Thomas L. Dynneson

Just released and is widely available. This book is the second book in the Roman series.

Good news! Today I signed a publication contract with Peter Lang Publishing for my new book titled: Rise of the Early Roman Republic: Reflections on Becoming Roman. The book publication date is October 2016.

This summer I have been invited to present papers in Rome and in Athens. Barbara and I are hoping to spend about one month in Europe this coming summer attending conferences, meeting with associated scholars and visiting historical sites. The topic of my paper to be delivered at the SSEC conference in Rome addresses issues related to training youth, or family training of noble boys and girls for Roman citizenship in regard to the establishment of important Roman virtues. The topic of my paper to be delivered in Athens before the International Philosophical Association relates to the influences of the Hellens (ancient Greeks) on the development of early Roman culture. Currently my Roman manuscript is structured around twenty-three chapters, but it is a work in progress. I hope to share some of my insights with you later as this work unfolds. All of my books usually take from seven to ten years to complete, but I have drafted a great deal of material that now will be subjected to my long and sometimes painful method of editing.

I was notified this morning through the UTPB archivist that the Dynneson Archive was accepted by the UT System to be stored as a special collection in the University library. The archive hopefully will house all relevant material including all of my publication, which began in1972 through to the present. In addition, the archive will include my letters and paper regarding many years of research in anthropology, social studies education, European history, ancient Greek history and philosophy, etc., as well as letters from famous scholars and others including George W. Bush, Ralph Nadar, and some signed works from James Michener,etc. My records that are related to the founding of the University (1973-95) also will be a part of the record. The Dynneson Archive hopefully will serve as an educational and research source for scholars for students interested in undergraduate and graduate studies. In addition, materials from my many years at Stanford University while serving as Visiting Scholar will include my associations with Richard E. Gross and Paul Hanna (curriculum development, United Nation and colleague to John Dewey) as well as the Spindlers in anthropology.

The material for the archive will be transformed this school year and I am hoping to play some role in the organization of the archive, which may or may not be possible. The transfer of the materials will require some legal work and I have asked my Good friend, partner, and colleague Dr. James A. Nickel to supervise this operation in the event that I should not be able to do so.

This is a great day for the Dynneson family and their descendants.

I am especially thankful to President Watts for his support and assistance in making this possible and to archivist Terry Schultz for his efforts and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Dynneson
Professor Emeritus

For some time I have been diverted into a new work on Roman Civism. At present I have over seventeen draft chapters that spans the years from 700 BC to approximately 287 BC, or the period known as the early and middle republic. The project has occupied my time and has caused me to set aside the work on "Historical Civism." I am very pleased with this new project and totally dedicated to seeing its completion. I have been very fortunate in having some excellent sources to help with this project, which makes this labor a labor of love.

I am currently working on a new project related to Historical Civism. This work is designed to complement my 2001 book entitled Civism: Cultivating Citizenship in European History. At present, I have some initial drafts of the first two chapters and I am gather research for a third chapter. The first chapter explores the clash between two world views on civism in the ancient world by focusing on the differences in outlooks between Persians and the Greeks. The second chapter explores the civistic perspectives of Pericles as it would be applied to the Athenian Empire and the use of the notion that "power makes right." The third chapter address the role of civism in breaking down the walls of the early Roman caste system and the means used by the plebeians to assert their rights in the face of an overwhelming patrician political and social domination.

I am considering the possibility of publishing each of the drafted chapters as 'blogs' on this website. As yet, a final decision regarding the publication of the early drafts has not been made.

In the near future, a new series of "blogs" will appear that will contain activities for social studies professionals. These activities will be organized according to various topics such as "generic activities" and will hopefully adopted for classroom use by secondary social studies teachers. In addition, suggestions will be made so that many of these same activities can be modified for use by elementary teachers who are seeking fresh ideas for their classrooms. This series, entitled, "The Activity Notebook", can be collected and organized in a teacher's folder or binder and referenced according their best application for classroom use. I am hoping that this series will also lead to an exchange of ideas with my readers.

Thanks, Dr. D.

The text of my letter is in response to Roy Blount's "From the President" in the Winter 2010 bulletin and address issues pertaining to academic publications. In my letter I challenge Roy's contention about "What is a book worth?" In his page, Roy lists three categories dealing with those who claim that "information should be free." I claim that Roy is mistaken when he contends, in his category one, that academic authors are paid by their universities to write books, books that he claims most people will not read. I also suggest that Roy is mistaken in his generalizations about the conditions of academic publishing as it pertains to why academics publish, as well as the publication policies in practice at a "typical" university. More important, I attempt to explain that most academics do not publish, and many of those who do publish, do so for intrinsic reasons - such as developing a new concept or idea that is aimed at an issue or problem that they have spent years researching.

Professor Dynneson is working on two new projects related to civism. The first project is related to a theoretical work aimed as answering the question: What is Civism? This project included a new system for analyzing political rhetoric from an the perspective of ten themes related persuasive argumentation. The second project is an extensive study of civism in the ancient Roman Republic.