Let’s be honest. Trumpism and the recent political chaos in the US aren’t eternal, thankfully. The United States has endured major political upheavals before and has often come out stronger. I trust that both the American public and US academia will survive and get even stronger.
That’s why I’ve been thinking. Could academic cooperation with the US be viable again one day?
I specialize in British imperial history and remain largely focused on Canada, both professionally and in terms of research. But I’m genuinely curious what others think about these universities in the fields of political science and history.
- University of Vermont in Burlington
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Oregon
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
What are your impressions? How would you rate their academic culture, research output, and openness to international scholars? Would any of these be a good fit for someone working on imperial and transnational political history?
Any insights, formal or personal, would be much appreciated.
Comments
I have a partial answer to your question, but also, I am a Victorianist who does research on similar topics from the literary side of things in a state that shares a border with Canada! Send me a message if you’d ever want to network (I’m pretty isolated academically due to my location).
But to address part of your question, I did my grad work at UW-Madison and it was a great academic environment. I had a friend in the History department who left, but it wasn’t because they didn’t like the department (they did), it was because they decided to leave academia. I definitely found support for transnational theoretical approaches during my time there. Wisconsin is also a politically purple state and the area around Madison is super blue/Dem. Things have really improved politically in the state in the decade since I have been there (see: Dem governor and one Dem senator, recent Supreme Court elections, etc.). The state has a long storied history of labor union support.