Author Archives: Timothy Burke

History 8B. Mfecane, Mines and Mandela: Southern Africa from 1600 to 2006

Posted on May 17, 2006 by Timothy Burke

History 8B Mfecane, Mines and Mandela Professor Burke Fall 2006 This course is a survey of the history of Southern Africa, the region of the continent which today includes the nations of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa | 1 Comment

Evil Phish

Posted on May 17, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Has anybody else noticed an upturn in phishing emails that say “You’ve received a postcard from a family member!” but have a link to an executable of some kind? Very nasty bit of social engineering on the part of whomever … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy | 5 Comments

Of Hard-Fought Engagements or Sieges Tremendous What Remains?

Posted on May 16, 2006 by Timothy Burke

I just heard that a former student, Sean Barney, was seriously wounded in Fallujah on May 12th. He’s been sending reports to the organization Third Way since January. All our hopes and best wishes to Sean for his recovery.

Posted in Miscellany | Comments Off on Of Hard-Fought Engagements or Sieges Tremendous What Remains?

Pander Bear

Posted on May 16, 2006 by Timothy Burke

I was and am still no fan of Bill Clinton. Or any of the major Democratic Party leaders of the last fifteen to twenty years, really. But I’m hard-pressed to think of any moment where Clinton pandered to his political … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 9 Comments

American Thinkers, continued

Posted on May 16, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Fantastic suggestions, interesting discussion. If you didn’t read through the comments, the original prompt was, “Who could help the Democratic Party think about a ‘narrative’ that would help the party connect more powerfully with established, deeply historical, strains of thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 22 Comments

Tenure, Costs, Workloads

Posted on May 15, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Quantifying the expense, as well as benefits, of tenure is a dicey business. I’ve been thinking some about Robert Dickeson’s white paper prepared for the Future of Higher Education Commission, which puts a $1 million per faculty member cost on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 7 Comments

American Thinkers

Posted on May 11, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Quick question for you all reading. I’m trying to think of current, living, vital writers, thinkers, public figures, artists, entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, etc., who are uncommonly sensitive to the deep zeitgeist of American life, able to communicate easily and powerfully … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany, Politics | 61 Comments

Bloggers and Journalists

Posted on May 11, 2006 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been thinking a bit about a chance conversation I got involved in at the Social Computing Symposium. There’s so much anxiety among journalists working for mainstream newspapers and magazines about bloggers and blogs. I think a lot of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging | 6 Comments

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium Conclusion

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Clay Shirky closes with some observations. First, too many social spaces online are either too big or too granular in the level of discussion and interactions they promote. What he and his graduate students are working on is to try … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 2 Comments

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 7

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Clay Shirky and Danah Boyd are wrapping up the meeting by collating questions that participants think could profitably be future research questions. Here are some of them: 1) How can we measure the success of different types of online communities? … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy | Comments Off on Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 7