Editorial Staff

“Call Me Ishmael” Melville Scholar Prof. Hershel Parker on Moby-Dick & Classic Literature

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard and guest co-host Kerry McDonald, senior education fellow with the Foundation for Economic Education, are joined by Hershel Parker, the H. Fletcher Brown professor emeritus at the University of Delaware and the definitive biographer of the 19th-century American novelist, Herman Melville. As we celebrate the anniversary this week of Melville’s birth, Prof. Parker shares what drew him to study the Moby-Dick author’s life, inspirations, and legacy. He discusses why Moby-Dick is often considered the greatest American novel, with its memorable characters such as Ishmael, Captain Ahab, Queequeg, and the diverse crew. He explores the influences of religion, poetry, and culture on Melville’s worldview and writing. Prof. Parker concludes by reading one of his favorite passages from Moby-Dick.

Stories of the Week: Harvard Professor Paul Peterson outlines seven ways that students lose out from being deprived of in-person learning during COVID-19. And, can we expect students to study, read, write, take tests, and submit school work using the same tool they use for playing video games, watching shows, and checking Instagram – or is that concern about technology unrealistic for our era?

Interview Guest:

Hershel Parker is the H. Fletcher Brown Professor Emeritus of the University of Delaware. With Harrison Hayford he co-edited the groundbreaking 1967 Norton Critical Edition of Moby-Dick. Fifty years later (2017), he did the Third Edition of Norton’s Moby-Dick. For the final two volumes of the Northwestern-Newberry Edition of The Writings of Herman Melville, he was the General Editor, succeeding Hayford. Parker’s Herman Melville: A Biography, 1819-1851 (1996), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Both that volume and Herman Melville: A Biography, 1851-1891 (2002) won the top R. R. Hawkins award from the Association of American Publishers. Parker’s other books include, Flawed Texts and Verbal Icons (1984), Melville: The Making of the Poet (2008), and Melville Biography: An Inside Narrative (2012). On Melville’s bicentennial, 2019, he edited Herman Melville: Complete Poems for the Library of America. His current project, based on his own genealogical research, is Ornery People: Depression Okies and the Loss and Retrieval of Historical Memory.

The next episode will air on August 14th, 2020 with Jack McCarthy, President and CEO of AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation and AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

The Price Students Pay When Schools Are Closed – Paul Peterson

https://www.educationnext.org/price-students-pay-when-schools-are-closed/

 The Problem With Online Learning – Mark Bauerlein, RealClearEd/First Things

https://www.realcleareducation.com/2020/07/29/the_problem_with_online_learning_48862.html?utm_source=rced-today-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp-newsletter&mc_cid=4ae6e28767&mc_eid=d99b9842ca

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Posts

Stanford’s National Humanities Medal Winner Prof. Arnold Rampersad on Langston Hughes & Ralph Ellison

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Arnold Rampersad, the Sara Hart Kimball Professor Emeritus in Humanities at Stanford University and recipient of the National Humanities Medal for his books including The Life of Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison: A Biography.

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews on An Optimist’s Guide to American Public Education

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Jay Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post and author of the recent book, An Optimist's Guide to American Public Education. Jay describes the three key trends in K-12 schooling that he views as cause for hope.

BBC Classics Prof. Bettany Hughes on Athenian Democracy, Socrates, & the Goddess Aphrodite

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, BBC broadcaster, and author of the best-selling books Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore; The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life; and Venus and Aphrodite: History of a Goddess. Prof. Hughes shares insights from her most recent book about the ancient deity known as Venus to Romans and Aphrodite to the Greeks, and her impact on our understanding of the mythology and history of beauty, romance, and passion.

Dartmouth’s Prof. Susannah Heschel Discusses Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel & the Civil Rights Movement

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, and the daughter of noted 20th-century Jewish theologian and Civil Rights-era leader, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. They discuss what teachers and students today should know about Rabbi Heschel’s life and legacy.

Hoover Institution’s Dr. Eric Hanushek on COVID-19, K-12 Learning Loss, & Economic Impact

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Eric Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. They discuss his research, cited by The Wall Street Journal, on learning loss due to the pandemic, especially among poor, minority, and rural students, and its impact on skills and earnings.

UK Classics Scholar Kathryn Tempest on Cicero, Brutus, & the Death of Caesar

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Kathryn Tempest, a Reader in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Roehampton in London, UK, and author of Cicero: Politics and Persuasion in Ancient Rome and Brutus: The Noble Conspirator. They discuss the historical, civic, and moral lessons political leaders, educators, and schoolchildren today can learn by studying the Roman Republic and the lives of key figures from that era such as Cicero and Brutus.

Best-Selling, Netflix Author Loung Ung On Surviving Pol Pot’s Killing Fields

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Loung Ung, a human-rights activist; the author of the bestselling books First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, Lucky Child, and Lulu in the Sky; and a co-screenwriter of the 2017 Netflix Original Movie, First They Killed My Father. Ms. Ung shares her experiences living through genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, which resulted in the deaths of nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population. 

American Federation for Children’s Tommy Schultz on School Choice & Edu Federalism

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Tommy Schultz, CEO-elect of the American Federation for Children (AFC). They discuss how COVID-19 school closures have increased the interest in alternatives to public schools, and what AFC's polling shows on shifts in attitudes toward school choice options in both urban and rural communities.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, International Best-Selling Author & Human Rights Activist

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, founder of the AHA Foundation, and author of the books Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women's Rights, Infidel: My Life, and Nomad: From Islam to America - A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations. 

WSJ Drama Editor Terry Teachout on Jazz Greats Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and guest co-host Kerry McDonald continue our celebration of Black achievements with Terry Teachout, drama critic at The Wall Street Journal, and author of such books as Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong and Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington.