Over at “Syndicate,” Dartmouth religion professor Jeremy Sabella has put together a symposium on the Seven Deadly Sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride), the Four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, courage, temperance, and justice), and the theological virtues of […]
intellectual history
The state of Black intellectual history
The Chronicle of Higher Education talks with Vanderbilt University historian Brandon Byrd about his recent article “The Rise of African American Intellectual History.” Here is a taste of the interview: An old-guard intellectual historian like Perry Miller depended almost exclusively […]
Sean Wilentz on Richard Hoftstadter
In the Sean Wilentz interview I posted about yesterday, the Princeton historian told Bill Kristol that mid-20th-century historian Richard Hofstadter may have been one of the few Americans who understood the populism, paranoia, and anti-intellectualism that we see today on […]
The Author’s Corner with Ryan McIlhenny
Ryan C. McIlhenny is an independent scholar living and working in Shanghai, China. This interview is based on his new book, To Preach Deliverance to the Captives: Freedom and Slavery in the Protestant Mind of George Bourne, 1780–1845 (LSU Press, 2020). […]
The Author’s Corner with Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen is the Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This interview is based on her new book, The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History (Oxford University Press, 2019). JF: What led you to write The Ideas […]
Intellectualism and Anti-Intellectualism in the Age of Trump
Here is a taste of Adam Water‘s and E.J. Dionne‘s recent piece at Dissent: “Is Anti-Intellectualism Ever Good for Democracy?” Intellectuals are not entitled to special privileges, and “intellectualism” should not be seen as a superior way of life. But the […]
The Author’s Corner with Adriaan Neele
Adriaan Neele is the Director of the Doctoral Program and Professor of Historical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. This interview is based on his new book, Before Jonathan Edwards: Sources of New England Theology (Oxford University Press, 2019). JF: What inspired […]
The Author’s Corner with Daniel Rodgers
Daniel Rodgers is Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. This interview is based on his new book As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon (Princeton University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to […]
The Civil Rights Movement as an Intellectual Movement
We usually think of the civil rights movement in political, moral, and even religious terms, but we seldom think about it in terms of what historian Joshua Clark Davis calls a “movement for intellectual change.” Here is a taste of […]
Was America Born Capitalist?
We are working hard to get Princeton University historian Daniel Rodgers on the podcast. He is the author of As a City Upon a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon. (He will be featured on the Author’s […]
When and Why Did Catholics Embrace Religious Freedom?
Here is a taste of Dartmouth historian Udi Greenberg‘s piece at the blog of the Journal of the History of Ideas: It can therefore be surprising to remember how recent religious liberty’s popularity is. Few institutions reflect this better than the […]
American Lonesome
I just learned about Gavin Cologne-Brookes new study of Bruce Springsteen’s music, American Lonesome: The Work of Bruce Springsteen. LSU Press will publish it in November. Here is a description from the LSU Press website: American Lonesome: The Work of Bruce […]
Are Catholics the “Brains” of the Christian Right?
Check out Gene Zubovich’s piece at Aeon titled “Evangelicals bring the votes, Catholics bring the brains.” I think he is largely correct. When evangelicals mobilised politically in the 1970s and declared a ‘culture war’ against the menace of secularism, they […]
The Author’s Corner with Cameron Strang
Cameron B. Strang is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada-Reno. This interview is based on his recently released book Frontiers of Science: Imperialism and Natural Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, 1500-1850 (Omohundro Institute/University of North Carolina Press, […]
The Author’s Corner with Jonathan Clark
Jonathan Clark is Hall Distinguished Professor of British History at the University of Kansas. This interview is based on his new book, Thomas Paine: Britain, America, and France in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2018). JF: What led […]
Kevin Hayes’s *George Washington: A Life in Books* Wins the 2018 George Washington Book Prize
Congrats to Kevin Hayes. Click here for our Author’s Corner interview with Hayes. Here is the Mount Vernon press release: MOUNT VERNON, VA – Author and historian Kevin J. Hayes has won the coveted George Washington Prize, including an award of […]
Marx in America
The U.S. Intellectual History blog is running a fascinating interview with historian Andrew Hartman about his current research on Karl Marx’s influence on the United States. The interview was conducted by Slagmark, a Danish intellectual history journal. Here is a small […]
Missionaries in the “Era of Good Feelings”
On Tuesday, we called your attention to Sara Georgini’s series on the “Era of Good Feelings” at the U.S. Intellectual History Blog. The series continues with a piece by Emily Conroy-Krutz of Michigan State University. Some of you may recall […]
The Society for U.S. Intellectual History Releases 2017 Conference Schedule
As usual, it’s a great lineup. The meeting will take place October 26-29, 2017 in Dallas. Good to see so many friends of The Way of Improvement Leads Home on the program. Here are the plenaries: Opening Plenary: “Public History […]
The Author’s Corner with Kevin J. Hayes
Kevin J. Hayes, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma, now lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio. This interview is based on his new book, George Washington, A Life in Books (Oxford University Press, 2017). JF: What […]