“You know, Professor Schama, my parents aren't paying all this money for me to become more confused.”
—Student, after a lecture by Columbia University historian Simon Schama1
Uncertainty, in the right place, at the right time, is a necessary ingredient for profound learning. Indeed, uncertainty in the proper measure is, in some ways, the foundation of intellectual life. And yet knowledgeable guidance, a steady hand, a clear set of goals and sense of purpose are also necessary—in the right place, at the right time. The issues of certainty and uncertainty, and the related problems of authority and control over knowledge, are present in many guises in professional and curriculum development. The Humanities Teacher/Curriculum Development Project of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) offers a particularly interesting configuration of these issues.