Ruth Starkman

New markets, copyright, IP addresses, freedom of speech, human rights and, of course, privacy -- these were the hot topics of the Legal Frontiers of Digital Media Conference, which was jointly sponsored by the Media Law Resource Center and Stanford University's Center for Internet...

Thoughts On Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator

Some audiences have greeted Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy, The Dictator, with the same enthusiasm for the English comedian's relentless in-your-face ribald humor of his previous efforts as characters Ali G., Borat, and Brüno. Others have seen...

On a sunny May 10, 2012 high-tech industry heavyweights and Stanford academics reconvened to discuss potential futures of humanities PhDs. This year's second annual Bibliotech conference at Stanford University offered solid advice. Here are some soundbites from Silicon Valley industry experts:

The Bibliotech Program is the...

Hearing that he was ruled guilty of 15 counts of privacy invasion and investigation tampering, Dharun Ravi appeared unmoved as he sat in the New Jersey court on March 16, 2012. Yet when found guilty of bias intimidation, as well, Ravi's eyes bulged in disbelief. The former roommate...

Some Thoughts on Reading College Applications

It's September and the crunch is on. You've read and re-read the Common Application (aka the Common App.) directions, browsed a myriad of sources about Common Apps, and you still feel stressed out about writing your college admissions essay.

It...

"Welcome to class, please take out a piece of paper and put your name on it. Please answer the following question on the board:"

Sometimes a mistake becomes an opportunity. Explain.

For over a decade I have used this vague, but surprisingly evocative one-time SAT II ...

As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and have it Stick. By Peter Meyers and Shann Nix. Atria Books, Hardcover, ebook, 275 pp.

"One upon a time information was power. Now you can get all the data you need in a heartbeat, the information age...

Academics should read Norwegian right-wing murderer Anders Behring Breivik's writing. Perhaps this exhortation seems redundant in a world of instant online access and 24/7 media spectacles, but it is also true that academics are famously anxious about spectacles, and there is no doubt this violent anti-Muslim, would-be-learned "conservative...

I can't claim to have always been a faithful fan of the tragically and newly late Amy Winehouse. I'm one of those who for several years ached while looking at pictures of her crying in the streets of London wearing a red bra and bloody ballet...

Whatever your politics, you might have been horrified, pruriently entertained, or perhaps intrigued and inspired to "follow" Congressman Anthony Weiner's junk as it began to appear in public last week. Maybe you are one of the many who thinks he ought to resign as more photos and contact...

On Friday afternoon, I had the good fortune to catch a performance of America Sings at Edna Maguire Elementary School in Mill Valley, Calif., which both my children attended and from which my fifth grade son is now graduating. A yearly event of traditional American songs with original...

"Joe" is 32 now. He's a father of two, a full-time employee, a third year law school student, and a former United States Marine, decorated with a purple heart. "Joe" is proud of his accomplishments and optimistic about the future. Today on Memorial Day he feels...

"PhDs are the most useless people!" exclaims Vivek Wadhwa, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program at the May 11, 2011 Bibliotech Conference held at Stanford University.

"I've known PhDs who aren't useless," laughs Russell A. Berman, Walter...

Nathan Collett's new feature film Togetherness Supreme offers a bright, young, film school-hip view into Kenya's dark political and social struggles. Funded by Collett's Hot Sun Foundation, the film showcases locals behind and in front of the camera and is based on a true story...

"Check out my membership!" exclaimed Shawn Doubiago, adjunct professor at University of San Francisco and Berkeley Community College. Doubiago held out her forearm, displaying her temporary tattoo with a fanciful palm tree and the words 2011 Modern Language Association Convention, Los Angeles, distributed to attendees at...

In Joel and Ethan Coen's new film True Grit, a reinterpretation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same title, and a remake of Henry Hathaway's 1969 film, 14 year-old Mattie Ross goes in search of a man with "true grit." Seeking to avenge the murder...

This is the time of year you wait and wait and wait to hear from the institutions of higher education where you applied. Some of you have just gotten those awful deferral notices and have to wait as well. What does this all mean, and what can you do in...

Confessions of a Writing Center Tutor

I have one of the best jobs at the university. I teach large classes with students from every discipline and I work at university writing centers, where I help students with their papers one-on-one. Both parts of the job are fabulous for many reasons,...

Thanksgiving break is over: Have you started that final paper, or -- worse yet -- those several final papers for all your different classes? Your professors have been nudging you to start early and maybe you have -- for some of them. But surely you still have more work...