Earlier today while reading and reviewing an in-progress chapter for a friend, it occurred to me that we are all vastly guilty of a very specific kind of presentism. We’re so blind to this presentism that it goes almost completely… Read More ›
historiography and philosophy of history
The “Big Idea” History Syllabus
1. Whereas 99.9% of the past is forever lost to direct analysis, the past and everything that has ever happened anywhere (history) is different from the study of what has happened (History). Historians aim to assemble and examine stories about… Read More ›
Representations of the Past and What You Can’t Un-know
As I was watching Beauty and the Beast (2017) this afternoon–the day of its release for at-home viewing–a thought occurred to me…. Beauty and the Beast is, of course, myth. Yet it has a time–roughly mid-18th century–and place–France. Like basically all such… Read More ›
Philosophy of History and A Partial Analysis of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA”
If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life Think of the tragedy that would have to happen for everything to disappear (?) tomorrow. This also takes for granted the social construction of laboring for an employer. The… Read More ›
Issues in Historiography: The Texas Revolution or the Long Invasion of Mexico?
This past few weeks my students and I have been discussing various sides of the so-called Texas Revolution in depth in both my Texas History class and Mexican American History I class. One of my favorite things about teaching is that… Read More ›
Rewriting History: Enslavement, the Underground Railroad, and Rhetoric
Much of what you think you know about the Underground Railroad is not true and undermines the horrors of enslavement and complexities of the institution.
Personal Experience and the Failure of Understanding
As a thought experiment, let’s imagine that for one minute you could know every single thing that occurred throughout Texas, in private and public spaces, every where, every thing, with every living and non-living creature. In such a case, you would… Read More ›
