Yesterday FBI Director James Comey released the report on Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State. The email habits on Clinton’s staff were “extremely careless,” Comey noted, but did not reach the threshold for seeking an indictment against Clinton. As CNN reported: Comey said of the 30,000 emails that … More Historians Should Care About Secretary Clinton’s Emails
Last week I had the privilege of writing an opinion piece for Inside Higher Education. The editors were interested in exploring some of the issues behind Columbia sophomore Nayla Kidd’s disappearance. For several weeks, Kidd’s friends tried to contact her to let her know she was being searched for as a missing person. Even when she learned … More On Faculty Advising: A Follow Up
Earlier today, I attended my high school class reunion, where I was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Alumnae Association of The Baldwin School, in Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania. I was asked to give a short address to the Upper School, and this is what I said. I am humbled by this honor, in part because … More Fail Better: Reflections on a Good Life
In a better — or even different — world, I would have time to read Marion Nestle’s new book, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning) (Oxford: 2015) now. Instead I read Natalie Angier’s excellent review of it, “The Bear’s Best Friend,” (New York Review of Books, May 12 2016.) Here’s the good news: all the bad public relations … More Hungry? Have a Coke
Yes, faculty sometimes have political conflicts with students, and putting up your dukes is not the answer. But what counts as real harm? And why do universities believe that firing professors who have gotten into hot water sends the right message to their students? I am not saying it is never appropriate to fire or … More Do You Support Melissa Click?
A new report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education wants to make students less anxious and better citizens. In a report entitled “Turning the Tide,” researchers have declared that elite colleges are asking high school students to do too much in order to advance to the next level. Emerging from a multi-institution working group … More Does Harvard’s New Admissions Report Really “Turn the Tide”?
This is a (slightly) shorter version of a presentation I gave eight years ago at the 2008 American Historical Association Conference in Washington, D.C. I wrote it at a time when I had come to terms with some professional challenges. Most immediately, my promotion to full professor gone horribly awry, and as I began to … More From the Electronic Archive: My Second Career at the Same University
Earlier today I sent in a post to a special message board set up by the American Historical Association. The Board is an extension of AHA Communities, and has been created for AHA members to debate matters to be presented at the Business Meeting in advance. (Please note: you cannot access it unless you are a … More We’ve Been Here Before: The HAW Resolution on Israel at AHA
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