Still More Noted
It's been quite a while at Cliopatria since we've discussed re-enactment asa way of doing history, but here's an interesting NYTimes video of World War II re-enactors gathered in June at Reading, Pennsylvania. Thanks to Jon Dresner for the tip.
Marc Lynch (aka Abu Aardvark) has two very thoughtful posts on the current crisis on the Israeli borders:"Arabs Watching Helplessly"; and"Arab Foreign Ministers Conference." Posts by Palestinian, Israeli, and Lebanese bloggers on the current crisis in the region are aggregated at The Truth Laid Bear.
Responding to a NYTimes series about female college students generally outperforming their male colleagues, a lecturer in history at Georgia State, Ellen G. Rafshoon, writes:
During the last three years, I have taught hundreds of students in introductory college history classes, and I can confirm that my female students usually perform better and work harder.
But there has been a notable exception: male military veterans. Returning soldiers have been among my best students: responsible, respectful, diligent and engaged. They bring their worldliness to the classroom, enriching the educational experience for the other students.
I'm not advising universal military service, though it appears to work wonders for some young men. But maybe young men shouldn't be rushed into going off to college at 18, just as most young women are no longer advised to marry young.
That seems right to me. It's one reason I told one of my male advisees at Antioch to quit wasting his father's money and join the army. That was very unpopular advice at politically-correct and tuition-driven Antioch, where we had a whole dormitory of male students given over primarily to alcohol and drugs. Military service can teach young men that the world is a serious place and that it's best engaged with some sense of discipline.