Joshua T. Katz

One year ago, Princeton University fired me. This was one of the worst things ever to happen to me, but also one of the best. Continue Reading »

When you’re a linguist, you get used to being asked how ­many languages you speak. But a few years ago I was asked for the first time, by a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, what my favorite words are. “Grace and serendipity,” I blurted out—not a graceful response, but a . . . . Continue Reading »

It will take a major shift in values—away from infantilization and fear and toward learning and joy—before amiable student-professor relations are possible again at places like Princeton. In the meantime, I recommend the University of Dallas. Continue Reading »

A few years ago, in the middle of the journey of life—in modern terms, having a midlife crisis—I read St. ­Augustine’s Confessions for the first time since I was eighteen. I’d loved the work when I was young, but in what was hardly an original discovery, I found that I . . . . Continue Reading »