Category Archives: Popular Culture

There Are More Things on Heaven and Earth Than Dreamt of in Your Critique

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Timothy Burke

Just back from some research work that took up my energy for writing and thinking, I spent some time catching up on blogs and social media. I followed one link out from a Facebook friend to Paul Mullins’ excellent Archaeology … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Popular Culture, Production of History | 8 Comments

On Lincoln and Accuracy

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Timothy Burke

A Facebook friend of mine directed my attention to Eric Foner’s evaluation of the film Lincoln. Foner likes the film somewhat, but complains that it is inaccurate in some important respects. Foner comments, “The emancipation of the slaves is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Popular Culture | 3 Comments

Missing Men

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Timothy Burke

Via Ta-Nehisi Coates, Andrew Wheeler’s smart take on DC Comics’ conceptual failures in its “New 52” relaunch of its intellectual property. (For another good analysis, see Laura Hudson’s essay at Comics Alliance.) For folks who don’t follow the comics, well, … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 7 Comments

What Meets in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Timothy Burke

I wouldn’t quite say I was surprised at this report of unrest within the American Sociological Association over the choice of Las Vegas as the location for the 2011 meeting. And I’m fairly certain that some of the more extreme … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities, Good Quote, Bad Quote, Popular Culture | 6 Comments

Some Small Ideas About Big Ideas

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Timothy Burke

At first, I thought that Neal Gabler was singing my song in his ode (and eulogy) to the “Big Idea”. Part of his argument turns on a familiar theme at this blog, that overspecialization has its costs, and that one … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Popular Culture, Production of History | 1 Comment

Out, Out Damned Spot

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Timothy Burke

Is there anything more grating than an interpretation whose language slips and innocently anoints its analysis with the status of a fact? I’m sure I noticed this pattern in the letters to the editor in this week’s New York Times … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Games and Gaming, Popular Culture | 6 Comments

Escaping the Maze by Unplanned Routes

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Timothy Burke

I’ve been trying to think of what to say about the “reboot” of DC Comics’ line of published titles that has generated so much talk among comics bloggers and commenters. On one level, purely as a consumer, I’m just kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 2 Comments

Generalist’s Work, Day 5

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Timothy Burke

My colleague Richard Eldridge has written intricately about “the persistence of romanticism”, and defended romanticism in literature and philosophy against some of the more common criticisms. In humanistic writing, I’m struck by the sometimes uncomfortable mixing of a romanticist vision … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Digital Humanities, Generalist's Work, Popular Culture | 2 Comments

A Generalist’s Work, Day 2

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Timothy Burke

Tom De Haven’s Our Hero: Superman on Earth was one of my accidental discoveries this semester, arising out of trying to help a student in my counterfactual history class with her really interesting project. I have a long-standing engagement with … Continue reading →

Posted in Generalist's Work, Popular Culture | 2 Comments

The Non-Science That Explains What’s Wrong with Science Explaining Non-Belief in Science

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Timothy Burke

I’ve found Chris Mooney’s past work on the politics of science and on scientific literacy interesting, but there is something that gently grates on me in his Mother Jones essay published last week. In the essay, Mooney reviews arguments from … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics, Popular Culture | Comments Off