Further Discussion of State of Intellectual History at U.S. Intellectual History Blog

Randall Stephens

Over at U.S. Intellectual History Tim Lacy and others have been commenting on the forum Historically Speaking ran in September on the state of intellectual history. This is a great ongoing discussion about some of the issues raised in the forum and some of the matters left out of it. Lacy writes:

I first received word of Historically Speaking's forum in August. The prospect excited me both for its topic (of course) and the participants: Daniel Wickberg, David A. Hollinger, Sarah E. Igo, and Wilfred M. McClay. It is not every day that advanced and senior historians in intellectual history choose to wrap their minds around this peculiar subfield, whether assessing the United States variety or otherwise. I am grateful for each contributor's effort, and that Historically Speaking took on the topic. The forum did not disappoint. The contributions touched on a great many issues for the U.S. branch of intellectual history. Apart from simple topical relevance, every essay held persuasive points. Indeed, Wickberg noted in his final rejoinder that one can "scarcely address all the issues that were discussed" (p. 22). My colleague Paul Murphy called the forum "engrossing." As such, I believe the endeavor already qualifies as required reading for all graduate students and working professionals in U.S. intellectual history. Just the books and articles cited in each forum essay should be on required reading lists across American graduate programs. read on>>>

Many thanks to Tim Lacy and other commentators for picking up the thread!