HNN Rundowns

Week of June 3, 2013

Up Front

Why MOOCs are Like the Music Industry
Alex Sayf Cummings
Music and MOOCs are both horizontal. That's not necessarily a good thing.
Tags: corporatism, Coursera, MOOCs, music

Coursera Contract with UT System Released; History Chair Says No MOOCs at Knoxville This Fall
David Austin Walsh
And there are no current plans for the history department to provide content for Coursera.
Tags: University of Tennessee, UT Knoxville, Coursera, MOOCs

Historians at MOOC Partner Schools Say Faculty Not Consulted
David Austin Walsh
Department heads at SUNY, UNM, and UNL report the news about Coursera took them by surprise.
Tags: Coursera, higher education, MOOCs, online education

HNN Hot Topics: MOOCs
Tags: higher education, Hot Topics, MOOCs, technology

News at Home

How to Cope with Information Overload
Walter G. Moss
Info overload and future shock are not new phenomenon -- here are some lessons on how to deal from history's greatest philosophers.
Tags: Big Data, future shock, information overload, philosophy

The Triumph of the Working Mother
Stephanie Coontz
Working moms are now the sole breadwinner in nearly 40 percent of households.
Tags: moms, NYT, working class, working moms

News Abroad

Is Erdogan Really a Dictator?
Juan Cole
He may be heavy-handed, but he is a democratically-elected leader...
Tags: Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, protests, Islam

Much Ado About Islands
Gavan McCormack
The Senkaku/Diaoyu flashpoint in the South China Sea is a problem with no easy solutions.
Tags: China, Japan, Senkaku/Diaoyu, Taiwan

Guantanamo Countdown . . .
Josh Brown's Life During Wartime
Time to do something!
Tags: Guantanamo, Gitmo, war on terror, Life During Wartime

Historians & History

How Memory Works: Interview with Psychologist Daniel L. Schacter
Robin Lindley
Why historians need to know the mechanics of the human mind.
Tags: history of medicine, interviews, memory, neuroscience

How to Do Research on the Movies
Thomas Doherty
It doesn't have to be like the Thatcher Library from Citizen Kane.
Tags: archives, film, Hollywood, research

The Real Uncle Tom and the Unknown South He Helped Create
Thomas Fleming
The myth of the impoverished South.
Tags: African American history, slavery, South, Uncle Tom's Cabin

Culture Watch

The Titanic II Sets Sail
Catherine Cocks
That a replica of the Titanic will join the Blue Star Lines is fitting, since the Titanic helped give birth to the modern cruise industry.
Tags: cruise industry, Latin America, Caribbean, tourism

Books

HNN Book of the Month: The Modern American Military -- edited by David M. Kennedy
Tags: David M. Kennedy, book of the month, military history