Report on Employer View of Higher Education

 The AACU has released a new study on what employers value from higher education, including students who major in the liberal arts. You can read see it here.

Summer Internship Available at American Historical Association

 

The American Historical Association is seeking undergraduate students to work remotely as interns during the summer semester. AHA interns work on a variety of projects and gain insight into historical and nonprofit work. Students will be matched with an AHA staff member who will mentor and oversee their work. They will have an opportunity to attend departmental and general staff meetings and to learn about the day-to-day work of the world's largest professional association of historians. Accepted interns will need to receive either a stipend or course credit from their home institutions; we understand this is not possible in many cases, but we cannot accept an intern who receives neither stipend nor course credit. Hours are negotiable, though we are estimating approximately a 10-20 hour/week commitment during the summer, depending on the student's schedule.  In their cover letter, interested candidates should indicate which department and/or project they are most interested in working with and any relevant experiences. Academic & Professional Affairs:  An intern will assist with a project updating the Where Historians Work database. Experience with the Tableau software program is desirable.  An intern will assist with the analysis of survey data collected by the AHA's Survey of Doctoral Programs. Experience analyzing qualitative data is preferred. Marketing:  2-4 interns will work with the AHA marketing team to collect email addresses of history faculty and graduate students to contact and recruit for AHA membership. Because of the type of work involved, the ideal candidate for this internship is a history major or minor with an interest in nonprofit management, marketing, economics, or business. Interns should also have a basic familiarity with websites and HTML. Research & Publications:  An intern will assist with work analyzing past Perspectives on History articles and collecting and analyzing survey data.  Applications are due Monday, April 19. Interested candidates should upload a 1-page cover letter describing their interest in the internship, a CV or resume, and contact information for 2 references. Please upload these items as a single application file. How to apply: Log into your MY AHA account. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free. Click "Available Application Forms" in the AHA Awards, Grants, and Jobs section. Click on the "AHA Internship" link and upload your application. Please contact Alexandra Levy, AHA's web and social media coordinator, with any questions. Many thanks.

Jandoli Institute taps experts for project on speeches

Phillip Payne contributed to this fine effort by our colleagues at the Jandoli Institute.

 

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., March 31, 2021 — The Jandoli Institute has launched a new project that identifies the qualities of good speeches.

 “We reached out to people who deliver speeches, people who write speeches, people who cover speeches and people who study speeches,” said Richard Lee, the institute’s executive director.

 The project, “Figures in Speech,” features written comments and videos from 11 individuals with expertise on speeches. All suggestions are posted on the institute website at jandoli.net.

 Among those who provided the institute with their ideas for good speeches were U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Buffalo News political reporter Robert McCarthy, Robert H. Jackson Center president Kristan McMahon, presidential scholar Michael Riccards and former U.S. Rep. James Walsh.

 Starting next week, the institute will highlight one participant’s suggestions on a weekly basis.

 Lee said the institute developed the project to provide an alternative to the partisan responses that generally follow major speeches such as the State of the Union address.

 “Reactions to political speeches are predictable, so we decided it would be more valuable to tap experts and share their advice,” he said. “Our goal is to provide a resource for those who write and deliver speeches.”

 The Jandoli Institute serves as a forum for academic research, creative ideas and discussion on the intersection between media and democracy. The institute, accessible at jandoli.net, is part of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University.

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 About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. In 2020, St. Bonaventure was named the #2 regional university value in New York and #3 in the North by U.S. News and World Report.

 

History 419: Digital History and Archival Practices

 Phillip Payne and Dennis Frank are offering History 419: Digital History and Archival Practices next fall. If you like getting your hands dirty doing original archival work on the history of St. Bonaventure University, creating any number of cool digital products this is the class for you. We've made podcasts, maps, web pages and much more in the past.

Push for more history and civics education

History is an excellent way to understand civics, not only the nuts and bolts of government but the difficulties and nuances of democracy and republican governments. We've got a lot of classes that cover this.  Here is a story from the Washington Post about an initiative to teach more civics and history, and to do a better job teaching them.

 

The Great Depression - then and now?

In 2019, the pandemic crashed the economy creating a great deal of uncertainty about the future.  HOw long would it last?  What would be the long-term consequences?  Would the recovery be V shaped, K shaped or something else?  The crisis didn't hit all parts of society equally; social justice issues already being debated intensified.

How should our leadership respond?  What is the role of the government?  Economic Stimulus?  Calling for sacrifice?  Try something new?  Deficit spending?  Modern Monetary Theory?  Universal Basic Income?

We've had these debates before.  During the Great Depressions Americans debated how to respond to an economic collapse accompanied by other disasters.  The details differ, but many of the big themes remain.  Economic orthodoxy of Keynesian economics? Raise tariffs?  Stay on the gold standard?  Provide economic relief?  

Like now, the crisis changed society and brought existing conditions into the light.  Families were under stress.  Jim Crow segregation presented a real challenge to recovery efforts.

The Great Depression changed American politics, economics, and society.  What lessons can we learn for today?  Take the special topics course, the Great Depression taught by Phillip Payne.

  

American Tapestry and the Culture Wars

 Andrew Roth, former interim president of SBU, has started a podcast called The American Tapestry Project. You can find it on most podcast apps including NPR One. The web page is https://www.npr.org/.../910.../the-american-tapestry-project Students who took my culture wars course and public history course will hear familiar themes. He visited with both classes.