This post is an essay by Gordon Wood that was published recently as in op-ed in the Washington Post. Here's a link to the original. His focus is on why the American colonies produced such a remarkable set of republican thinkers and leaders. And he attributes of lot of this to their modest position in … Continue reading Gordon Wood: What Explains the Genius of the American Founders?
My blog post today is a fascinating essay by Isaiah about writing, rhetoric, and Winston Churchill, which was published in the Atlantic in 1949. I find it a rich think piece that works, I think successfully, to rescue Churchill from his critics. Here's a link to the original. He starts with a vicious attack on … Continue reading Isaiah Berlin on Writing, Rhetoric, and Churchill
With this post, I am announcing the publication of my new book, The Ironies of Schooling. It's available as both an e-book and paperback. As I did with my last book, Being a Scholar, I published this one myself using Kindle Direct Publishing. One result is that the book appeared for sale one hour after … Continue reading The Ironies of Schooling
This post is a piece I published in Academe (the journal of AAUP) in 1999. It provides an overview of the argument in my 2004 book, The Trouble with Ed Schools. I reproduce it here as a public service: if you read this, you won’t need to read my book much less buy it. You’re welcome. Also, looking … Continue reading Too Easy a Target: The Trouble with Ed Schools and the Implications for the University
This post is an essay by Matthew Levey about why we should eliminate the college admissions essay, which was published in The 74. Here's a link to the original. He recounts the sordid backstory of the admissions essay, which first arose in order to keep Jews out of Harvard and other elite schools. It's still serving … Continue reading Matthew Levey — Get Rid of the College Admissions Essay
Tell me if you think this sounds familiar: in its latter years (500-700 ace), the roman empire faced a formidable challenge from two devastating environmental forces — dramatic climate change and massive epidemic. As mark twain is supposed to have said, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” During our own bout of climate … Continue reading Resilience in the Face of Climate Change and Epidemic: Ancient Rome and Today’s America
This post is a commentary on historian Walter Scheidel’s book, Escape from Rome. It’s a stunningly original analysis of a topic that has long fascinated scholars like me: how did Europe come to create the modern world? His answer is this: Europe became the cauldron of modernity and the dominant power in the world because … Continue reading How the Fall of Empire Spurred the Rise of Modernity — and Parallels with the Rise of US Higher Ed
This post is a commentary on a classic essay by Charles Tilly, “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime,” which appeared in the 1985 book Bringing the State Back In. Here’s a PDF of the original chapter. His essay is a riff on an aphorism he developed earlier: the state makes war and war makes the state. … Continue reading The State as Organized Crime
This post is a classic essay by Anders Henrikkson, published in Wilson Quarterly. Here's a link to the original. It's comprised entirely from statements about European history drawn from student essays. Anyone who has ever graded exams will recognize the genre. Here are a few of my favorite lines from this piece: The Crusades were a … Continue reading A Brief History of Europe Culled from Student Papers
Today I want to explore an interesting case of counterfactual history. What would have happened if Napoleon Bonaparte had won in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo? What consequences might have followed for Europe in the next two centuries? That he might have succeeded is not mere fantasy. According to the victor, Lord Wellington, the … Continue reading What if Napoleon Had Won at Waterloo?
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 