Ep 60: Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols on the Importance of the Humanities

Published: May 19, 2017, 4:50 p.m.

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On this episode, Katie is joined by Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols is Associate Professor of History at Oregon State University and Director of OSU\\u2019s Center for the Humanities. He specializes in the history of the United States and its relationship to the rest of the world, particularly in the areas of isolationism, internationalism, and globalization. In addition, he is an expert on modern U.S. intellectual, cultural, and political history, with an emphasis on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (1880-1920) through the present. He is author of Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age (Harvard UP, 2011, 2015), co-editor and co-author, Prophesies of Godlessness: Predictions of America\\u2019s Imminent Secularization from the Puritans to the Present Day (Oxford UP, 2008), Senior Editor, Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History (2013), co-editor, Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2017), and co-organizer and co-editor of the forthcoming Rethinking Grand Strategy (Oxford). He is at work on several new book projects. Nichols is a frequent commentator on air, online, and in print on the historical dimensions of contemporary U.S. foreign policy and politics. He is a 2016 Andrew Carnegie Fellow and is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Segment 1: Isolationism and internationalism in U.S. foreign policy and politics [00:00-10:42]

In this first segment, Chris shares about some of his current research on isolationism.

Segment 2: Directing a Center for Humanities Research [10:43-21:03]

In segment two, Chris shares about his experience directing Oregon State\\u2019s Center for the Humanities.

Segment 3: Sharing Research with Broad Audiences [21:04-33:27]

In segment three, Chris discusses his strategies for sharing his research more broadly.

Bonus Clip #1\\xa0[00:00-04:34]: The Process of Being Nominated for a Carnegie Fellowship

Bonus Clip #2\\xa0[00:00-06:46]: Defining Isolationism

Bonus Clip #3 [00:00-05:02]: Chris\\u2019s Work as a Carnegie Fellow

Bonus Clip #4 [00:00-06:29]: Chris\\u2019s Interpretation of Grand Strategy

Bonus Clip #5 [00:00-05:25]: The Relationship Between Isolationism and Internationalism

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