In a recent article for The Chronicle of Higher Education Rob Jenkins asks, “Why Are Some Academics So Unprofessional?”. One might well ask the same about any other profession, of course; doubtless many of you could give examples. But it does seem worse in academia, and that suggests a lesson both important and easily absorbed.
READ MORE
Question: How many historians does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: There is a great deal of debate on this issue. Up until the mid-20th century, the accepted answer was ‘one’: and this Whiggish narrative underpinned a number of works that celebrated electrification and the march of progress in light-bulb changing. Beginning in
READ MORE
If you’ve visited Ford’s Theatre, you’ve likely seen the 34-foot tower of books on Abraham Lincoln. The tower, designed to symbolize that the final word on America’s 16th president will never be written, was constructed with some 6,800 books – just a fraction of the 15,000 titles written on Lincoln. (An admitted Lincolnphile, my personal
READ MORE
On Friday, March 11, America was treated to the mass disruption of a Donald Trump Rally in Chicago. Based on the celebration by the protesters, the goal was to shut down political speech. There is no other way to describe the actions of the protesters other than intolerant, violent, and hateful. Such actions aren’t limited
READ MORE
According to the headline of an article this month by Somini Sengupta in the New York Times Sunday Review, “The world has a problem: too many young people.” As soon as I saw that I wanted to ask: Too many for whom and for what? It’s easier to cluck about demographic imbalances then to explain
READ MORE
No one can completely avoid bringing prejudices to his or her study of history. Nevertheless, some prejudices are more insidious than others, and can be an obstacle to a fruitful use of historical learning. Drawing from the work of Giambattista Vico, philosopher of history R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943) names and describes the following 5 prejudices that
READ MORE
Most Read from past 24 hours
Most Read from past 7 days
Most Read from past 30 days
Most Read of All Time
Most Read of All Time
