No comments about The Intellectual Venture Capitalist: John H. McArthur and the Work of the Harvard Business School, 1980-1995.

1 comments about Tolerating the Intolerable: DePauw University's war against Janis Price.

1. Diversity and Tolerance are terms thrown around by people who seek hate and discrimination. For years minorities have rightfully cried out against racial, sexual, and religious hate crimes. I do not mean to say that these atrocities no longer exist, but they surely have withered exponentially. What has arisen in their place is a new type of discrimination. Those who were hated against have turned their anger toward groups that have been respected throughout time for their genorosity, love, and compasion. Christianity has always been a respected religion, and has dominated culture for two thousand years. The fact is that lately Christianity has been shunned, covered and dismantled by institutions flying under the banner of acceptance and diversity.
   
   Shively's book outlines one of many cases where a person was discriminated against for being Christian. Culture today has found it difficult to grasp the concept of intolerance as it relates to old ideas and establishments. The fact that this teacher was repremanded for presenting a negative view of homosexuality in a uninteded and altogether un-threatening way is unbelievable.
   
   This is an important testimony to a new type of intolerance and hate crime. A discrimination that is the essence of retaliation and this is a story that must be told. Whether you agree with the professor or not, you must realize that the university clearly stepped over its bounds.
   
   In regards to the writing itself, the book was well crafted and intelligent. The author is creative, and his journalistic tequiniques are top notch. I look forward to Jeffrey Shiveley's next project (if there is one).

1 comments about My Name's Not Susie: A Life Transformed by Literacy.

1. Anyone who feels that literacy has changed their life should read this book. The author tells of her heart-wrenching, lonely existence as an abused child who was shuttled from one foster home to another until she was adopted by a woman who opened her eyes to the world of reading. The author was able to overcome her less than auspicious beginning to become a professor of English at IUPUI. This story could have been told with much melodrama, but the author tells it in an extremely honest manner and lets the drama of the story come through naturally. She does not beg for sympathy for the circumstances of her childhood. She simply tells the readers how literacy brought her out of a miserable existence and makes a connection with her readers that will, at least for this reader, last forever.

1 comments about Studies on Modern Scholarship.

1. First, please note that Amazon has put in the wrong book descriptions here. This is *not* a book by Bowersock, about pagan fiction. [Perhaps that is Bowersock's "Fiction As History"]. What "Studies" is is a posthumous collection of academic articles about historians, written by Arnaldo Momigliano (and *edited* by Bowersock and Cornell).

   Momigliano was an eminent historian. He received the MacArthur "Genius" award in 1987, while a visting professor at the Univ. of Chicago. He died later that year. One of Momigliano's passions was writing biographical studies of historians, such as those collected here.

   The historians covered in each essay are: Creuzer, Grote, Rostovtzeff, Burckhardt, De Sanctis, Syme, Croce, Beloch, Bernays, Droysen, Coulanges, Reinhardt, Eduard Schwartz, E. A. Freeman, Eduard Meyer, Niebuhr, Dumezil, Muller, and Bachofen. The essays are presented in order in which they were written, from 1946 until Momigliano's death.

   I have in fact only read chapter 16 so far ("New Paths of Classicism in the Nineteenth Century"), and appreciated it greatly. I felt compelled to put in an accurate description of the book's contents because Amazon had so clearly made a mistake. When I can finish the whole book I hope to write a more complete review.

1 comments about Looking For Daylight.

1. I was not asked to write this. I was called to the task because I know of Dr. Arthur DeRosier well enough to know that he will, always, downplay the significance of his presence in the course of history. I suppose, as a historian, he knows no other way. As a man of generous spirit and intense passion for the survival of vibrant educational institutions, he's simply never slowed till now to reflect on how his life has intersected with those of family member, students, staff, community members and colleagues, among others. It matters not whether you are a novice or veteran of academia. The message is clear - there is more to be done, more to be learned, and more thoughtful ways to proceed. Read this book carefully, with mind and heart open for it deserves nothing less. There is no better man for the job of educating future presidents [and leaders of all genres].

2 comments about Confronting History: A Memoir.

1. Bravo! Anyone who was ever a student or admirer of George Mosse will love this book. It is a wonderful, historical chronicle of Professor Mosse's family, his life and his career that is written as if he had spoken it.

   For someone who lived such a long, interesting life, this autobiography is rather short. (200 pages or so.) What this means, is that the reader gets a great overview of all the different phases of Professor Mosse's life, without having to read through long, tedious chapters about things that aren't that compelling.

   Furthermore, he treats the various angles of his life with equal merit. He writes about the Germany of his youth, his schooling, his family, exile, college, grad school and then life as a historian. With equal weight, he also writes about his status as an outsider, both as a Jew and a homosexual. His discussion of his homosexuality is probably groundbreaking in the sense that he is so adept at placing his feelings and actions in a historical context.

   "Confronting History" brought Professor Mosse back to life for me. I could hear him talking, laughing, and pondering the various choices he made. He was someone who was refreshingly humble, and his lack of pomposity comes shining through in this great final gift he left for all of the many, many people who knew him and loved him.




2. I enjoyed reading this book and am sure will re-read it later on as I grow older. I admire his resolve to overcome adversaries. The book followed his distinguished professional career well, but I do long more for the personal side of his life. I want to know whethter his sexuality influenced his research and career, what the life was like growing up in a 'male' German culture, etc. I do hope there will be a more complete biography of him in he future that covers all aspects of his life.

No comments about Growing Up" Teaching: From Personal Knowledge to Professional Practice.

No comments about On Education.

No comments about Teachers and Mentors: Profiles of Distinguished Twentieth-Century Professors of Education (Garland Reference Library of Social Science).

2 comments about George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith in His Own Words.

1. George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith in His Own Words is a short book of biography and quotes from this great Christian man. The book is compiled and written by St. Louis author William Federer. This is a labor of love for Federer who remembers as a child receiving a book about Carver that inspired him to emulate the character traits of the former slave.
   
   Did you know Missouri can count George Washington Carver as one of our own? After the death of his parents, George was raised by Mr. and Mrs. Moses Carver, residents of Diamond Grove Missouri. He attended school in Neosho, Missouri as well as a business college in Kansas City.
   
   Carver's story is inspirational because of the incredible obstacles he had to overcome, and because of his deep faith in Jesus Christ. He was born into slavery, experienced the loss of most of his family, felt the sting of poverty, and encountered door-closing racism. However, before his life was over, Carver was an internationally known chemist who advised Presidents and Congress, and was offered jobs by prominent men like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. His great mission in life was to help bring education and moral uplift to those less fortunate.
   
   Carver is best known for discovering hundreds of uses for the peanut, which in turn gave the post-Civil War South a soil-replenishing crop that could be turned into a viable economic future. His horticultural discoveries took place at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, led by Booker T. Washington. He would teach his students in the classroom, but also journey out to the poor farmers, instructing them on how to take care of the soil.
   
   The particular focus of Federer's book is the spiritual life of Carver. By reading the private letters Carver sent to his friends, we are able to discover the spiritual depth and passion of the man. In 1921, Carver addressed the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee regarding the endless uses of the peanut. At the end of his address, the chairman asked:
   
   "Dr. Carver how did you learn all of these things?"
   
   Carver answered, "From an old book."
   
   "What book?" asked the chairman.
   
   Carver replied, "The Bible."
   
   The chairman inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?"
   
   "No, sir" Dr. Carver replied, "But it tells me about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did."
   
   Such anecdotes reveal two of the character traits of Carver. First, he had a deep respect for God and His Word. Second, he believed that hard work and personal industry was often the divine means by which God brought blessing to His people.
   
   Carver's faith was rooted in Christ. He wrote to a friend saying, "Oh how I wish the people would awake up from their lethargy and come out soul and body for Christ." Speaking of his students, Carver said, `I want them to find Jesus, and make Him a daily and hourly part of themselves." When asked about the secret of his success in life, he responded by saying, "It is simple. It is found in the Bible, `In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."
   
   George Washington Carver was truly a great Christian and American citizen. This book by William Federer makes an excellent companion piece to some of the longer biographies of Carver. Put it in the hands of young men and women, and you will be giving them an opportunity to find inspiration from the life of a man committed to God.



2. This is a much more hopeful and truthful book then the George Washington Carver book written by Gary R. Kremer. I was just starting to enjoy reading this book when all of a sudden, it ended abruptly (it's only 104 pages long). Maybe someday someone will write a lengthy and deep biography on this kind and gentle man.