Several years ago, I set the goal of using the summer months to read either canonical southern literature or a new area of history outside of the Early Republic period. Between research projects and major life changes, I haven't done a great job of achieving my objective, but I've tackled William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Walker … Continue reading Summer 2012 Reading
The Historical Society 2012: “Old Hickory Just Got All Sexypants”
I'm attending this year's meeting of The Historical Society, to be held in Columbia, SC, on May31-June 2. It's my first time to be part of this conference, and I'm looking forward to meeting several people I know virtually. The conference theme is "Popularizing Historical Knowledge: Practice, Prospects, and Perils." In keeping with the theme, I entitled … Continue reading The Historical Society 2012: “Old Hickory Just Got All Sexypants”
Edutainment vs. Education: A False Dichotomy?
Last September, I wrote this about teaching as performance: I should also point out that performance is no substitute for rigor and quality. Performance in the classroom can encourage enthusiasm about a subject among students, but enthusiasm should not be the most important objective. Performance should be a tool, much like technology, to grab students’ attention in … Continue reading Edutainment vs. Education: A False Dichotomy?
Favorite Final Exam Story?
You can also share a story about your experience as a student, but I'm asking specifically for stories as a professor. Mind your FERPA manners, though. My favorite story is from my time as a T.A. at Mississippi State. At the time, history department T.A.s taught their own courses, so we made up our own … Continue reading Favorite Final Exam Story?
The Uncoverage Approach to the U.S. Survey Course
Jonathan Rees at More or Less Bunk recently posted about the "uncoverage" model of teaching the U.S. history survey course. In their 2001 article on the coverage model, Joel M. Sipress and David J. Voelker describe the traditional approach to the U.S. survey course: The dominant approach to teaching the history “survey” (as the introductory … Continue reading The Uncoverage Approach to the U.S. Survey Course
How Useful Is a Course on Conspiracy Theories?
The conspiracy theories course wrapped up yesterday with a discussion about the differences between actual conspiracies and conspiracy theories and the students' evaluation of the most influential conspiracy theories. We closed out by listening to songs by 2Pac and Green Day that contain conspiratorial allusions and claims. Based on students' reactions and my own observations, … Continue reading How Useful Is a Course on Conspiracy Theories?
Footnotes, Chapter Endnotes, or Book Endnotes?
Which do you prefer? Just to make sure we're on the same page (pun intended), footnotes are citations at the bottom of pages; chapter endnotes are citations at the end of each chapter; and book endnotes are citations compiled at the end of the book, usually prior to the bibliography. Personally, I love footnotes. Being … Continue reading Footnotes, Chapter Endnotes, or Book Endnotes?
The Evolution of a Book, Part 5: Writing the Book
(The rest of this series is available at the following links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.) I had big plans when I wrote my book proposal in 2006. I even had a schedule that I posted in my office outlining how I would write one chapter each semester, starting in Fall 2007. If I could … Continue reading The Evolution of a Book, Part 5: Writing the Book
Andrew Jackson’s Profane Parrot
Even though the poster to the left was never actually used in the Smithsonian's PR campaign, I like it. Whether it's true is something else entirely. I told Poll's story as a docent at The Hermitage years ago and never questioned its validity. This poster made me think twice, so I asked Marsha Mullin, the … Continue reading Andrew Jackson’s Profane Parrot
Tweaking the Blog
I mentioned last week that I was considering revamping the blog. As you hopefully can tell, that transformation is complete. Some changes of note: 1. I reorganized the blog to look more like a website. The menu is divided into more specific categories to direct visitors to pages that might interest them. 2. I changed … Continue reading Tweaking the Blog
Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics 