In the midst of lecturing, assigning piles of homework, and grading papers, some Hillsdale College professors are also authoring their own books. While this list isn’t comprehensive, several professors from around campus sat down with The Collegian to discuss the books they are working on and open a glimpse into the world of scholarship outside the classroom.
Patricia Bart
Patricia Bart, assistant professor of English, is work- ing on a documentary edition of a 600-year-old manuscript of William Langland’s “Piers Plowman.”
A documentary edition, Bart said, is intended to discover what can be learned about language of the period and the writing of the poem, as opposed to a scholarly edition, which only addresses content of the text.
“What I am doing is repre- senting to the scholarly world the data contained in the object itself,” Bart said.
Bart has spent long hours observing color-digital photos of the text, and reading the original manuscript, observing it under ultraviolet light.
In order to even look at the document, let alone handle it, Bart said she was required to have a Ph.D.
“Handling this thing all the time is not a good idea,” she said. “You can read it to death easily.”
Bart said that by reading texts of Old English, researchers like herself can estimate how the language was spoken. Old English spelling reflects how the words are pronounced more closely than modern English.
“Proto-Indo-European was not written down, so we can only kind of guess what it sounded like,” she said. “But we can make some good estimates. They’re estimates, but they’re good estimates.”
The main objective of the project, Bart said, is to present the manuscript in the most accurate way so that others can base their further research on her book.
A chapter-length version of her work will appear in a separate book this summer. The rest of her work will appear in a later, stand-alone book.
Nathan Schlueter and Nikolai Wenzel
Nathan Schlueter, associate professor of philosophy, and Nikolai Wenzel, former assistant professor of econom- ics, are collaborating on a book titled, “The Foundations of the Libertarian-Conservative Debate.”
According to Schlueter and Wenzel’s prospectus, the book will examine the debate through the perspectives of economics, politics, and philosophy.
“I think there are a lot of misconceptions on both sides, not just among students, but among intellectuals,” Wenzel said. “I think there are areas of profound fundamental differences, but also a few similarities.”
The idea originated as “a friendly conversation” between the two professors. That conversation evolved into a class the two co-taught in the spring 2010 and 2011 semesters, and then again into the co-written book at the encouragement of students.
“I think the fact that we’re working on this together shows that you can have real friendship in the face of real disagree- ments,” Schlueter said. “… [It shows that] you can have a friendship based in the real interest in truth, and I think it’s important for students to see that.”
The authors, Schlueter on the side of the conservatives and Wenzel with the libertarians, are writing a series of parallel chapters in the book, appearing side by side, that look at the debate from each side’s perspective. For example, Wenzel’s chapter, “Why I am not a Conservative” follows Schlueter’s chapter “Why I am not a Libertarian.”
“It seems to me in many ways that the book represents what happens at Hillsdale College: the spirit of academic inquiry,” Wenzel said.
The two have been working on the book since the beginning of this academic school year — Schlueter while on sabbatical and Wenzel on what was at first a visiting, now permanent professorial stint at Florida Gulf Coast University.
On March 26, Schlueter posted an article titled, “Why I Am Not A Libertarian” on ThePublicDiscource.com. On March 27, Wenzel posted an article titled, “Conservatism or Liberty.”
With over half the book complete, Schlueter and Wenzel are now looking for a publisher. According to Wenzel, the two authors plan on writing direct responses to each other’s Public Discourse articles in an attempt to create groundswell for the book.
In addition to his joint work with Wenzel, Schlueter is also working on a book titled “Playing with Fire: The Peril and Promise of the Utopian Imagi- nation.”
Schlueter said his book topic is not conducive to bullet points, but explained that he is aiming at a “bringing together of philosophical inquiry into knowledge” while attempting to justify claims that fiction can “deepen an understanding of reality.”
Schlueter said most of his energy is directed towards his book with Wenzel at this point. He has been working on “Play- ing with Fire” for five years, and while he’s completed about half of it, he said he is in no rush to finish.
Darryl Hart
Darryl Hart, visiting assistant professor of history, is working on a book titled, “Calvinism: A Global History.”
Hart said he has been working on “Calvinism” for about five years, but hopes the book will be published later this year. He attributed the long writing time to his work on other books. Last year alone he published two, adding to his writing repertoire of “10 to a dozen books.”
“Somewhere in there,” he said. “I don’t mean to sound casual about this, but I’ve just lost track because I’ve been writing other books.”
Hart described his latest book as a “social history of Calvinism and the reformed churches in general.”
“I think [the book] will be much more accessible than the title suggests, even for people who aren’t Calvinists,” Hart said. “This is a history of religion and politics. I think they’ll be surprised.”
Rather than simply being a “denominational history,” Hart said a large part of the book examines the relationship between church and state and whether the church is better off “not in bed with the magistrates.”
“I have a first draft finished, and I’m putting the last touches on that before my editor sends the manuscript out to readers,” he said. “I’m in the homestretch, but after the readers see the manuscript, I’ll have to make some revisions.”
Richard Gamble
Richard Gamble, associate professor of history, recently finished a book titled, “In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth.”
Gamble said the book, which is now being printed, examines the 400-year-old history of the phrase “City on a Hill,” from its creation in John Winthrop’s ser- mon “A Model of Christianity” to its use in modern American political discourse.
No original copies of the sermon exist and it, along with the phrase “City on a Hill,” would only be printed about 200 years after Winthrop wrote it. The reemergence of Winthrop after so long a time, and the explosion in his relevance in American history since, is what interested Gamble in writing the book, which he has been working on for three years.
Gamble said the book tries to find the meaning of America as the city on a hill and the origins of American exceptionalism.
He said he’d intended to write “a much bigger book” on the American identity, and while he hopes to return to that book someday, he instead turned his attention to “City on a Hill.”
“I realized that I had so much accumulating on this one question of the city on a hill that I could pull that material out and it could be a stand alone, short book that would help me reach a wider audience, a less specialized audience,” Gamble said.
Students who have taken his courses, especially, Gamble noted, his American identity class, should find familiar material. He said he believes there should be a close tie to the scholarship professors undertake and what they teach in the classroom.
The book is set to be published in the United Kingdom in May and in the U.S. in August. The publishing company, Continuum International Publishing Group, was recently purchased by Bloomsbury Publishing, which Gamble noted is J.K. Rowling’s publishing house.
“So maybe that means I’ll be a millionaire,” he said.
