Religion, Religions, Religious, and Native Americans in Colonial America We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Linford Fisher, assistant professor of history at Brown University, for a two-part interview on religion in colonial New England. Fisher is one of the finest young scholars in the field of colonial America and Native American religions. His first book The…
Here is an amazing opportunity for our readers who teach in Community Colleges. The Newberry Library in Chicago will host a seminar on religious pluralism with an all-star cast of scholars to lead them, including Diana Eck, Tisa Wenger, and our own Kevin Schultz. Here’s more info: http://www.newberry.org/sites/default/files/calendar-attachments/FullProjectDescription%20d3%20Boggs.pdf
Teaching Salem Ten years ago, I spent a lot of time on Salem in the undergraduate survey. In part, this was self serving. I was a religious historian and the witch trials were a moment where I could harp on the importance of religion – how colonial New Englanders saw themselves living amid wonders, enchantments,…
What Salem Teaches Us After yesterday’s lecture on British colonial development from 1607 to 1698, one of my students asked at the end of class, “what do historians think happened at Salem? It just sounds kinda kooky.” Oh goodness, my friend. Do historians have thoughts about the Salem Witch Trials … why yes they do:…
The Scholars Speak (part 2 with Rebecca Goetz).Our thanks again to Rebecca Goetz of Rice University for discussing colonial settlement, the role of religion and enforced labor, and the differences and similitaries between the North and the South. 3. North versus South Ed’s third question deals with differences between the colonial North and the colonial…
The Scholars Speak This weekend’s edition of The Scholars Speak features Professor Rebecca Goetz of Rice University. Professor Goetz is one of the finest young scholars on early America, especially Virginia and the important role of religion in English-Indian-African interactionsn – and she’s also one of my favorite persons in the world. Her first book…
FDR was Wrong … There is so much more to fear than fear itselfWe had our first discussion yesterday, and I thought it went quite nicely. We began with the simple question: what would you do in a contagion? I like the question because as I added on layers of context, different students had different…
Death in the Age of EncounterMy wife is quite excited, because the Matt Damon and Kate Winslet film Contagion is about to come to our local Red Box. She loves a good mystery, especially one that involves mass epidemics. It seems that every few years we recycle the idea of a massive outbreak (think Outbreak,…
The Scholars Speak: An Interview with Professor James Merrell We are delighted to have Professor James Merrell of Vassar College. In the first chapter of Major Problems, his essay on “The Indians’ New World” highlights how radically transformative the age of encounter and contact was for Native Americans as well. Here’s his bio from Vassar,…
Today’s Friday funny is Columbus. Here’s a link to a high school project that proclaims “Columbus is our hero” at its end. But Columbus is funny for another reason. He’s famous for being wrong – and wrong on so many levels, and that’s one of the aspects I like to teach about US history. Sometimes…
