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Horton Hatches a Scheme

Charles Horton, a computer sciences professor at the University of Alabama, required his students to buy a textbook he’d written, published by a company he owned.

The you have to buy my book so I can make some money bit is as old as the hills, of course; but Horton went one better by owning the publishing company!

You can’t argue with his results: Over many illustrious years of teaching, he made close to four hundred thousand dollars in this way.

However, this is apparently a felony.

Margaret Soltan, February 26, 2015 4:25PM
Posted in: professors

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7 Responses to “Horton Hatches a Scheme”

  1. MattF Says:

    I think he’s just earned his MBA.

  2. Van L. Hayhow Says:

    I am a little confused by this. Two of the masters courses I took at included books written by the professors. Both were in paperback and neither was expensive (one I bought used and the other new but neither cost more then $50). If I found out they wrote those books and did not assign them, I would think it was odd. UD, I know you have covered scandals with one example being an online book costing $500 or so and which was replete with errors. But if you were asked by the ed department to teach a course on teaching poetry wouldn’t you assign your book, Teaching Beauty?

  3. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Van: No, I wouldn’t. There’s a conflict of interest. I know there’s a gray area here – if you’ve written the definitive textbook on torts or something, you’d probably be within your rights to assign it. If you’re one of the editors of a Norton literature anthology of course you’re within your rights to assign it. But there’s an unavoidable element of self-dealing here, and I think the best position to take is one in which you very seldom (if ever) assign books in whose sale you have a personal interest.

    Look at it this way: I’m teaching the course on poetry. By definition, students in that course, via my lectures, will be getting a large dollop of my take on poetry. Is it right for me to double down on that, and make them read my book as well? When there are plenty of other books out there that need to be in the course to give depth and variety to the subject?

    To me, this sort of gesture often feels both narcissistic and provincial. As I say above, it doesn’t have to be. But it often is. And when you add the element of personal financial enrichment, it looks (to me) like a no-go.

  4. Van L. Hayhow Says:

    Interesting take. I hadn’t thought of the broadening views issue. I guess I would wonder about the self-confidence of the professor who did not assign his or her own text. One of the courses I took was Prof. Rentschler’s course on Nazi era film and his book, Ministry of Illusion (great book) is the leading text on the subject as far as I can tell. The other was a course of Japanese history and one of the professors has written a text on modern Japanese history (and has regularly update it) and assigned that text as well.

  5. Jack/OH Says:

    UD and Van, thanks for clarifying. BTW-some of the comments on the linked article are worth an eye-roll.

  6. Anon Says:

    I know a prof who does assign his book…and then gives his students the portion of the royalties that he is paid for those copies.

  7. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Anon: I’ve heard of that practice too.

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