Tue 14 Feb 2006
In our discussion of the History Department, I predicted that when Professor James Wood retires in a few years, the department will not replace him with a new hire who specializes in the history of warfare. Another alum wrote:
Professor Wood is awesome — and surely the importance of his field is pretty well realized, no?
It is a sad day when you can feel so confident that Williams will sell us short, David. I wonder if this is worth a letter to the alumni mag, and maybe the class reps? For my info - what are you basing this prediction on?
History, what else? It used to be a given that Williams would have one historian specializing in US diplomatic history. That spot was formerly filled by my professor, William Russell Bostert and then by KC Johnson. It was not filled after his departure. Williams no longer has a spot for US diplomatic histort, or even any diplomatic historian.
Now Wood is someone that I have tangled with in the past, but there can be no doubt that he is an excellent professor teaching in an fascinating field with significant student interest. But the College is, more and more, going the Hu-DeHart route of picking fields to hire from in which most candidates will be a deeper shade of purple. Say what you will about military history, but, if you believe Du-DeHart, Williams need no longer offer courses in it. There is also a broader trend in the field, not specific to Williams, in which social history is more and more valued. See KC Johnson for more.
My purpose today is not to enter that debate. Indeed, if students are more interested in studying topic X, then topic Y, I think that the College ought to teach X. But a glance at the course offerings this year suggests that, at the least, the College is not offering too many courses in diplomatic history, US or otherwise.
But, as always, it is an empirical question. If Williams does hire a military historian to replace Wood, I will be the first to admit my mistake. Don’t hold your breath.
UPDATE: My mistake! As James McAllister kindly informs us in the comment below, my prediction is wrong and my fears unfounded. I am very glad to be corrected on this score. Indeed, one of the purposes of EphBlog is to provide a forum in which faculty/students at Williams can correct/confirm alumni concerns.
4 Responses to “Irreplaceable Wood”
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David and other readers of Ephblog should be delighted to know that many of the concerns expressed here–ones I fully share–are going to be alleviated over the next few years. While I don’t have time to go into the details, David Kaiser of the Naval War College will be coming here next year under the auspices of the History Department and Leadership Studies. Kaiser will be teaching a course on Wilson, FDR and the Two World Wars and a seminar on Vietnam. I will let David do his customary websearching to let you know of Kaiser’s credentials and his incredibly impressive record of scholarship. If David has any more time, he could do a search on Marc Stoler of the University of Vermont–one of the leading American military historians of our era. He will also be teaching two courses at Williams in 2007-2008.
Good news! Steven Ross ‘59 was excellent teaching American WWII Strategy during the immediately past WSP. I look forward to auditing Drs. Kaiser and Stoler sooner or later, with their permissions naturally.
David, are you sure you attended Prof. Bostert’s class? It’s Russell Bostert, not William Bostert. (And yes, his last name was initially spelled “Bastert,” but he legally changed the spelling when I was at Williams because he got tired of students calling him “Bastard.”
Yes, but thanks for the correction on the name, now fixed. It was a 300 level HIST course on US foreign policy. It was a fine time. Back in the day, we academic-junkies took 300 level courses in non-major departments while ignoring all the prerequisites. Now, all the cool kids take lots of tutorials.
On a separate note, I should hedge my bet a bit above. Although it is nice to see such fine visitors coming to Williams, I would/will be much more impressed with tenured/tenure-track appointments. With any luck, that will be in the cards as well.