Category Archives: Personal

The Tragedy, and Promise, of Adjunct Instructors

Posted on June 17, 2013 by

More and more universities and colleges are employing adjunct instructors in numbers that are troubling for those who are concerned about students, the institutions where they work, and the future of education in the United States. The instructors are poorly … Continue reading →

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Event Announcement: The Space Program under Presidents Nixon and Ford

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

All are invited to the open forum at noon on Thursday, June 13, 2013 at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. Roger Launius, senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Cold War Competition, History, Lunar Exploration, Personal, Politics, Space, Space Shuttle | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wednesday’s Book Review: “Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America”

Posted on May 29, 2013 by

Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America. By James Davison Hunter. New York: Basic Books, 1992. Since I mentioned this book in last week’s Wednesday book review, I thought it was appropriate … Continue reading →

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Redirect: “The Impact of Sally Ride’s Contributions in Space and Education”

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

On Friday, May 17, 2013, we held at the National Air and Space Museum here in Washington, D.C., a wonderful program on Sally Ride and her place in the history of spaceflight and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. … Continue reading →

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Interpreting the Decision to Build the Space Shuttle

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

Wernher von Braun once supposedly told his colleagues: “We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.” Whether true or not the statement reflects what has been viewed for the last forty years as one of the traditional difficulties … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Personal, Politics, Science, Space, Space Shuttle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Wednesday’s Book Review: “Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down”

Posted on April 17, 2013 by

Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down. By Dave Zirin. New York: The New Press, 2013. Dave Zirin does certainly not have writer’s block. He has been churning out books virtually every year since 2005 when … Continue reading →

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The Place of Theater Re-Creations in Museums

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

I would like to call your attention to an article by Susan Evans, “Personal Beliefs and National Stories: Theater in Museums as a Tool for Exploring Historical Memory.” Just published paper in April 2013 issue of Curator: The Museum Journal. This is … Continue reading →

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Wednesday’s Book Review: “Billy the Kid: His Life and Legend”

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

Billy the Kid: His Life and Legend. By Jon Tuska. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994. Originally Published by Greenwood Press, 1994. I first read Jon Tuska’s The American West in Film, in 1988 and found the sophistication of … Continue reading →

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Roger’s List of the Five Worst Pictures to Win the Oscar for Best Picture

Posted on March 11, 2013 by

I just re-watched Forrest Gump and that raised in my mind, what are my top (bottom) five films to win the Oscar for Best Picture that didn’t deserve it. I know this is a subjective list, and I’m happy to entertain … Continue reading →

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Interesting Study Issued: “Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Historians”

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

Ithaka S+R has issued a report funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities that will be of interest to historians and other social science scholars entitled, “Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Historians.” It deals with standards and practices … Continue reading →

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