Tag: FamiliesPage 2 of 2

Executive Order 9066

Actor, author, director, and activist George Takei recalls his family’s resilience and ability to find joy, beauty, and love in simple treasures while imprisoned in Japanese internment camps…

The Currency of Emotional Intelligence

Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is the 28th Chief Justice of the State of California. She recalls her experiences as a student in a humanities class in college, her upbringing…

Letter from My Grandfather

Ina Dixon explains how a letter from her grandfather to her grandmother, written just before the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, reconnects her to her grandfather and…

How Korean Fan Dancing Helped Me Connect with My Adopted Son

As a middle-aged American Caucasian woman with an adopted son from South Korea, I had a longing to understand my son’s heritage and feel more connected to him….

Fathers and Sons

In this video, Scott Gartlan discusses his reaction to seeing Arthur Miller’s 1947 play All My Sons and seeing deep connections between the play’s narrative and his own…

Placing Our Family in the Story of America

Actor John Cho shares how the humanities reveal answers to the most important questions in life. He notes his fondness of reading and how, during his childhood, the…

The Only Person of Color in the Room

At 95, Betty Reid Soskin is the oldest active U.S. Park Ranger. Having lived through wars, racial segregation, and other turbulent times in our history, she says empathy…

A Lifelong Passion and Appreciation for History

Ben Vinson III reflects on how an appreciation for history can enrich our understanding of what he calls the “depth to our days.” Specifically, he recalls how the…

Growing Up with the Humanities

Mirah Horowitz describes the lessons imparted from her mother, an English professor, on reading and writing as ongoing practices of critical inquiry. Building on their shared love of…

A Timeless Description

I feel robbed that I did not get the opportunity to ask my Great Uncle Burl what it was like to train in North Africa or share stories…

Origin Stories: Or, Making Sense of Surprises in the Family Tree

My Humanities Moment happened when my husband and I received the results of the genetic testing kits we’d ordered. The stories that my husband’s DNA told matched up…

Things Usually Turn Out Alright

Esther Mackintosh explains how a single letter from her father offered solace during an especially trying period of her life. As a graduate student facing an uncertain future,…

Abu’s Afsanas

My Abu (‘father’ in Urdu) is my favorite storyteller … I grew up with stories of his childhood in India and later in his life: he and his…

My Front Porch Looking In

I was around seven years old. My dad and I were in the car when the song came on. “My Front Porch Looking In” by the band Lonestar…

How to Get U.S. Citizenship and the American Dream

When I was 8 years old, I found hidden in a drawer a little, brown book. It was a well-worn copy of, “How to Get U.S. Citizenship,” which…

The Best Motivational Token

It was a late night on September 14th, and school was at an overwhelming high. My new organization had just kicked off so all of my time was…

Darkest Before the Dawn

Due to the oil and gas industry plummeting in 2016, my dad lost his job that he had for over 30 years, right before I was about to…