Today’s College Freshmen

Posted on August 24, 2011 by briansandberg

Welcome to the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year as summer ends and classes begin again.

Each fall semester, Beloit College publishes “The Mindset List,” a humorous attempt to capture the attitudes and experiences of incoming college freshmen students.

Here are a few of the descriptions of today’s college freshmen:

  • There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.
  • Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
  • Amazon has never been just a river in South America.
  • Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you’re talking about LeBron James.
  • We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.
  • There has never been an official Communist Party in Russia.
  • Video games have always had ratings.
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been available on TV.
  • Jimmy Carter has always been a smiling elderly man who shows up on TV to promote fair elections and disaster relief.
  • Women have always been kissing women on television.
  • Music has always been available via free downloads.
  • Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could also serve as a doorstop.
  • No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King Day.
  • Public schools have always made space available for advertising.
  • They’ve often broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
  • Andy Warhol is a museum in Pittsburgh.

“The Mindset List” is available at Beloit College’s website.

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

A Publishing Revival

Posted on August 9, 2011 by briansandberg

Publishers have been complaining for years of a publishing crisis, while pundits portend the end of the physical book.  The financial crisis of 2008 fueled increased apocalyptic fears among many writers and editors, which were later heightened by the bankruptcy of Borders.

New data suggests that a publishing revival may be gathering steam.  The New York Times reports that book sales in various sectors have been stronger than expected.

The field of publishing—and especially academic publishing—continue to face numerous challenges and transformations, but don’t count the book out just yet.

Posted in Academic Publishing, History of the Book | Leave a comment

Devotion, Discipline, Reform: Conference at the Newberry Library

Posted on August 6, 2011 by briansandberg

September 15 – 17, 2011

Devotion, Discipline, Reform: Sources for the Study of Religion, 1450-1640
A Conference in Honor of Sister Ann Ida Gannon, BVM

The Newberry Library, Chicago

http://www.newberry.org/renaissance/conf-inst/devotion.html

Printable flier:
http://www.newberry.org/renaissance/conf-inst/DevotionConference.pdf

Speakers include:
Gregory R. Crane, Classics and Computer Science, Tufts University
David Crook, Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lori Anne Ferrell, English and History, Claremont Graduate University
Alexander J. Fisher, Music, University of British Columbia
M. Patrick Graham, Theological Bibliography, Candler School of Theology,
Emory University
Susan Karant-Nunn, History, University of Arizona
Elsie Anne McKee, Reformation Studies and History of Worship, Princeton
Theological Seminary
Walter S. Melion, Art History, Emory University
Mary Quinlan, Art History, Northern Illinois University
Brian Sandberg, History, Northern Illinois University
Regina M. Schwartz, Religion, Literature, and Law, Northwestern University
David Steinmetz, History of Christianity, The Divinity School, Duke
University

Free and open to the public; registration in advance is required.

Posted in Conferences, Early Modern Europe, Religious Violence, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

H-France Webinars

Posted on August 6, 2011 by briansandberg

H-France is launching a webinar series beginning this fall.

Graduate students in History at NIU, as well as undergraduate students in HIST 311 Early Modern France, 1500-1789 and HIST 423 French Revolution and Napoleon will be interested in this series.

Here is the announcement from H-France:

H-France is launching its webinar series this fall.  Designed particularly for graduate students, the seminar is open to anyone.  Information will be forthcoming in the fall to aid with technical issues.

The first webniar, organized by Charles Walton, Yale University, will occur on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 4:00-5:30 pm e.t.

The webinar will be led by Lynn Hunt, UCLA, on the topic “The Age of Revolutions in Global Context.”  The three readings for the webinar are as follows:

  • Lynn Hunt, “The French Revolution in Global Context,” in David Armitage and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (eds.), The Age of Revolutions in Global Context, c. 1760-1840 (New York:  Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
  • Suzanne Desan, “Transatlantic Spaces of Revolution: The French Revolution, Sciotomanie, and American Lands,” Journal of Early Modern History 12 (2008), pp. 467-505.
  • William Max Nelson, “Making Men: Enlightenment Ideas of Racial Engineering,” American Historical Review 115 (December 2010): 1364-1394.

We certainly would encourage you to include the seminars in any appropriate graduate courses you may be teaching or recommending it to your graduate students.

Further details on the seminar will be provided in the fall.

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, Early Modern Europe, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, Graduate Work in History, History in the Media, Human Rights, The Past Alive: Teaching History | Leave a comment

The Occitan War

Posted on August 6, 2011 by briansandberg

Southern France has certainly seen its share of religious conflict and civil warfare.  My own research explores violence in the French Wars of Religion of 1562-1629, especially focusing on the latter stages of those conflicts.

Larry Marvin, one of my friends from graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has published a military history of the Albigensian Crusade, a major  conflict fought in southern France during the medieval period:

Laurence W. Marvin, The Occitan War: A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1218 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008).

The book was just reviewed on H-France by David Stewart Bachrach, who writes: “This highly accessible work is a benchmark for the writing of military and political history on the regional level.”  The review is glowing, stating that “the great achievement of this text is to interweave military history into the broader patterns of medieval society in which wars were fought.”  Bachrach concludes that “all future discussions of the Albigensian crusade will have to begin with this study.”

Congrats to Larry!

Posted in Civil Conflict, Early Modern Europe, French History, Languedoc and Southern France, Religious Violence, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Shame in Academic Writing

Posted on August 4, 2011 by briansandberg

We professors and graduate students in the humanities all struggle with academic writing.  Formulating new research agendas, carrying out fieldwork, developing rigorous analysis, applying appropriate methodologies, and discerning fresh interpretations of sources is difficult enough.  And, then the writing and editing begins.

Academic writing in the humanities is all about a vicious circle of drafts, criticism, and rewriting.

A new essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education provides a nice reminder of the role that shame often plays in the academic writing process.  It also rightly emphasizes that graduate writing and professorial writing are closely linked, rather than separate spheres.

Graduate students in History at Northern Illinois University will be interested in this essay.

 

Posted in Academic Publishing, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education, Writing Methods | Leave a comment

Mubarak’s Trial and the Ongoing Egyptian Revolution

Posted on August 4, 2011 by briansandberg

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is currently being tried in Cairo, presenting a remarkable televised spectacle.  The Washington Post reports on the opening of the trial and Mubarak’s appearance in court.

Many previous revolutionary movements have put their deposed leaders on trial, including Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France, and Nicolae Ceausescu.  An article in the Guardian today examined these precedents for Mubarak’s trial.

PRI’s The World offered a brief history of political trials today, as did the New Yorker online. These stories also examined parallels with the trial of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Readers interested in exploring historical precedents for trials of deposed heads of state can start with David P. Jordan’s The King’s Trial: Louis XVI vs. the French Revolution, 25th anniversary edition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004).

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, French Revolution and Napoleon, History of Violence, Human Rights | Leave a comment

Why Leaders Lie

Posted on August 3, 2011 by briansandberg

John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, has published a new book on Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics.

Worldview  interviewed Mearsheimer about the book yesterday on WBEZ.

Students in HIST 390 Film in History: War in Film may be interested in this story, especially if they are working on Vietnam War or Iraq War topics.

 

Posted in Historical Film, Political Culture, War in Film | Leave a comment

Gout Makes a Comeback

Posted on July 30, 2011 by briansandberg

Gout is making a comeback in the United States.  This disease causes serious inflammation, swelling, and pain—especially in the feet.

During the medieval and early modern periods, gout was considered a disease of the nobility.  Manuscript correspondence of European nobles and royal family members often includes complaints about symptoms related to gout.

More and more Americans are now suffering from gout, which can result from obesity, a high-sugar diet, and heavy alcohol consumption.

NPR reports on gout in the United States.

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Food and Cuisine History, History in the Media, History of Medicine, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Extremism in Europe

Posted on July 26, 2011 by briansandberg

The attacks in Norway have raised awareness of the threat posed by far-right extremist groups in Scandinavia and across Europe.

Details are still emerging about the Norway attacks, but already Norwegians are reexamining their political culture, social structures, and laws.  Silvia Poggioli of NPR reports on the situation in Norway.

NPR discusses Norway’s “open society” and the problem of extremism.

The attacks in Norway are also leading officials and journalists across Europe to reexamine violent groups and extremist racial politics.   Reuters reported on the threat of far-right extremism.   PRI’s The World examines extremism within the European Union.  NPR also reports on extremism in Europe.

 

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, European Union, History of Violence, Religious Violence, Terrorism | Leave a comment