Midwestern History, Academic Freedom
And an invitation to the Iowa Writers' Collaborative monthly Zoom call today...
I would like to invite you to our monthly gathering of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative today at noon via Zoom. This is for everyone who is a paid subscriber for any of our columnists, who will be able to get the link to the meeting below. If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider doing so if you can afford it. It’s always fun and interesting.
There are also a couple of events happening this weekend that I would like to tell you about. If you are close to Des Moines or Iowa City and are interested in Midwestern history (and of course you are!), the eminent historian (and my friend!) Jon Lauck will discuss his new history of the Midwest, “The Good Country: a History of the Midwest 1800-1900,” at two Iowa locations: in Des Moines at Raygun on Saturday January 28, at 2:00 PM and in Iowa City at Prairie Lights Bookstore on Sunday, January 29, at 2:00 PM. Lauck’s book, “The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest,” has been praised by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Omaha World-Herald, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Associated Press and in other publications. More information about “The Good Country” can be found here.
Jon K. Lauck is the past president of the Midwestern History Association, teaches history and political science at the University of South Dakota, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Middle West Review. He has authored or edited several books, including The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern History; Daschle vs. Thune; Finding a New Midwestern History; and three volumes of The Plains Political Tradition.
Jon’s work is incredible, valuable, and prolific. I don’t know how he does it. I have interviewed him several times, and his work is fascinating. He’s also the guy who handed me the monumental challenge of a book review of “Imagining the Heartland: White Supremacy and the American Midwest” that will soon be published in the Middle West Review. Here is the version of the review that appeared in this Substack: “No, the Heartland isn’t a Race; and the Social Sciences are a Mess.” And here is a quote from my piece, just to give you a sense of my feelings about the book if you didn’t read it.
“I hauled this damn book around all summer and part of the fall, trying to make sense of it whenever I could find a few minutes to read. My copy is worn, dog-eared, with folded page corners, marginal stars and exclamation marks, underlined phrases, and illegible marginal notes. It has traveled thousands of miles with me.”
All to no avail. It never ended up making much sense, and the sense it did make was just plain illogical and wrong.
Anyway, back to Jon (but you can probably tell how “traumatized” I was by his assignment). I’m going to do my best to be at the Raygun event in Des Moines. I hope to see you there.
If there is a better historian of the Midwest than Jon Lauck, I would like to meet him or her and shake their hand in congratulations.
Now I would like to draw your attention (again) to the powerful work of another friend, Josh Dolezal, who writes the Substack “The Recovering Academic.” This week Josh wrote the most thoughtful, analytical, and simply the very best essay on academic freedom I have ever read in “What Does Academic Freedom Mean Today; a Meditation on the Hamline University Debacle.” Josh was a professor at Central College in Pella, and left to live closer to his wife’s family in Pennsylvania so they could raise their kids with kin close.
Josh’s work has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, in books, and in many literary publications, but I think he deserves a monthly column in the New York Times or Washington Post so his work could get the widest distribution possible.
The academic world is under assault, and likely will never be the same, but those of us who believe in the academy and in academic freedom need someone like Josh who knows the strengths and weaknesses of the system to be at the center of the storm.
Paid subscribers will be able to access our Zoom meeting today below. I hope to virtually “see” you there, and paid or not, I would love to “see” you in real life at Jon’s event in Des Moines.
Here are the members of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative. It’s an amazing group of people who are providing remarkable work, and I’m honored to be among them. I’m also honored that we have a relationship with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, which republishes select pieces. The Iowa Capital Dispatch is free, but please subscribe if you have the means. I subscribe, and it is worth any penny and more. Subscribers to this Substack, your link is below.
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Nik Heftman, The Seven Times, Iowa and California
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macy Spensley, The Creative Midwesterner, Davenport/Des Moines
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN