Episode 29: Dr. Richard John and the Core Curriculum at Columbia College

Welcome back to Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree! Join Cal Poly Humboldt Dean Jeff Crane as he interviews a range of guests about the value of the liberal arts and higher education as a personal and public good. Today’s interview with Dr. Richard R. John was done during our time at Columbia University back at the beginning of April. We conducted 9 interviews over the course of two days at Columbia College, housed within the larger University. This was a great opportunity to speak with people involved with core curriculum at the College, from a variety of perspectives. Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing several of these episodes, some as stand alone discussions and some as compliations.  Richard R. John is a historian who specializes in the history of business, technology, communications, and American political development. He teaches and advises graduate students in Columbia’s Ph.D. program in communications, and is member of the core faculty of the Columbia history department, where he teaches courses on the history of capitalism and the history of communications.  This conversation uses history as a way to understand our present moment, and questions whether comparison of different eras and events is always helpful. Richard discusses some of the texts he teaches, why he values the Core Curriculum at Columbia College, his feelings about the current political situation in the United States and his own academic background Follow Richard John on X @RrjohnR Follow the show on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@JobLiberalArts⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and on Instagram @LiberalArtsJobPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Silverman Sound Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson