I am convinced that we are living in a period of fundamental change in politics, science, philosophy, economics, and the environment. We can only weather this storm if we respond to real challenges by engaging in thinking across subjects and disciplines in a creative and often unconventional way. I am a Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine at Farmington (home page: http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/~erb), specializing in international relations and European politics. My research focus is Germany, and I’m currently studying Russian and Italian as well. Though I’ll talk about politics a lot, I also am interested in philosophy, spiritual issues, modern physics, ethics, and even pop culture. I’m also starting a new research project to look at the impact of modern technology — blogs, the web, facebook, myspace, etc. — on political thought and political culture. I plan to compare Germany and the US. This is a bit of a new approach (usually I’ve researched German/European foreign policy), so if anyone has any advice or tips, I’d love to know!
This is a continuation of a blog started in 2004 when my first child was one year old, as part of a course I was co-teaching called “Children and War.” That can be found here: http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/~erb/blog.htm. Anyone can read archived posts there. A student and another faculty member suggested I put the blog in a more public setting to allow comments. As as of May 9, 2008 I’m doing so.
More info on me can be found on my personal home page. I’m married (since 1996), my wife is originally from the Komi Republic in Russia, and we have two boys, Ryan and Dana (born 2003 and 2005).
Contact me at: scotterb@maine.edu
#1 by Rafe Champion on June 17, 2008 - 12:04 am
Nice looking site and good stuff as well!
Found in a link at The Austrian Economists.
You might be interested in my site and my 2007 list of blog posts.
http://www.the-rathouse.com/2007/Catallaxy.html
Rafe Champion
Independent Scholar
Sydney, Australia
#2 by Mike Lovell on September 28, 2008 - 4:13 pm
Interesting insights on your blog here, I’ll be adding you to my blogs to be considered section.
#3 by mike lovell on December 8, 2008 - 2:47 pm
You’ve been tagged….see my blog, copy and paste it to yours with you information!
#4 by healingmagichands on March 30, 2009 - 9:57 pm
Hello, Scott. I am pleased to meet you and hope you enjoy the Nature Notes challenge. Even when you have to put on mud boots it is worth walking in the woods. Yesterday I saw the hepatica in the woods has finally started blooming. I am glad I came over here to browse a bit. You’re political philosophy is so close to mine it isn’t even funny. You put it so well in your essay, too. I should tell you that the one person that I feel like I have learned the most about organic gardening from is Elliott Coleman, who lives up in Maine somewhere or other. Be careful how you start out gardening though. Getting your hands dirty is strangely addictive.
#5 by Mike Lovell on April 3, 2009 - 3:06 pm
I was re-reading through your old blog on the “Children and War”. Admittedly I skimmed through it, so maybe I missed something.
As you taught the course, was it more of a free-for-all discussion, or a lecture type class? And what was gained from it all, from your perspective, and that of the class in general?
#6 by Syuykum on June 12, 2009 - 4:48 pm
Good evening, how do you do? I am fascinated by your opinions and your intelligence. I do not know english so well as you, to write own blogs so well, but it is great to know that people as you are still exist, who wants to know more and who have own opinion about events in world. Anyway, i wish you all best what you ever wanted.
Syuykum from Estonia
#7 by colleenincairns on October 21, 2009 - 11:31 am
Hi Scott. I have wandered here from Pam’s place. You have a very interesting blog. Highly thought provoking. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and views. I will be back.
#8 by Leyla Modirzadeh on November 19, 2009 - 5:23 am
I found your site through something written by Steven Pane. I really like your work around Islam and the West. I’m Iranian American and planning a trip back this summer. I lived there as a child but haven’t been back in a long time. I like your blog very much and will keep reading it! I’m a professor too at Texas Tech Univ. in the Theatre Dept but I’m from New York. I miss smart East Coast folks!
#9 by Scott Erb on November 20, 2009 - 3:43 pm
Hi Leyla,
Thanks for the kind comment. Good luck on your trip back to Iran — my department Chair is Iranian (he makes it back quite a bit) and so is my dentist. I start having some interesting discussions about Iran with him, but then he starts working on my teeth and the conversation gets one sided
I’m originally from South Dakota, but Maine is a wonderful place. Again, thanks for commenting!
#10 by Mike Lovell on November 30, 2009 - 5:31 pm
You’ve been tagged to write the next chapter in a random short story I began:
http://mookieismike.blogspot.com/2009/11/curiosity-creative-writing-exercise.html
#11 by ReadersHeaven on September 23, 2010 - 6:41 am
Hi, nice to meet you !
#12 by ashley graetz on September 27, 2010 - 3:02 am
Yes It is a fundamentally different time to any other time in History.
If the 2012 celestial activation of humanities 12th strands of DNA happens from the alignment of the milky way to the sun as the Mayans have suggested. Or if the epoc is merely that when you remove oil from underground aquafers and fill it with sea water ergo less compression in the substrata and then earthquakes. It is logical that full moons shift tides and that Oil is denser than sea water, Unfortunately this is not something we can undo. Anyway There are a lot of interesting sides to the arguments and to see a web page that uses the logical, ethereal, esoteric, scientific and religious in to a semblance of sorts is inspiring. I am not too sure if you are interested in the Julian Jaynes theory of the Bi-cameral mind or the Interesting fact that a female has 40,000 eggs in her uterus when born which kind of suggests we did have an evolutionary sequence of celestial DNA activation to evolve from some sub-aquarian-plankton type form which kind of goes against the grain of Darwins natural selection as the least reactive species enzymes and parasites seem to be more intune to the Great magnet that keeps the giant cloud of dust particles we call the universe from imploding. Tesla knew of the earths ability to be used as a capacitor as did Dr Hanneman knew of the microscopic use of elements could trigger tissue salts to release (Shift)a person from sickness and Miasm. Both people had a comparitive notion of mass being activated by elements, not just the idea of energy sent, energy received type on/off world.
Jesus had mastered the emotion of beleif. Which is the unified theory yet science has too much ego and therefore negates the idea before it is proven.
At the moment I feel we are in the transition stages from what I like to call Quantum Repeaters (people erring on the side of ignorance) and Quantum provocoteurs (people prepared to be mocked in order to express what is beyond the repetitions)
Anyway I highly recommend your site to everyone and anyone who has the need to believe that we are all connected and on a startling journey that will have the most positive repocussions for humanity. Much bigger than the industrial revolution, advent of religion and farming.
#13 by Sean Patrick Hazlett on July 9, 2011 - 6:14 pm
Scott,
Looks like you haven’t posted in more than a week. Is everything all right?
We miss you, buddy.
#14 by mikelovell on March 21, 2012 - 7:45 pm
Scott,
Once again your blog is receiving an award. To learn how to turn your hard work and the award into instant certifiable credibility, by checking my most recent blog.
#15 by Scott Erb on March 27, 2012 - 2:17 am
Are you trying to drive me crazy? I’ve been trying to leave a comment on your blog and after 15 tries thinking I’ve put down the right letters to prove I’m not a robot it keeps telling me the words did not match and try again!
#16 by mikelovell on March 29, 2012 - 12:57 am
I don’t know what was going on. Sometimes I think tis interweb thingy just does things like that to mess us up and frustrate us to the point of just surrendering to the stupid machines! Please try again another time.