American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it. – James Baldwin James Baldwin said these words to a group of educators during a tumultuous time for teachers and all Americans alike–1963, the same year that segregation was being fought in Birmingham, Alabama and…
It started almost on a whim, but it was the best thing I could have done. Students responded eagerly. They found it fascinating to talk about history as a process of investigation, to puzzle out strategies for telling truer and more creative stories about the past. And they used these concepts later.
In August, I began an exciting new journey in my academic career. I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Claflin University, a Historically Black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. As excited as I was to begin this new chapter in my teaching career, I began to ask myself: what is my responsibility…
When I began to teach the United States survey course in Utah several years ago, I noticed that many of my students were not prepared to complete homework for my class and avoided participating during class. Besides struggling with critical thinking and document analysis, which I expected, my students did not know how to conduct…
Last summer, as I prepared to teach the Modern U.S. History survey, I decided that I wanted to double-down on fostering historical empathy after I read the AHA’s Tuning Project’s Discipline Profile and Core Concepts. Right away, the Tuning Project identifies that empathy is required for the study of history. In an item under the…
If you know me, you know my research. Seriously, I talk about it a lot. To anyone I can. I talk about history in general. And increasingly, gopher tortoises. (But that’s beside the fact.) The point is, I’m always talking about history to anyone I can find. So it was no surprise the other day…
Teaching United States History is gearing up for another academic year with new contributors and new conversations. Stay tuned for more about what we teach, how we do it, and why.
In the past few years, it feels like there’s been more outcry for historians to engage with the public and “explain” the present to them, but it exists alongside the perpetual outcry about historians who might discuss current events with the public they engage with every day: their students. Professors, on the other hand, often…
A few weeks ago, someone asked me a question that made me stop and think. The person asked, “What do you produce as an English teacher?” The inquisitor did not posit the question in a derogatory manner; in fact, I firmly believe that the person asking the question wanted to legitimately understand what I do…
I’ve always had somewhat of an ambivalent relationship with study guides. Every semester, my students have clamored for a study guide for each examination, and each semester I go ahead and provide them with one. I think every instructor wishes they could respond to the “what do I need to study for this exam” question…
In my last post, I explored how to employ social reading in the online classroom using Perusall, Padlet, and other digital tools. In that application, my main goal is to ensure students are reading critically. By that I mean not just scrolling through a textbook, but actually engaging with it. I want them to consider…
“But how much is that in today’s money?” Anyone who’s taught the US survey has heard this question dozens of times. It a completely understandable one, and often impels students to seek out online calculators that claim they can “convert” old timey money into today’s currency. I usually try to answer this question by talking…
The day after the 2017 Boston Marathon, the marathon’s sponsor, Adidas, sent an email to participants who completed the race. The subject line read, “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon.” On the surface, nothing appears wrong with this line; however, given the events at the marathon on April 15, 2013, when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonated…
Chances are, you already know about Ben Franklin: inventor, diplomat, postmaster, bespectacled genius. But Ben Franklin, failure? It’s true. The Founding Father struck out at one of the goals he set for himself – to become a champion chess player. Why he failed in this endeavor, but attained such greatness in others, is instructive for…
I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve just passed through midterms at my university, or because I’ve been working on course (re)design as part of my teaching center duties, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of alignment lately. Those familiar with the methodology of “backward design” will recognize alignment as the glue…
