The Review: The Nightmare of History

Can scholars be traumatized by studying the past? ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] [Read this newsletter on the web](. "Is this a plea for historians to be granted some of the moral authority of the traumatized, of the survivor?" That's Michael Roth, a historian and president of Wesleyan University, [commenting]( on "Can Historians Be Traumatized by History?," an article [recently published]( The New Republic. Based on that headline, I was initially sympathetic to Roth's skepticism. But the article, by James Robins, moved me. It begins with the story of Iris Chang, the historian whose book The Rape of Nanking (1997) Robins credits with "resurrecting for a new generation the half-forgotten savagery unleashed on Chinese citizens by the Japanese Imperial Army" in 1937. Chang's research required numberless hours absorbed in accounts of murder, rape, torture, mutilation. Especially crucial were her videotaped interviews with traumatized survivors. The Rape of Nanking made Chang a star. Seven years later, having undertaken a research project on the Bataan Death March of 1942, Chang drove into the hills and shot herself through the mouth. She was 36. It would be too simple to attribute Chang's suicide solely to her immersion in the atrocities of World War II. And pace the thrust of Robins's article, I doubt that "trauma" is the right interpretive frame for the psychic harms that can be caused by studying past brutalities. But that doesn't mean those harms aren't real. And while they might not confer the moral authority of the survivor — Roth's worry — they confer another kind of moral authority: the wisdom of the witness. That wisdom has risks. David Rieff, in a book called In Praise of Forgetting: Historical Memory and its Ironies, quotes La Rochefoucauld: "No man can stare for long at death or the sun." Paid for and Created by Wiley Education Services [The pandemic is breaking down barriers and accelerating change in higher ed]( A growing number of universities are partnering with education solutions providers, like Wiley Education Services, to strengthen their online pedagogy and tap into the technical know-how and market knowledge to enhance student experiences and grow enrollment. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicle’s award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better — and it’s your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( The Latest THE REVIEW [Cornel West: ‘My Ridiculous Situation at Harvard’]( By Maximillian Alvarez [image] The activist and scholar on tenure, respect, and the racial politics of higher ed. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( THE REVIEW [No, Classics Shouldn’t ‘Burn’]( By James Kierstead [image] Radical critiques of Greek and Latin studies rely on bad faith and straw men. THE REVIEW [Are Social Justice and Tenure Compatible?]( By Corey Miles [image] As Harvard’s denial of tenure consideration for Cornel West shows, universities embrace activist rhetoric, but not activists. THE REVIEW [Regional Public Universities Don’t Need Rescuing]( By Kevin R. McClure, Cecilia M. Orphan, Alisa Hicklin Fryar, and Andrew Koricich [image] They’ve been treated shamefully, but they’re more resilient than people give them credit for. To Burn or Not to Burn? A couple weeks ago, the Brown University classicist Johanna Hanink [took to our pages]( to argue against what she sees as classical studies's implication in "violent societal structures, including white supremacy, colonialism, classism, and misogyny": "I stand with Dan-el Padilla Peralta and others who would rather see the current incarnation of classics burn than fossilize, and who are eager for a fire that will make way for healthy new growth." The essay occasioned debate and responses on all sides. Sander L. Gilman appreciated Hanink's position and compared classics's reckoning with racism and colonialism to that of his own field, German studies, which [had to address the Nazi affiliations]( of some of its postwar members. Vicente Medina suggested that the ["so-called cultural war in classics seems to have evolved into a false dilemma."]( Michael Poliakoff [worried that]( "when classics is presented … by its own practitioners as some atavistic romp of white supremacy, diversity-conscious deans are likely to take the line of least resistance, with intellectually devastating consequences." And James Kierstead, of Victoria University of Wellington, [offered a rebuttal]( "Claiming that institutional classics is 'complicit' for the way extremists talk about the ancient world makes very little sense." Recommended - At The New York Times, Ruth Graham [on the rising stature of prophecy]( in charismatic Christianity. - At The Nation, the philosopher Elizabeth Anderson takes Michael Sandel's newest book, The Tyranny of Merit, to task for [failing to recognize the damage wrought]( by the "merchant right." (And check out [my conversation with Sandel]( about meritocracy.) - "Liberalism’s ostensible successes often owed very little to liberalism": Kanishk Tharoor with [an illuminating essay on the work of Panka]( at The New Republic. I'm always hoping to hear from you — write to opinion@chronicle.com. Yours, Len Gutkin Paid for and Created by Strada [Improving Lives By Better Connecting Education and Work]( Adult learners considering enrolling in education in 2020 were less likely than in 2019 to believe it will be worth the cost and lead them a good job. Explore the perspectives and viewpoints of learners navigating the Covid-19 crisis. Faculty Diversity What Colleges Need to Do Now The growing racial-justice movement has led colleges to rethink diversity on many fronts, including in their faculty ranks. This collection from The Chronicle includes articles, advice, and essays on how colleges can diversify their faculties and help minority scholars thrive. [Order your copy today.]( Job Opportunities [Search the Chronicle's jobs database]( to view the latest jobs in higher education. What did you think of today’s newsletter? [Strongly disliked]( // [It was OK]( // [Loved it](. [logo]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2021 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037