BELLESILES UPDATE: Melissa Seckora is reporting that the Emory University investigation of historian Michael Bellesiles for fraud is progressing to a second stage, an investigation by prominent scholars from outside Emory.

This sounds to me like they’re looking at firing him.

UPDATE: On the other hand, a couple of readers speculate that they’re turning the case over to the American Historical Association, which might produce a whitewash. But while that’s possible, I don’t think so: this guy has been such an embarrassment, and so many people have pointed out so many obvious misrepresentations and fabrications, that I think a whitewash would send what little credibility the historical profession has left (sorry guys, but it’s been a bad year for historians) down the drain.