MakingHistory

I assigned a reading to my Gilded Age class this week from my favorite Muckraker, so I thought I'd take a couple minutes to define the term.

A letter from a distant relative, General Nathan Ranney of St. Louis, about genealogy.

I'm planning to offer my courses in a hybrid format going forward, to add flexibility for students while (hopefully!) not adding too much additional work for me.

My review of The Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860, one of the most consequential books I read in grad school.

The second half of my 8th chapter in my Modern World History, for my Bemidji State University class, Fall 2020.

My thoughts after a week of playing with the new app, on the usefulness of Roam Research (spoiler, I like it a lot!).

Second half of my "interview" with my friend Nick Heisserer, where he talks about his decision to go for a PhD and his thoughts about higher education.

Conversation with my colleague and friend Nick Heisserer about researching a PhD dissertation topic. 

A second book review in my new series, about Joyce Appleby's 1984 book, Capitalism and a New Social Order: the Republican Vision of the 1790s.

The social, cultural, and economic fallout of the Great War. For my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020. 

Percy Wells Bidwell's Rural Economy in New England at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century , which I first read as a grad student and now have a slightly  different reaction to.

Another letter from Lyman in Van Buren, Arkansas. Although he likes "merchandising", Lyman would really prefer studying medicine -- if he only had the funds. 

Alfred W. Crosby Jr.'s groundbreaking 1972 book and its reception, in a new "History in 15" segment.

This semester I'm writing an OER textbook for my course, Modern World History. No wonder I feel busy!

This week I'll be exposing my students to two quite different types of history of the Gilded Age.

A second letter from Lyman, working in Van Buren, Arkansas.

Lucius writes to Henry after a gap of possibly years. 

A look at the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who invented the process we use to make nitrogen fertilizer, and some of the complicated aspects of his life and his process.

Today in history (October 8, 1871), the most devastating fire in American History broke out in Peshtigo Wisconsin. It wasn't a freak accident caused by a dry summer. It was an externality of the lumber industry. 

A longish (65 minute) talk about World War I, for week seven of my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.

A first look at some new tools I'm exploring to amp up my efficiency and effectiveness.

My review of the short biography of Thomas Jefferson by the always controversial but also quite interesting Christopher Hitchens.

Was Columbus a Heroic Discoverer or a Genocidal Invader? A talk for Bemidji State University's Hispanic Heritage Month.

Dr. Charles Knowlton wrote America's first birth control manual in 1831, and was jailed for it. But based on records from the town where he lived, it worked!

My reaction to Active History's Episode 162, reacting to the Patriotic History vs. 1619 controversy.