapses of nonprofit organizations. Even if individual stories get us riled up, the scale of evil committed by government and business dwarfs anything we're able to do in civl society. Sometimes it's the enemies of civil society doing the finger pointing. Sometimes, it's our inferiority complex at work. Sometimes, it's just another form of infighting. Deborah Rhode and Amanda Packel, writing on Ethics and Nonprofits are none of these things. Instead, they are smart contributors to a conversation that is crucial for the protection of the assets of civil society. The authors explore the types of ethical breaches, their causes, and steps we can take to address them. To me, the most interesting ideas are related to building an ethical culture, because that same culture will contribute to innovation, job satisfaction, and effectiveness. Posted: 6/10/09; 3:15:09 PM #

Journal of Arts and Communities

The first issue of the Journal of Arts and Communities is out and I'm very excited about it. The role of the arts in building community and the corresponding role of communities in making art are both tremendously important topics for civil society in general, not just so-called "arts" organizations. My favorite papers are: "Improvising in Ruyang: Community Art as Ecological Practice", "Senior Well-being, Music-based Participatory Arts and the Value of Qualitative Evidence", and "Song and the Presence of Absent Communities". Posted: 6/10/09; 3:01:43 PM #

Communicating for Impact Guide

As readers will probably know, I'm an unabashed fan of GrantCraft and its programs. It's most recent Guide - Communicating for Impact - touches on a topic of some importance to me: How can foundations better integrate good communication into their work? The weaknesses of the report are the weaknesses of the field of professional communication in general, including the fact that "communication" itself is defined as only half of what it actually is: the talking part and not the listening part. But given how communication of any sort is "bolted-on" after the fact in most foundations, this Guide - through its model of a "communication lens" if nothing else - will go a long way toward correcting that problem, and thus giving grantmakers a greater range of tools for meeting their goals. Posted: 6/10/09; 2:56:48 PM #

Beyond Good Intentions: A Film Series about Improving International Aid

The final film in the Beyond Good Intentions series has been released. Committed to "uncovering more innovative and effective approaches to international aid worldwide", the series follows filmmaker Tori Hogan around the world as she talks to aid workers and communities in eight countries. (The series caused quite a stir with its critique of microfinance and of Kiva in particular.) The ten episodes explore these topics: Disaster Relief, Faith-Based Aid, For-Profit Approaches, Higher Standards for Non-Profits, International Aid Workers, Micro-Lending, Peace Corps, Research in Development, Social Entrepreneurship, and Volunteering Abroad. Posted: 6/10/09; 2:45:45 PM #

A Lexicon of Disappointment

Civil society organizations trade in a dangerous substance. It's called "hope" and sometimes it seems like an antidote to fear and sometimes it seems like a cause. In A Lexicon of Disappointment, Naomi Klein captures something I've been feeling in many American nonprofits in the last few months, as the reality of the Obama administration sinks in. Here are some of the words she proposes we start using: Hopeover: "Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn't really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame." Hoper coaster: "Like a roller coaster, the hoper coaster describes the intense emotional peaks and valleys of the Obama era...." Hopesick: "Like the homesick, hopesick individuals are intensely nostalgic." Hope fiend: "With hope receding, the hope fiend, like the dope fiend, goes into serious withdrawal, willing to do anything to chase the buzz." Hopebreak: "Like the heartbroken lover, the hopebroken Obama-ite is not mad but terribly sad. She projected messianic powers onto Obama and is now inconsolable in her disappointment." Posted: 6/10/09; 2:39:21 PM #

5 Warning Signs of a Project In Danger

Georgina Laidlaw has a nice little piece on the 5 Warning Signs of a Project In Danger at WebWorkerDaily. The great thing about this article is that it's from the perspective of a consultant, who might not have much of an inside view as to what is going on with a project politically at any given time. The warning signs she lists are a little vaguely titled, but the gist of each of them is quite useful: Moving Away from the Agreed Plan, Unprecedented Behavior, Silence, Fast Talking, and General Unease. Posted: 6/10/09; 2:32:38 PM #