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Bellesiles:Fellowshipawarded professor is reviewed
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Fellowship awarded professor is reviewed
Jen Sansbury - Staff
Thursday, May 2, 2002
The National Endowment for the Humanities has taken the unusual step of demanding a review of a federally funded fellowship awarded to Emory University history Professor Michael Bellesiles.
"The NEH request is unprecedented," said James Grossman, vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library in Chicago, which gave Bellesiles $30,000 for a project to research American gun laws. "They're asking questions that they're entitled to ask, and we're answering them as best we can."
Bellesiles' acclaimed 2000 book, "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," drew widespread criticism for its contention that guns were more rare in early America than previously thought and did not become commonplace until the Civil War.
Critics claim that Bellesiles' research and interpretation of historical information were flawed and biased.
His accusers initially were gun-rights advocates, but over the past year academic experts in American history and government records have joined the fray.
While Bellesiles has acknowledged some errors, he has said he stands by his book's overall conclusion.
The Newberry Library selected Bellesiles for the 2001-02 fellowship more than a year ago through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. It is funded through a $270,000 grant from NEH to cover 12 fellowships over three years.
Deputy NEH Chairman Lynne Munson sent a letter to Grossman April 18 asking for reports on the administration of the fellowship and "any plans . . . to investigate and adjudicate the serious charges that have been made against Michael Bellesiles' scholarship."
"It really comes down to a concern about Professor Bellesiles' alleged misconduct," said Jim Turner, NEH spokesman.
"There is this public controversy, and NEH wants to just get clear with our grantee, the Newberry Library, exactly what their procedure is for complying with the requirements of the grant."
The library has provided a point-by-point response, but considers it confidential and will not release it, Grossman said.
According to Munson's letter, the agency is prepared to remove the NEH name from Bellesiles' fellowship if agency officials are not satisfied. NEH is still reviewing the Newberry Library's response.
The library's general position is that the controversy arose --- in academic circles, at least --- after the fellowship was awarded and that it is up to Emory to address questions about Bellesiles' earlier work, Grossman said.
After completing an internal inquiry into research misconduct, Emory officials recently announced the case had been turned over to a committee of outside scholars for a formal investigation.
In its 37-year history, the National Endowment for the Humanities has revoked its backing of a project only once, Turner said. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/thursday/metro_c30decc9f20cc14e0092.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Jen Sansbury - Staff
Thursday, May 2, 2002
The National Endowment for the Humanities has taken the unusual step of demanding a review of a federally funded fellowship awarded to Emory University history Professor Michael Bellesiles.
"The NEH request is unprecedented," said James Grossman, vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library in Chicago, which gave Bellesiles $30,000 for a project to research American gun laws. "They're asking questions that they're entitled to ask, and we're answering them as best we can."
Bellesiles' acclaimed 2000 book, "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," drew widespread criticism for its contention that guns were more rare in early America than previously thought and did not become commonplace until the Civil War.
Critics claim that Bellesiles' research and interpretation of historical information were flawed and biased.
His accusers initially were gun-rights advocates, but over the past year academic experts in American history and government records have joined the fray.
While Bellesiles has acknowledged some errors, he has said he stands by his book's overall conclusion.
The Newberry Library selected Bellesiles for the 2001-02 fellowship more than a year ago through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. It is funded through a $270,000 grant from NEH to cover 12 fellowships over three years.
Deputy NEH Chairman Lynne Munson sent a letter to Grossman April 18 asking for reports on the administration of the fellowship and "any plans . . . to investigate and adjudicate the serious charges that have been made against Michael Bellesiles' scholarship."
"It really comes down to a concern about Professor Bellesiles' alleged misconduct," said Jim Turner, NEH spokesman.
"There is this public controversy, and NEH wants to just get clear with our grantee, the Newberry Library, exactly what their procedure is for complying with the requirements of the grant."
The library has provided a point-by-point response, but considers it confidential and will not release it, Grossman said.
According to Munson's letter, the agency is prepared to remove the NEH name from Bellesiles' fellowship if agency officials are not satisfied. NEH is still reviewing the Newberry Library's response.
The library's general position is that the controversy arose --- in academic circles, at least --- after the fellowship was awarded and that it is up to Emory to address questions about Bellesiles' earlier work, Grossman said.
After completing an internal inquiry into research misconduct, Emory officials recently announced the case had been turned over to a committee of outside scholars for a formal investigation.
In its 37-year history, the National Endowment for the Humanities has revoked its backing of a project only once, Turner said. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/thursday/metro_c30decc9f20cc14e0092.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878