Collections: The Great War: Western Front, A Gain of Inches

This week we're looking at The Great War: Western Front, a hybrid turn-based/real-time strategy game about the First World War developed by Petroglyph Games, a renowned maker of real-time strategy titles. Petroglyph generally tend to do games set in science-fiction or fantasy settings, so when this product was announced I was immediately interested to see … Continue reading Collections: The Great War: Western Front, A Gain of Inches →

Collections: Academic Ranks Explained Or What On Earth Is an Adjunct?

This week we're going to take a detour into understanding the structure of academia, in particular the different kinds of 'professors' and their academic ranks in the American system, with a particular focus on 'non-tenure track' faculty (which is to say, as we'll see, 'most teaching faculty.') This is intended as the first in a … Continue reading Collections: Academic Ranks Explained Or What On Earth Is an Adjunct? →

Collections: How to Polis, Part III: People and Gods Beyond the Politai

This is the third and last part of our three(ish) part series looking at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). Over the last three sub-parts, we looked at the political structures created and manned by the politai. This week I want to look, briefly, beyond the politai themselves to … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, Part III: People and Gods Beyond the Politai →

Collections: How to Polis 101, Part IIc: The Courts

This is the third part of the second part of our three(ish) part look at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). At some point I promise I will write a series whose organization does not look like a parody of itself. Last time, we looked at the particular role … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis 101, Part IIc: The Courts →

Michael Taylor on John Keegan’s The Face of Battle: A Retrospective

In a special treat this week, Michael Taylor, Associate Professor of History at SUNY Albany is back (he has written here once before). This time Michael is taking a look back at what is probably "he most influential book on any aspect of military history in the last fifty years" and I'd argue probably the … Continue reading Michael Taylor on John Keegan’s The Face of Battle: A Retrospective →

Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIb: Archons

This is the second part of the second part of our three(ish) part look at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). Last time, we looked at the basic institutions of governance, how nearly every polis has magistrates, an assembly, and one or more councils which function together to govern … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIb: Archons →

Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIa: Politeia in the Polis

This is the second post of our three-part series (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III) looking at the structure of the ancient Greek polis. Last week we looked at how the Greeks understood the component parts of a polis, so this week we're going to look at how those parts were governed. The Greek term for … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIa: Politeia in the Polis →

Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part I: Component Parts

This is the first of a planned three part (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III) look at the structure of the ancient Greek polis, the self-governing 'city state,' as part of a larger series on civic governance in the pre-modern world. Since I argued, way back in June of 2019, that a noble house in Game … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part I: Component Parts →