Some cultural critics slam the mixing of art and economics, insisting that commerce cheapens creativity. For Ben Aslinger, that intersection is where things start to get interesting.
“Everything is economic in the long run,” says the assistant professor in Bentley’s English and Media Studies Department. “Our system of commodity exchange and payment actually creates the conditions for creativity.”
For Daniel Marrano ’13, the history of Bentley University is much more than the stuff of dusty documents and yellowed news clippings.
“Basically, my whole family has gone to Bentley,” he says of a clan that includes his mother, father and two siblings. “I’ve always been interested in the history of the school, because it’s part of my own history.”
Most college seniors spend a good deal of time pondering their own future. For Ryan Miamis ’12, it was just as important to consider the future of the ground beneath his feet.
Working with Professor of English and Media Studies Gesa Kirsch, Miamis spent the 2011-2012 academic year studying how urban dwellers might develop a “land ethic.” That is, a guiding philosophy for making decisions about land: using it, preserving it, changing it and more.
Scam artists — the only criminals we refer to as artists — are quite clever at taking advantage of whatever is capturing public interest. Obamacare is no exception, particularly as data is collected during the October 1 launch of the initial open enrollment period.
The cover of a recent Chronicle Review sums up academic reaction to a new book by linguist Dan Everett. Rendered in caricature, Bentley’s dean of arts and sciences exchanges scowls with the man who has dominated the field for some 50 years.
“Angry Words,” reads the headline. “Is Noam Chomsky’s reign over linguistics at an end?”
Everett chuckles at the illustration but answers the question with a serious “yes.”
The billion dollar question: What happened to Detroit? When the U.S. city declared a record-breaking $18 billion bankruptcy in July, Americans looked on in awe. Now municipal workers are left wondering how to survive without a pension and an emergency manager is taking over mayoral duties. But Detroit’s demise didn’t happen overnight.
What will be the tipping point for national legal recognition of gay marriage? Politicians, scholars, activists, and historians can all disagree but one thing is certain: the Supreme Court cannot avoid at least the first significant step toward that tipping point this month.
In working to bring technology to developing countries, people often think big: classroom computer systems, state-of-the-art farm equipment, and the like. But Bentley’s Alina Chircu says the key to technological advancement may come in a much smaller package.
The associate professor of information and process management has spent five years studying how technologies are adopted in emerging economies such as India and China. Her research identifies a staple of everyday life in the developed world — the cellphone — as a prime conduit in the process.
I am a baby boomer, one of the many Americans approaching their dream retirement age. I am also one of the many baby boomers who has a little panic attack every time I look at my retirement accounts and my exposure to the whims of the stock market.
One of the questions that I often get as a financial planner (and one that I ask myself) is: Should I take money out of my retirement account to pay off the remaining balance on my home’s mortgage?
The answer: It may make you feel good, but it is an expensive decision.
Anyone looking for vivid lessons on women’s lives – from the impact of the beauty culture to wage inequalities to domestic violence – will find them in The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World (Penguin Books, 2009) by Professor and Chair of Global Studies Joni Seager.
Now in its fourth edition, the atlas uses eye-catching maps to present otherwise dry data. Previous iterations earned Outstanding Reference Book honors from the American Library Association and won the Chicago Geographical Society's Publications Award.