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Cliopatria

  • Aug 31, 2005

    Rebuilding New Orleans

    by Cliopatria

    The waters are still rising in New Orleans. Death is all too present, and there are too many demonstrations in the flooded streets of the old Hobbesian wisdom that days without food and electricity can crack the shell of civilization. Refugees, and I do not use the word lightly, are scattered out in a rough semi-circle surrounding the stricken coast. I can do little to stem the ugliness in any of that that.

    So I wish to start—if no one else has—a new discussion. How to rebuild New Orle

  • Aug 31, 2005

    The Earth Remains Flat

    by Cliopatria

    Dr. Miller's data reveal some yawning gaps in basic knowledge. American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.

    Jon D. Miller

  • Aug 31, 2005

    Did Public Opinion Really Shift After Tet?

    by Cliopatria

    Recently, the media have been referring to Tet, the North Vietnamese offensive of 1968, as a turning point in the Vietnam War--and the anti-war movement. But as Stanley Karnow suggested in his history of Vietnam a quarter century ago, the polls reflected a more complicated picture.

    After the war, in an angry tirade against the press, General Westmoreland alleged that voluminous, luri

  • Aug 31, 2005

    Three New Books Provide In-Depth Assessment of New York City's Recovery

    by Cliopatria

    NEW YORK, Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, altered the political, social, and economic landscape of the United States and the world. On that day, thousands of lives were lost, the structure of the U.S. economy was shaken, and the bonds of community in a multicultural world were put to the test. Shortly after the attacks, the Russell Sage Foundation convened a special Working Group made up of distinguished economists, political scientists, and soci
  • Aug 31, 2005

    Nothing of importance: a prayer of sorts.

    by Cliopatria

    In Wisconsin, in January 1853, Governor Leonard Farwell began his annual message to the legislature with this statement: “Since your last session, nothing has transpired, of extraordinary importance, in the civil affairs of the state.”

    Isn’t that glorious? You know immediately that the rest of the message will be of good cheer, and it is of good cheer. The weather has been fine, the land fertile, the markets good, and the “emigrants” (to use the parlance of the time) keep coming a
  • Aug 30, 2005

    A Feast of Carnivals

    by Cliopatria

    History Carnival ButtonThe next History Carnival will be hosted on 1 September by Jeremy Boggs at Clioweb. Entries may be focused on a historical topic, reflections on the particular challenges and rewards of studying, researching and teaching history, r
  • Aug 30, 2005

    The first twenty minutes

    by Cliopatria

    Yesterday was the first day of class for the Introduction to U. S. History that I am teaching this fall. (Here's the syllabus I'm using; suggestions for future iterations are welcome!)

    In all of the classes that I've taught so far, I've tried to follow this rule of thumb: On the first day of class, do not pass out the syllabus until halfway through the period. It's my belief that for t
  • Aug 30, 2005

    Some More Noted Things

    by Cliopatria

    Marc Weingarten's"Book Says Alan Lomax Neglected Black Scholars," New York Times, 29 August, raises important questions about the development of American folklore as a field of study. It also points to the work of some African American scholars who deserve greater recognition. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

    You may not want to remember, but David Corn has the courage to say it:"