Now it definitely feels like I’m working more than I should on Labor Day, but one more labor-related nugget comes to us courtesy of the blog Retronaut: a manual published during World War II to help the (male) managers of RCA factories know how to deal with the women flooding into the industrial workplace while … More “When You Supervise a Woman”: Management Advice from WWII
Even before I set out to look at how the First World War has been commemorated here in Minnesota, I assumed that the vast majority of Twin Citians would be hard-pressed to identify a single WWI memorial in the metro area. Even those who drive, bike, jog, and walk on or along Victory Memorial Drive … More Commemorating WWI in Minnesota: Overshadowed by WWII
It’s tricky, but here’s how to tell the difference between me and Aaron Sorkin, creator of the new HBO series The Newsroom. We both possess honors that have eluded the other: I don’t have an Emmy or an Oscar, but he doesn’t have a teaching award from Bethel University or a “Best Daddy Ever” card … More Aaron Sorkin (and I) Love the 1940s
I’m still eighteen months away from teaching my new World War II history course for the first time, but I’ve been thinking about it this week after reading an interview with master spy novelist Alan Furst (whose new book, Mission to Paris, will surely appear on my summer reading list when it comes out next week). … More Moral Histories of World War II
Here • I walked into church last Sunday and a friend of mine warned me not to read an op-ed piece in the St. Paul paper. Turns out it was David Levy’s half-baked critique of college teaching, which provided an opportunity to vent more than a little spleen to start the week. • In that … More That Was The Week That Was
Here • I didn’t write as much here as I would have liked because I was grading a set of midterm exams. (More of that to come next week.) But I did pause/procrastinate long enough to complain about grading, so that’s something… • Plus… Why our mission in the Bethel History Department seems in keeping … More That Was The Week That Was
Here I still think I might want to visit a Charles Dickens amusement park, chemical smell-pots and the Pizza Hut notwithstanding. I put the cart before the horse slightly and speculated from where a “Pietist vision” would come — without actually describing said “Pietist vision.” The last part in my series on World War I … More That Was The Week That Was
Belatedly (and too quickly), let me wrap up this series on European museums and their role in presenting the history of the First World War. (Read the first post here.) In previous posts, I’ve employed Jay Winter’s phrase “cathedrals of the modern world” as an especially lofty vision of what museums could or should be. Today … More “Cathedrals of the Modern World”: Paris and Ieper
When I take students to Europe next January to study the history of World War I, we’ll close the journey (as my wife and I did this month) in Munich — primarily to consider how WWI led to the rise of fascist movements and thence to World War II and the Holocaust. But we’ll also … More Commemorating WWI: Munich
So here it is, December 30th, the sixth day of Christmas. And I know what you’re thinking: “Where am I going to find six geese for my true love? *Do geese even lay eggs in late December?” (See end of post for answer.) And adding to the problem, yesterday’s five gold rings didn’t come cheap … More The Sixth Day of Christmas
The Pietist Schoolman 