Tag: HistoryPage 1 of 6

Preserving Tradition and Embracing Change

This was my fourth trip to Georgia since 2016 and each trip I have noticed a slow-and-steady increase in the amount of “western” influence in the city. From…

When “Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?” Is More Than a Trivia Question

In the summer of 2006, my best friend and I stumbled upon a book called, Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb. The book summarizes the post-presidential lives of the…

A Trip to Antietam National Battlefield

When I was ten years old my family took a day trip to visit the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland. This family activity was the idea of…

The Day I Knew I Was Going to Teach History

In what has become a defining moment of my entire life, my first true humanities moment provided clarity and direction for my future in the midst of all…

Facing History is Not a Walk in the Park

I recently returned from a two week mini “Grand Tour” of Europe. The last stop on our itinerary was the Bavarian capital, Munich. As a World History teacher,…

People of the Book Reminds Me Why I Love the Humanities

I read People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks a few days ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. This book combined many of…

The Power of a Perspective Change

In my first semester as a history grad student, I remember reading an assigned book that changed my perspective on history forever. Prior to grad school, I had…

Homegrown

My wanderlust took me to many places around the world where I experienced humanities moments at nearly every turn, but my hometown is where my relationship with the…

St Cuthbert: Just One Voice in a Silent Crowd

In the summer of 2017 I was visiting my family in the northeast of the UK as I prepared to begin my Ph.D. in the United States. I…

A History of Redevelopments

My humanities moment comes in the form a song called “Inner City Blues,” by Marvin Gaye. The song was released in 1971 and it was a vocal illustration…

A Sword From Italy by Way of Alexandria

It was not my first time in The City, but it was my first time visiting the Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s reputation stretched out wide before…

A Play and New Perspectives

In the summer of 2018, I took a trip to England where I had the opportunity to truly explore the city of London for the first time. One…

A Touch of Green

While doing research in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province in China, I made a visit to a local neighborhood called Dafang Lane. There’s no famous tourist…

“Il faut le savoir:” Reflecting on France’s Holocaust History and Memory

“Nothing distinguished the gas chamber from an ordinary blockhouse,” writes Jean Cayrol in the screenplay for Alain Resnais’ iconic filmic meditation on the Shoah, Night and Fog (1956)….

The Day the Star-Spangled Banner Played at Buckingham Palace

On September 13, 2001, the royal orchestra played the American national anthem during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. This was two days after the terrorist…

To the Daughters of My Country: Humanitarian Connection across Time and Borders

In 1922, Julia Dimashqiya, founder and editor of the Beirut-based women’s magazine “The New Woman” (“Al- Mar’a Al-Jadida”), inaugurated her first issue by dedicating it to “the daughters…

The “Infinitely Human”: Life Writings, Locks of Hair and Lived History

Like fellow humanists, I struggled to pick a single moment to describe and share with you. However, while delving into my corpus (life writings – mostly diaries, autobiographies…

Chicano Park

I had been in San Diego for less than a week and was still unsure of bus routes. Having successfully navigated the trolley-to-bus transfer from La Mesa to…

Night

I came across Night by Elie Wiesel while in middle school. I found it at my school library and the barbed wire and shadow of a boy on…

Visiting the Anne Frank House

At the age of 16, I had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam with my family. Even at an early age, I had a genuine interest in history…