2008 Woodie Awards
Things I've Learned, with Prof. Louis Galambos
Issue date: 2/28/08
The door to Professor Lou Galambos' office is decorated with his children's artwork, and the adjacent bulletin boards are framed with postcards from all over the world, addressed to him by friends and colleagues.
The history professor arrived exactly on time, punctual to the minute. "I'm the guy you've been waiting for," he announced as he came down the stairs.
The News-Letter (N-L): As a history professor, what period of history do you find the most interesting?
Lou Galambos (LG): Well, I did my undergrad work in classics - that's Greek and Roman history - and I read a good bit of early modern history and European history. I came to settle upon U.S. history in the 20th and 21st centuries. I bring it up to the present century. So I've done most of my work in the last 20 years on the period since the Second World War but I find the whole sweep of American history interesting. I'm particularly interested in how we've changed as a nation since about 1890.
N-L: I've read that you are interested in and have done extensive work in economic history, can you elaborate?
LG: I'm very interested in the way organizations in society function and ours is a society that's pervaded by very large scale organizations: national organizations, multinationals, global organizations etc. so I'm very interested in how they work and how they don't work, what they succeed at and what they fail at, essentially how they function. That has an economic dimension, it has a political dimension, it has a social dimension and it has a cultural dimension. I'm interested in all of those dimensions but they all funnel back generally to a view of how the economy has shifted overtime and how we've accommodated to that shift.
N-L: Why do you think history is so important?
LG: We all have ideologies, either strong or weak, and those ideologies have a past and a present and they project something for the future. When you read about the current political campaigns you have what seems to be an almost instinctive reaction to some things. Some things you like, some things you don't like. People you like, people you don't like. You already know all of that because it's already in your brain because it's a social ideology that you have picked up from the society.
The history professor arrived exactly on time, punctual to the minute. "I'm the guy you've been waiting for," he announced as he came down the stairs.
The News-Letter (N-L): As a history professor, what period of history do you find the most interesting?
Lou Galambos (LG): Well, I did my undergrad work in classics - that's Greek and Roman history - and I read a good bit of early modern history and European history. I came to settle upon U.S. history in the 20th and 21st centuries. I bring it up to the present century. So I've done most of my work in the last 20 years on the period since the Second World War but I find the whole sweep of American history interesting. I'm particularly interested in how we've changed as a nation since about 1890.
N-L: I've read that you are interested in and have done extensive work in economic history, can you elaborate?
LG: I'm very interested in the way organizations in society function and ours is a society that's pervaded by very large scale organizations: national organizations, multinationals, global organizations etc. so I'm very interested in how they work and how they don't work, what they succeed at and what they fail at, essentially how they function. That has an economic dimension, it has a political dimension, it has a social dimension and it has a cultural dimension. I'm interested in all of those dimensions but they all funnel back generally to a view of how the economy has shifted overtime and how we've accommodated to that shift.
N-L: Why do you think history is so important?
LG: We all have ideologies, either strong or weak, and those ideologies have a past and a present and they project something for the future. When you read about the current political campaigns you have what seems to be an almost instinctive reaction to some things. Some things you like, some things you don't like. People you like, people you don't like. You already know all of that because it's already in your brain because it's a social ideology that you have picked up from the society.
Be the first to comment on this story