Originally published on December 21, 2023 (Intellectual Humility and Historical Thinking Series)
Introduction
This is the first of my interviews with historians touching on questions of intellectual humility and historical thinking. Today’s conversation is with Jonathan Zimmerman.
He is the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education and Professor of History of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD in 1993 from Johns Hopkins University. His books have dealt with a wide range of topics related to the history of education, including sex and alcohol education, history and religion in the curriculum, Americans who taught overseas, and historical memory in public schooling.
Jonathan Zimmerman is also notable for the variety of opinion pieces he has published across a range of American publications. He has appeared on Historically Thinking twice before: once on the apparently eternal inability of American college professors to teach, and then again when we wondered (along with Eliot Cohen) if there could ever be a civic history—a history for the common good.
About the Guest
Jonathan Zimmerman is not only the author of numerous books on education and public culture, but a frequent contributor of opinion pieces in major American outlets.
For Further Investigation
Jonathan Zimmerman, The Amateur Hour: A History of College Teaching in America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020)
The Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley — ggsc.berkeley.edu
💬 Listen & Discuss
What role does intellectual humility play in how we teach—and how we learn—history? Can acknowledging the limits of our knowledge make us better educators, students, and citizens? Share your thoughts in the comments, and send this episode to someone who cares about the future of education and civic life.
