Questions tagged [academic-history]
Regarding inquiries into the evolution and development of academia as an institution from a historical perspective.
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Where did the old Editors' Suggestion sign of Physical Review journals come from?
Physical Review journals used to indicate Editors' Suggestions with this sign:
In an editorial announcement they state that:
The icon contains the printer’s mark that at one time appeared on the ...
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What are the backgrounds of founders of universities?
Universities have histories behind them. Some are public, others are private.
Some are founded by the state, some by political figures in their capacity as public officials or private capacity (for ...
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Who said that one should change one’s direction of research every seven years?
A piece of wisdom I have heard several times is that an academic should change their direction of research roughly every seven years. This change needs not be radical but clearly more than what you ...
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How did/does the Greek-letter grading system (formerly?) used at Oxford and Cambridge work?
Does anyone have any information about the alpha-beta-gamma marking system?
What are/were the criteria for the different grades and how were these then collated into degree-class marks?
Is this system ...
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Why was it a problem for an unmarried man to be a tutor to women in the early 20th century?
I read on JRR Tolkiens wiki page that he was asked to be a tutor in the early stages of the women's colleges at Oxford because he was married. This was apparently not common for professors at the time....
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Where do i find trusted scholarly articles for historical events
As a new hobby, I am wanting to read more and stick to the facts only.
I recently became interested in the public education system and many sites and YouTube videos claim that the modern American ...
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What can happen if I do not disclose a conduct violation from grad school when applying to a new grad school?
I just received a conduct violation at my current grad school for a failed drug test when trying to attain a new internship. I had been taking CBD gummies that caused me to fail. I now have been ...
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What is the socio-economic argument or historical basis for university professors and staff being paid by the state?
In ancient Greece, it was generally accepted that philosophers and teachers like Socrates did their work out of love of wisdom. If they were paid at all, it was by private parties and not by the state....
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Is academia a fair playing ground? [closed]
Is academia is a fair playing ground?
I was talking to a friend who made this point.
Unless one is from an elite institution it is considerably much more difficult to have an impact with your ideas. ...
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Are there studies of malpractices in Academia resulting from "publish or perish" policies?
Are there studies of "bad academic practices" in general, and documenting in particular whether or not the prevalence of such practices increases in institutions or communities with an ...
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How did journal editors find peer reviewers before the internet?
How did journal editors find peer reviewers before the internet? I personally find Google (& Web of Science and similar internet resources) such an invaluable tool that I can't imagine how editors ...
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When did lecturers and teachers stop wearing academic gowns regularly?
In the English-speaking world, around when did academic gowns fall out of favour as everyday wear for lecturers and teachers?
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How did medieval universities discipline?
How did medieval universities discipline their students? What classroom management techniques did they use?
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Did exams exist in universities in medieval times?
I'm not really sure if this is the right place for a question like this - but it seems the closest.
I was reading about exams on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exam
It makes it seem that the ...
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What's the main reason that fewer people learn mathematics by themselves? [closed]
In the 17th century, there were some mathematicians who learned math by themselves, such as Fermat. They were amateur mathematicians, and didn't have a degree in university. But, in the 20th century, ...
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Are there any standards for course prefixes?
In various universities I've looked at, there are some course prefixes that seem common, e.g.:
CSC: Computer Science
BIO: Biology
MTH and MAT: Mathematics
I have also seen four-character prefixes, ...
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Comprehensive document on the history of the university system
As an aspiring academic, I have been thinking a lot about why I want to be a university faculty, what my job is as a graduate student, and what role the academic community serves in the society-at-...
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How should I approach my academic dishonesty in graduate study application?
In my junior year I was caught cheating. I took in extra papers in an exam and tried to look up information on them (honestly, this was deliberate cheating). I have received the following sanctions:
...
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Composition of academic faculty over time: Fixed-term/freelancer vs regular/tenured
A friend of mine, who's still in academia but not in academia-studies, asked me for help in understanding the prevalence of non-regular employment of faculty in universities over time. It's been a ...
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After what George was Georgetown University named? [closed]
After what George was Georgetown University named? Or was it named that because of where it is located?
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Where are historical research papers stored?
I have been reading some historical papers in the field of computer science, economics and game theory. I have noticed that some of the really old ones such as Equilibrium points in n-person games by ...
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What does the phrase "loci citati" mean in citations?
In this 1929 paper by Stone, the 3rd citation is given as
J. Von Neumann, loci citati; and an unpublished paper which is to appear in Mathematische Annalen, cf. Göttinger Nachrichten, 1927, pp. 1-55, ...
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When do semesters/trimesters begin and end for universities in England and France? [closed]
I keep trying to find out when classes start and end for English and French universities (specifically, Oxford, Cambridge, and the Sorbonne), but for some reason, I can’t seem to get a direct answer. ...
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How did US Dartmouth get named after the British officer school? [closed]
I always thought that Dartmouth was the British version of Westpoint. The British officer training school, but now in my googling it seems Google assumes I'm searching for the US university. I was ...
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What happened to Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM) departments in the United States?
I’ve read about and personally heard of discussions among senior faculty about Theoretical and Applied Mechanics departments no longer existing today in the United States. Some of those professors ...
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Historical accuracy of trends/number of publications on keywords using Google Scholar?
Following this question on SE Academia: Easy way to see historical trend in keywords in publications?, I'm using Google Scholar and the linked script (https://github.com/Pold87/academic-keyword-...
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Does dismissal due to absence relate to academic or non-academic suspension/dismissal?
I'm working to prepare my master's degree admission.
So the admission team provided me with a declaration form and the first question is this:
Academic Disciplinary Action
Have you ever been placed ...
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If the professor says positive things about me, what are my chances of getting into the history graduate program? [closed]
I was just wondering from those who are knowledgeable about the history graduate school process — how much say do history professors have in accepting students to the program? I know they have some ...
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What academic researchers published very few scientific articles (say, less than twenty) but exerted large influences on their fields of study? [closed]
I find researchers and writers who published very little, yet were influential in their respective fields of study, interesting. A good example of such a researcher was the mathematician C. F. Gauss, ...
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Did mathematicians of the 19th century apply for grant money?
What was the funding structure of pure math research before NSF grants and other modern government or private financial aid? In the recent past in North America and Western Europe (say, 100-200 years ...
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How to identify the lead scholars for a particular research subject?
I watched a lecture answering the question "How did Native Americans arrive in North America?" During the presentation, the presenter put up a slide showing the "5 major scholars" ...
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Why did some US universities require writing a translation to get a PhD?
My impression is that some US universities at one time required producing a translation of a non-English language article in order to receive a PhD. As far as I am aware, this practice started before ...
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What is the the history of Qualifying Exams in the US?
I've been trying to do some research on the history of Qualifying Exams in the US; but, unfortunately, I've not been able to find anything other than the occasional quote, and nothing before the 1950s....
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How were scientific plots made in the 1960s?
I've been going over a few papers from the '60s, broadly in physics sub-disciplines. The image below from 1963 shows a very typical style of plot which I've come across frequently.
I'm guessing this ...
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Do I need to ask permission to provide a narrative of a scholar's methods?
I am writing a secondary school archaeology and history textbook. I'm inspired to adjust the book based on two types of students:
Some are excited about what they are studying, and tell their career ...
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Origin of 7 year sabbatical leave cycle
I believe many US universities have a 7-year cycle for sabbatical leave. For example, at my university a full-time tenure-track faculty is eligible for sabbatical leave after 7 years of continuous ...
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Why did SoftwareX’ impact factor drop from 4.5 SJR to 0.4 last year?
I planned to submit one of my long-developed software pieces to the prestigious journal SoftwareX. I was preparing for this for a while and making my code ready, and was just about to submit and ...
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Old Cambridge examination: Draw, from memory, a wheelbarrow turned upside down
I came across the following story about the exams students sat in 1858 see page 4 here.
The following questions are taken from the first examinations set by
the The University of Cambridge Local ...
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Impact of W's on grad school admissions in CS theory (TCS) [closed]
I'm an undergrad at the University of Maryland College Park who just finished a computer science bachelors a few days ago. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how much I liked theory (algorithms, ...
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Would you consider a very short, non-standard thesis that lacks a research questions, a thesis? [closed]
I recently met an artist. He was very proud of the shortness of his Master's thesis, which was published back in early 90's and has only 3 pages! He had been graduated from the California college of ...
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Were the duration of Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees different in the U.S. 100 years ago?
Given that there were much less to learn 100 years ago, was the duration of degrees shorter then than it is now?
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Is it harder for academics to make fundamental discoveries than in the past? [closed]
In present day academia, it seems much harder to make foundational breakthroughs than it was in the past. Most work now synthesizes previously discovered results to study something extremely specific. ...
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Has the relation with students changed significantly in the last 20+ years?
I left academia 20+ years ago but I am closely following SE Academia (mostly because it is interesting and gives a different perspective from industry).
I noticed several questions regarding the "...
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Are there any great researchers who are terrible teachers? [closed]
I'm curious if there's been anyone who's really good at research but also really bad at teaching - for example traditionally, Nobel Prize winners are required to give a public lecture related to the ...
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Reporting Plagiarism in Older research
Disclaimer: I apologize for the vagueness of this post as i do not wish to speak negatively about anyone particular on a public forum.
I've been doing research on a specific topic looking at two ...
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Did any of the social science experiments by the Nazis in WWII get published?
I've read that the Nazi's did a lot of cruel experimentation on Jews during WWII. I was wondering if any of these studies were published, and if they still exist. Preferably available in English.
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Are translation journals still a thing?
In the second half of the 20th century there were a large number of English-language journals published in the West that carried only translations by Western academics of Russian-language articles. ...
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When did citation counts emerge as indicators of academic impact?
As we know, today, citations of an academic get lots of attentions about whether his research is impfactful. I am just wondering what is the history of citation numbers becoming this important? When ...
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Examples of top academics who weren't prodigies [closed]
I'm looking for examples of people who are at the very top of their fields who weren't child prodigies, and followed quite a "normal" path in life (high school > college > grad school) before finding ...
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What is the meaning of the title "Akad. Orat"?
What is the meaning of the German academic title "Akad. Orat"? What would its international analogous be?
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