Luther Spoehr
Senior Lecturer in Education:
Education
Phone: +1 401 863 9236
Phone 2: +1 401 863 2407
Luther_Spoehr@Brown.EDU
Professor Spoehr does research in the history of American higher education, school reform, and teaching history.
Biography
My main activities at Brown involve teaching about the history of American higher education and the history of American school reform. My First-Year Seminar, "Campus on Fire," looks at American colleges and universities in the 1960s. Other courses include a survey of the history of American higher education, the history of intercollegiate athletics, and the history of academic freedom. I also do work on best practices in the teaching of history and frequently consult with schools and school systems that want to improve their history teaching.
Interests
Areas of Specialization: History of American Higher Education, School Reform, Teaching History.
Description of Research and Teaching Interests: In my work on the history of education, I focus primarily on the history of American school reform in the 20th century and the changing definitions of academic freedom in the history of higher education. I also work extensively on issues involved in teaching history: how to use primary sources to help students learn to "think historically;" setting up performance-based, "authentic" assessment in standards-based curricula; developing interdisciplinary approaches; and taking advantage of new classroom technologies.
Teaching US History, History of Higher Education, History of American School Reform
Degrees
B.A. History, Haverford College 1969, M.A. History, Stanford University 1970, Ph.D History, Stanford University 1975
Awards
Invited graduation speaker, Lincoln School (June 1999).
Who's Who Among American Teachers (1996).
One of the first group of recipients of the Advanced Placement Recognition Award from The College Board (1991).
Ph.D. dissertation was nominated for the Allan Nevins Prize and was a finalist in the Dissertation of the Year Competition sponsored by the Association of Professors of Higher Education (1975).
Wheeler Fellow, Department of History, Stanford University (1969-73).
Graduated magna cum laude with High Honors in History, Haverford College (1969).
Phi Beta Kappa, Haverford College (1968).
Affiliations
National Council for History Education
Organization of American Historians
Society for American Baseball Research
Rhode Island Historical Society
Funded Research
N/A
Curriculum Vitae
