Category Archives: Without Ritual, Autonomous Negotiations

Several aspects of the historian’s general treatment of traditional historical documents has occupied significant mental energy lately. Items such as letters are generally not meant to be read by audiences en masse (or sold). Anne Frank’s diary was also not intended to be read by audiences (or sold by publishers) around the world (and was certainlyContinue reading “Primary Sources: History, Ethics, and Commodities”

Today is Texas Independence Day. Woohoo, right? Well, not so fast.  Texas Independence was accomplished through deaths and injuries on both sides and ideas of superiority on both sides, although especially on the Texian side with their ideologies from the United States that would soon officially be named Manifest Destiny. In the aftermath of the TexasContinue reading “Texas Independence Day, Timelines, and Privilege”

I like to have students occasionally work on tasks in small groups. In-class group work generally consists of my having students analyze primary or secondary sources or responding to one of my famously broad questions and then having each group present their collective thoughts to the class. While students are sometimes resistant to work in groupsContinue reading “Three Strategies Guaranteed for More Successful Group Presentations”

Year Enslaved Black Population According to Tax Records # of Enslavers Total Population (mostly excludes Native Americans) 1825 443   1,800 1834 ≈2,000   24,700 1838 5,786 1,049   1840 11,827 2,163   1844 22,852 3,399   1846 30,505     1848 40,308     1850 48,145 (58,161 according to census) 7,747 212,592 (includes 397 non enslavedContinue reading “The Raw Numbers: Texas and Enslavement”

I’m always anxious and willing to try new technology in the classroom. This semester my small experiments using Poll Everywhere have worked better in all my classes than any other semester so far. Part of it has been me learning how to use their system, part of it getting their system to work in theContinue reading “An Exercise in Interactive Learning”

This semester I am thrilled to be teaching Texas History again. Yesterday in class we spent a little over half of the period really analyzing the question, “What is Texas History?” I decided to do this as the second lesson (the first lesson is “What is History?” that reviews some basic terminology and course expectationsContinue reading “Memorization Without Meaning Is Counterproductive: A Case Study Looking at “What is Texas History?””

Traditions related to Santa Clause are not new or unheard of; although, they are increasing and manifesting in new ways, such as with the Elf on a Shelf tradition. From a psychological perspective, the Elf brings fears predicted in 1984 and that increasing have very real manifestations to life. (Side note: Overall, Brave New World’s predictionsContinue reading “How the Santa Myth Further Blinds (Rich White) People to Their Privilege”

The “Elf on the Shelf” tradition has become massive. I’m not sure when it started, but I have only known about it for a year. If you are not familiar with it goes something like this: On December 1 Santa sends an Elf to each house. The Elf flies to and from the North PoleContinue reading “Culture, Control, Colorization, and The Elf on the Shelf”