Grading – from the TA Corner

Essay #2 Notes – Jonathan Eng As I finished up grading Essay #2 frantically over the Thanksgiving holiday in an effort to have it ready for my students by Friday morning in between spending it with friends and my Black Friday shopping, I spent the weekend reflecting on the quality of the essays while I…

teaching “Lincoln”

So I saw “Lincoln” last night.  I typically hate the saccharine sweetness of Steven Speilberg and the everything’s-gonna-be-alright history lessons.  ET phone home already.  It makes teaching his movies–Amistad, Schindler’s List–difficult without having to do a lot of unteaching.  But hey, it’s Hollywood. Toward that end, I’ve found a few sources helpful for those of…

SO quiet on the Southern Front

I’ve been rather quiet this semester – I’ve been taking classes myself, actually.  In theory, I should be so professionally developed right now that I could pass, in fact, as an actual professional!  All joking aside, I’ve been taking some MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) specifically looking at how we teach in the digital age.…

Ed and Terry Gross…Fresh Air!

TUSH.0 is going big time. Blog co-creator Ed Blum has been called up to the bigs.  He’s appearing tomorrow (Monday) on Terry Gross’s wildly popular show, “Fresh Air.”  He’s going to talk about The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America, which, I should add is getting great…

Jon Stewart as American historian…

Jon Stewart is very smart, but he’s no historian.  He got little traction when he challenged David Barton on the history of Christian nationalism, and he messed up in describing the scenario wherein Mitt Romney could have become president and Joe Biden vice president (an electoral tie), thus potentially provoking a huge casting problem for…

Call for papers: CASA

The California American Studies Association annual conference is coming to sunny San Diego. It will be incredible; we will eat street tacos, over-analyze everything, and ride the famous trolley. Hope to hear from you (and please share with your students, graduate students, and colleagues): CALL FOR PAPERS California American Studies Association 2013 Annual Meeting San…

Update! The final version

Yesterday I put out a call for help, both here and on Facebook.  I needed help with the concluding paragraphs of the next edition of my American history textbook, HIST, and I had until noon after election day to summarize the results.  Thanks for your help with my first draft.  I unfortunately couldn’t fit in…

Help! Election update needed!

Dear friends, Help! The third edition of my textbook is coming out in a few weeks and they held the presses just so I could write the final paragraphs on the election.  It’s due at noon.  Here’s what I’ve got.  Help me with suggestions! ________________The campaign was filled with frustration and anger, reflecting the sullied…

Conference Call for Papers

The California American Studies Association annual conference is coming to sunny San Diego. It will be incredible; we will eat street tacos, over-analyze everything, and ride the famous trolley. Hope to hear from you (and please share with your students, graduate students, and colleagues): CALL FOR PAPERS California American Studies Association 2013 Annual Meeting San…