By Dr. Bruce Smith ——Bio and Archives--July 30, 2025

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I had occasion to go to Minneapolis over the first weekend in June. The Greyhound’s trail led through Indianapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee then across Wisconsin to Madison, Wisconsin Dells, St. Paul, and finally to downtown Minneapolis.

I boarded a comfortable but crowded FLIX bus (a Greyhound subsidiary) just before 6 am, carrying only a backpack weighted mostly with drinks and snacks. Having paid for a specific seat near the window I went back counting the rows. When I found the right one I looked down to see somebody sprawled across both seats. A quick glance told me that it would not be a good idea to disturb this dude, if you get my meaning. I went back outside to ask the driver what I should do and was told to sit in any empty seat. I guess I should have known that was the rule already. This led to my first bit of good fortune of the day. The only empty seat I could see on that side was beside a young man who looked like a student. He graciously stepped out of the way to let me in. There was barely room for my knees when I hung the backpack on a convenient hook, but I settled in and we were soon on our way.

As it turned out I couldn’t have chosen a better seat mate. He was, indeed, an undergraduate student from South Korea. He had boarded in Bloomington, Indiana, so he was a student at Indiana University, majoring in viola performance and accounting. He was interesting! Using his impeccable English it turned out that we shared many cultural values and a very similar outlook on academic life. He was a true student, dedicated to learning and understanding without compromise or shortcuts. He refuses to use AI or other electronic means to game the academic system. Once he learned that I was a 50 year alumnus of Indiana University this year his eyes lit up. “How did you do research before there were computers? How was it possible?” I described in detail the massive card catalogs that had once filled much of the first floor of the library. I told him how I had learned the Library of Congress catalog numbers for my chosen areas in American economic and social history. I spoke of my golden undergrad years and my remarkable professors who lectured, gave us near-impossible reading assignments, and tested us with essay questions we answered in blue books. We registered for classes using IBM cards. I gave him old school study tips and test strategies and wished for a return of my teaching days when just a single student with this kind of attitude could make for an incredible academic year.

Then out of the blue he asked one of the great academic questions of all time. How did a small area like Western Europe gain so much power and influence all over the world? My eyes lit up. It was one of the classroom questions I was born to answer. I told him about William H. McNeill’s important book The Pursuit of Power which details the rise of the Western powers through competition between small countries and states in the........

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