not even past
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No, I didn’t read that article in The New Yorker
In the past few weeks, I’ve added a couple more online writing outlets to my list of things to do. I’ve started contributing to Teaching United States History, which I’m really excited about. I’ve also started something else, with my friend Chris: The Daily Context. It is a group blog, aimed at non-academic readers, providing introductory historical […]
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The American cantus firmus
There is an abyss between the man about to assume power and the best shared traditions of the country he represents. Source: The Music Donald Trump Can’t Hear In a beautiful piece in The New Yorker entitled “The Music Donald Trump Can’t Hear,” Adam Gopnik advises us to differentiate between the coming changes that we think are […]
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Enough to drive you crazy if you let it
One incessant refrain in the weeks since the election has been how Democrats – and Hillary Clinton in particular – failed to reach out to “working people” and secure their votes.[1]This presumes that policy positions were the subject of media coverage in this election season, which they were not. This claim is dubious, but the […]
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What’s the state of our nation?
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was fortunate enough to see Hamilton (thanks, Corinne!), and it absolutely lived up to expectations. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve made my peace with the musical, despite some quibbles with the interpretation of the period it presents, and thought about how it might impact my scholarship and my teaching. I thought […]
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The cowardice of “no strong convictions”
Many of us in Connecticut were horrified – but not surprised – at video of a post-election gathering at which someone in Klan robes rode around a bonfire waving a Trump/Pence sign while onlookers laughed and cheered. Some, however, including the first selectman, downplayed the seriousness of this. A town leader downplayed the vile bash. […]
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The weight of history
This election has led to a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the state of the electorate, and I’ve seen a lot of people arguing that the voting population in the United States needs more civics education. In many ways, I agree; I don’t think most voters could explain the mechanisms of our government […]
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Always changing, therefore never really changing
I’m teaching a chapter from Sharon Block’s Rape and Sexual Power in Early America tomorrow in US women’s history, and I know that when we talk about it, much of the conversation will center around how shocking early American ideas about power and consent and sex are. And then, across the semester, we will come back […]
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Who tells your story, or, how Hamilton is and isn’t changing my teaching
The experience of being a historian of Early America[1]This in itself is a problematic categorization. I study the 19th century, and I am most comfortable with the antebellum period, but my program conceived of me as an “Early Americanist” … Continue reading during the moment of Hamilton has been a complex one for me, and it’s brought […]
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When Exactly Was America Great? Darn good question.
Interviews with Americans from eight states on this election-themed question Source: When Exactly Was America Great? – The Atlantic – The Atlantic This little video is an amazing window into views of the American past. Fascinating to see the periods of time chosen by the people interviewed, and extra fascinating to see how they restate […]
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“a radical act of hope” is what we need
If you haven’t read Kevin Gannon’s amazing and inspiring teaching manifesto, you owe it to yourself to stop right now and read it. He outlines the cycle many of us go through, over and over, of being inspired and enthused about teaching, only to fall into despair. As he puts it: “Why bother teaching when […]
