From the monthly archives: November 2011

Yes, You Can Be a Professor

By On 15/11/2011 · 41 Comments

Larry Cebula, a historian at Eastern Washington University who blogs at Northwest History, is telling keen undergrads they should not go to grad school, because they won’t get a job anyway: “The reason you are not going to be a professor is because that job is going away, and yet doctoral programs continue [...]

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Shakespearean Mythbusting II: The Fantasy of Astonishing Erudition

By On 12/11/2011 · 9 Comments

Two weeks ago, I wrote an op-ed arguing, among other things, that Shakespeare was not a notably erudite writer, and was not considered especially learned by his contemporaries or by his admirers for a long time after his death. Some of the responses to the piece took me on a guided tour down the [...]

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Shakespeare Didn’t Have the Internet: Oh Noes!

By On 02/11/2011 · 11 Comments

Thank you, John Orloff, for another history lesson:

There’s no Internet in 1600. He had no library. No books. There were no public libraries. You cannot write about 16th century law accurately because you’re gifted. You can only do that because you understand 16th century law. I just don’t believe the genius theory.

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