Category Archives: Academia

No Fig Leaves

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Going to try and catch up on a lot of blogging today. I just had a horrible week-and-a-half cold that really sidelined me. —————– Let’s start with the University of Virginia controversy. After reading Siva Vaidhyanathan’s commentary in Slate, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 6 Comments

From the Archives

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Working on a new project, first time I’ve been in a Presidential library archive (LBJ’s in this case). Always fun. Really fell in love with the summaries from weekly intelligence briefings on the Congo during the 1960s. Around 1964, they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Production of History | 2 Comments

Discharging Responsibilities

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Luke Mogelson’s excellent New York Times Magazine profile of emergency medicine in Afghanistan is in some ways an exercise in indirection. At first, it looks like it’s going to be entirely an admiring profile of the admirable Italian NGO Emergency … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics | Comments Off on Discharging Responsibilities

Crashing the Pity Party

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Timothy Burke

If you’re genuinely interested in a critique of Black Studies (or similarly constructed interdisciplinary or identity-based programs of study), don’t give into the temptation of making a martyr out of a blogger whose real mistake was a lack of intellectual … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Politics | 10 Comments

Good

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Thank you to the Chronicle.

Posted in Academia | 2 Comments

One Eyeball More

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Timothy Burke

To Mark Bauerlein: 1. Bauerlein can’t even bring himself to say, “Hey, it’s not cool to attack dissertations you haven’t read in a field that you preemptively deem uninteresting about subjects that you aggressively maintain could never be of any … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 2 Comments

The Shameless Style

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Timothy Burke

When people feel no shame, watch out. Any cultural or political system that depends on participants living up to minimal commitments for quality, integrity, or diligence where there are no consequences besides embarassment for outright discarding those commitments can thrive … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Cleaning Out the Augean Stables, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 4 Comments

The Four-Year Itch

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Timothy Burke

We have a group of very smart, energetic, interesting students asking the college to divest from a list of fossil fuel companies. This puts me in the somewhat predictable situation of being the guy who fought for a cause when … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Politics, Swarthmore | 6 Comments

TL;DR for Historical Scholarship

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Because all the cool kids are doing it, let me dash off a quick thought on William Cronon’s essay “Professional Boredom”. I’m very sympathetic with Cronon’s reasoning on almost every point, particularly with his sense that what ought to matter … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities | 7 Comments

Debt: The First 500 Comments At Crooked Timber

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Timothy Burke

Some years ago, I was talking with a senior scholar that I had known well while I was in graduate school and in my early career. This person’s scholarly work is amazing stuff, a huge presence in African history, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Generalist's Work, Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System | 13 Comments