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…
Hey all, quick announcement. Gale Kenny, whose excellent blog entries here discussed her use of blogs for her fall courses, has started a new blog on research: how to, what not to do, and the entire experience. Here’s the link: http://intothearchives.wordpress.com/
Before the Beginning In his previous post, Kevin asked the question I pose to my students on the first day: “where would you begin?” I follow it with “where would you end?” And, of course, “why?” In upper-division courses, I use those questions to assess what my students already know and to give a basic…
