Category Archives: Production of History

Looking Backward

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been fiddling with the syllabus for my Image of Africa class, which I am to teach this fall for the first time in a while. No course in my repertoire has changed as much in my underlying assumptions about … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Production of History | 22 Comments

Africans and the Slave Trade

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Timothy Burke

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks, as the last half of April so often is. Usually that leaves me with a mind like a blown-out tire for the week where everything calms down, and this year has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Production of History | 2 Comments

Literacy Quizzes (Again)

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Timothy Burke

There is probably no point whatsoever to a critique of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s civics literacy quiz (via 11d), but hope springs eternal, I guess. First off, my generic criticisms of these kinds of historic or social-science literacy quizzes. Usually, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Cleaning Out the Augean Stables, Politics, Production of History | 5 Comments

Hester Prynne, Schmester Prynne, or Sarah Palin’s Ressentiment Clubhouse

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Timothy Burke

A friend of mine recently remarked that her 16-year old was frustrated by having to read The Scarlet Letter and other works of classic literature being pushed at him in his high school English class. She’s helping him stick to … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics, Production of History | 9 Comments

Reading the Not-Yet

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Timothy Burke

I really like John Holbo’s point about teaching Descartes’ actual writings as an introduction to “modern philosophy” in this Crooked Timber post. There’s a general pedagogical point here about intellectual history. When we teach canonical texts that are commonly held … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Production of History | 3 Comments

Anatomy of a Search

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Timothy Burke

If there’s anything that I think needs to be learned through experience or through directly witnessing the experience of others, it’s online information-seeking. I don’t think you can give a useful general description of how to search that a student … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Production of History | 7 Comments

The Microhistorical Unknown

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Timothy Burke

In some forthcoming work, I’ve argued that historians tend to overinterpret or misread silences in archival records, seeing instrumental or intentional erasures of knowledge instead of the incidental accidents or the peculiar character of modern archival culture. I suggest that … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Production of History | 5 Comments

Nobody Expects the Black Swans?

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Timothy Burke

I liked The Black Swan better than John Holbo and much of the Crooked Timber commentariat. But I completely agree with a lot of the criticisms. The book itself is not a good read because Taleb gets so caught up … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Miscellany, Production of History | 4 Comments

Save the Giblets

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Historic preservation societies and their campaigns to save particular buildings or landmarks make me a little uncomfortable at times. There are four basic rationales for historic preservation. Some advocacy groups work with all four, others have a very exclusive preference … Continue reading →

Posted in Production of History | 6 Comments

Oh the Humanities

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Timothy Burke

Patricia Cohen has an odd article in the Arts section of the New York Times today titled, “In Tough Times, Humanities Must Justify Their Worth”. It seems odd to me because in substantial measure, you could have published a similar … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Popular Culture, Production of History | 7 Comments