BDN Carries Historian Column on Utopia

The Bangor Daily News has published an opinion column by UMaine history professor Howard Segal originally published in the British literary journal The Times Higher Education. Segal observed an irony in Penn State University’s Paterno Library housing the world’s foremost assemblage of utopian materials. The library was named for Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno after he and his wife raised and donated money for a large addition in the 1980s. The utopia collection includes cautionary tales, Segal wrote, about failed top-down leadership of otherwise charismatic people who ignored others’ immoral behavior. Paterno is accused of covering up sex abuse complaints about a former Penn State assistant coach, which compounded the university’s current “dystopia,” Segal wrote.

Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756