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Amazon
Just a quick note on the heralded Amazon arrival in Northern Virginia. As a humanist I have to hope that any company that picked that name can’t be totally bad news for liberal education – think mythology or geography or both. But there is a broader and more serious response that warrants discussion, and I […]
Conference on Emotions History: some thoughts about the field
We have just emerged from a conference on the history of emotions at George Mason University that Susan Matt and I organized and that drew participation from about 70 people. It was, to our knowledge, the first extensive conference on the subject in North America, though participants came not only from Canada and the US […]
Another Take on History Learning
I’ve been teaching an honors course on the history of emotion for a few years now, and have always enjoyed both the course and the students – despite or because of the fact that few if any intend to be history majors. The year the course has been particularly lively, and it – along with […]
A Little Global Review?
One of the advantages of no longer being Provost, but retaining interest in some of the issues that attracted me before, is that there is an opportunity for additional thinking and reflection. This can be slightly embarrassing, when one realizes that some of the thoughts should have been thought before, when there was more chance […]
My New Book (on higher education)
This blog is only a bit more than a shameless plug for my new book, Guiding the American University: contemporary challenges and choices, which has just been published by Routledge. My flimsy excuse for blogging about it stems from the fact that the book relates strongly to the regular series of blogs I did in […]
History and Social Science
It strikes me – though this is as much a question to my disciplinary colleagues as a statement – that it might be timely to remind ourselves and others of the social science components of historical research and analysis. The point is not to ignore the clear links between history and the humanities, but to […]
Public Intellectuals and “Significant” Research
A recent (Feb. 15) New York Times op-ed on the increasing public irrelevance of much social science research, by Nicholas Kristof, has legitimately won wide attention. Kristof argues that academics themselves must bear much of the blame for the fact that so many really intelligent academic thinkers have little or no role in the crucial […]
The Charms and Perils of STEM-H
The current pressure on universities to produce more STEM-H grads is well known. I did have the pleasure of a recent public presentation in which an audience member did not know what STEM stood for, and I wanted to hug him. But the enthusiasm for Science Technology Engineering Math (and Health) is familiar enough. It’s […]
Partially Disrupted Universities
As I look at some key aspects of our current draft strategic plan, and also reread some recent literature on higher ed, I am struck not by the need or desire for total innovation (which is what some of the disrupt language suggests) but on the demanding combination of old and new goals. So a […]
A Meaningful Global Experience
We’re still refining our strategic plan, so what I’m writing about now may change a bit. But one concise goal that seems to resonate well involves pledging a “meaningful global experience” for every undergraduate. Even though we have a decent start on this goal already, it’s a major innovation, writ large in this fashion, and […]
Recent Posts
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Amazon
Just a quick note on the heralded Amazon arrival in Northern Virginia....
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A Real Path Forward for AP World History
After a recent period of deep concern, there’s some (pretty) good news...
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Conference on Emotions History: some thoughts about the field
We have just emerged from a conference on the history of emotions...
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