Interviews, News, and Featured Scholarship

On the Misery of the Academic Job Cycle

(Note: This appeared as an article in the Middle East Studies Association’s IMES newsletter. I'm reproducing it here with a few edits.)...

Rules to Write By

Academic writing doesn't have to be awful. It usually is, of course, but there is nothing inevitable about that. Most of us who make it...

The Art of Cover Art and the Making of History (Books)

Historians like to think that our craft is a solitary process. We lurk about in musty archives and poorly lit libraries for years,...

The Curse of the West in Global History

Does Western domination HAVE to cast a shadow over non-Western history? This week, I want to look at an idea that came to me as I read...

The Proper Handling and Care of Primary Sources

So you've decided to dabble in primary sources. Congratulations! For many of us, this was one of a string of poor decisions that led us...