Monthly Archives: April 2011

Historian Eric Foner Wins Pulitzer Prize

Posted on April 29, 2011 by briansandberg

Historian Eric Foner has won a Pulitzer Prize for his The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (Norton, 2010). The American Historical Association has a brief story about the prize on its website. NIU students interested in the history … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Women’s Access to Public Education

Posted on April 29, 2011 by briansandberg

As discussion of education budgets for 2012 moves forward, historian Jill Lepore provides a poignant reminder of the importance of public education in the lives of women. Jill Lepore’s op-ed, entitled “Poor Jane’s Almanac,” appears in the New York Times.

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Highest Paid University Personnel at NIU

Posted on April 29, 2011 by briansandberg

Who are the highest paid university personnel at Northern Illinois University? The answer: the football coach is #1, the president comes in at #2.  Coaches, the athletic director, and non-academic administrators round out most of the rest of the top … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education, Northern Illinois University | Leave a comment

A $10,000 BA Degree?

Posted on April 29, 2011 by briansandberg

Can you imagine a student earning a BA degree for a mere $10,000?  That’s not $10,000 per year, but total cost for a 4-year BA or BS degree. This is the latest proposal for educational “reform” by Texas Governor Rick … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Bob Lehrman on Faculty Unionization

Posted on April 23, 2011 by briansandberg

Bob Lehrman, a former White House aide and an adjunct professor of communications at American University, wrote a thoughtful op-ed on faculty unionization in the Washington Post on Friday. Lehrman calls himself a “hobbyist” adjunct, yet supports unionization efforts.  He … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Humanities Education | 2 Comments

EU as the “Sick Man of Europe”

Posted on April 22, 2011 by briansandberg

Is the European Union the “sick man of Europe”? This formulation represents an intriguing twist on historical references to the Ottoman Empire as the “sick man of Europe.” Eurozine has published a series of articles entitled “Europe Talks to Europe” … Continue reading →

Posted in Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Union, Mediterranean World | Leave a comment

Attending to Early Modern Women CFP

Posted on April 22, 2011 by briansandberg

Call for Proposals Attending to Early Modern Women: Remapping Routes and Spaces June 21-June 23, 2012 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Attending to Early Modern Women, which has been held seven times at the University of Maryland since 1990, is moving to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Review of Warrior Pursuits

Posted on April 20, 2011 by briansandberg

The first review of Warrior Pursuits: Noble Culture and Civil Conflict in Early Modern France has been published.  Professor Phillip John Usher, of Barnard College, reviews my monograph in Renaissance Quarterly. I am happy that book reviews of Warrior Pursuits … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Research, Early Modern Europe, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Renaissance Art and History, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Business Education as a Model?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by briansandberg

Are you sure that you want to take business education as a model? Many businessmen and higher education “reformers”, such as Jeff Sandefer in Texas (see previous post), argue that business education points the way to “transform” academics for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education Policy, Humanities Education | Leave a comment

Evaluating Faculty by “Productivity”?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by briansandberg

Across the United States, there have been attempts to corporatize universities and to evaluate faculty “productivity” using student evaluations and business metrics. Now comes news that Texas Governor Rick Perry intervened in academic decision-making, pushing Texas universities to adopt a … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Humanities Education | 1 Comment