From Academia to a Think Tank: Reflections on How to Be Lucky

From Academia to a Think Tank: Reflections on How to Be Lucky, American Historical Association's Perspectives, December 2014, "So the American academy is reaping what it has sowed. All it has to do to drive more of its graduates away is to keep on doing what it’s done for the past 40 years. The alternative to the status quo, therefore, isn’t nonacademic jobs. That’s today’s reality. The alternative is for the academy to stop relying on luck and instead make an effort to do preparation for nonacademic jobs right."

Special Interests At Work

The American Historical Association and Civics Education, Contentions, February 20, 2011. "The American Historical Association is propagandizing to save the Teaching American History (TAH) Grant Program and Civic Education funding from the 2011 axe of the House of Representatives. As their e-mail to members puts it: 'To help our nation’s schools meet their civic mission to help students understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens, Congress should retain the Teaching American History Grants program and maintain federal funding support for civic education, while making the civics grants competitive.' "

Citizenship and Historians

Historians and Civic Responsibility, Contentions, January 18, 2011. "The American Historical Association is on a roll. Last month, I felt compelled to read not one but two articles in its monthly newsmagazine, Perspectives on History. This month, the count is two again. Next thing you know, they’ll be hiring British historians in the academy. Well, let’s not get carried away."

Too Many Academics?

Peace Studies and the Historical Profession, Contentions, December 20, 2010. "I don’t say this very often – heck, I’m not sure I’ve ever said it – but the latest issue of Perspectives on History, the American Historical Association’s monthly newsmagazine, contains an interesting article. In fact, it contains two of them, both of which gain additional interest when coupled with recent events in Britain and a piece in the latest Economist on “The Disposable Academic.” The only question is whether the Economist is describing reality or offering a preference."