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Contradictions in Cold War-era higher education

By Caitlin Tyler-Richards

Cold War Cover
This week, managing editor Troy Reeves wears his Badgers pride proudly in an interview with historian Matthew Levin. Levin, who received his PhD in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the author of Cold War University: Madison and the New Left in the Sixties (UW Press, 2013). Cold War University offers a long view of the 1960s, charting the UW-Madison’s transition from a center for military research to a hotbed of dissent, to unpack what Levin calls “the contradictions of cold war era higher education.”

In addition to talking about his book, Levin describes working with oral histories as a scholar from outside the field, dispels the George L. Mosse Humanities Building myth, and discusses the difficulties of bringing oral history training into his high school classroom. There is also a nice shout out to the UW-Madison Archives, so you should definitely have a listen. On Wisconsin!

Matthew Levin teaches high school social studies in McFarland, Wisconsin. He received his PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The Oral History Review, published by the Oral History Association, is the U.S. journal of record for the theory and practice of oral history. Its primary mission is to explore the nature and significance of oral history and advance understanding of the field among scholars, educators, practitioners, and the general public. Follow them on Twitter at @oralhistreview, like them on Facebook, add them to your circles on Google Plus, follow them on Tumblr, listen to them on Soundcloud, or follow the latest OUPblog posts via email or RSS to preview, learn, connect, discover, and study oral history.

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