Current » History
5 FOLLOWERS
An online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas. Current is an online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas. We seek to ground ourselves in the broad tradition of American democracy - a tradition whose practices and institutions we believe are moving..
Current » History
2w ago
by John Fea
My piece in yesterday’s Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. A taste: Today the study of history is used as a cudgel in the culture wars. Activists on both the left and the right cherry-pick from the past to ..read more
Current » History
3w ago
by John Fea
Over at Inside Higher Ed, historian Steven Mintz writes: “In a world increasingly shaped by secularism and scientific empiricism, a paradox emerges: the enduring belief that history has direction, meaning and purpose—a secularized form of providentialism. Once the realm of ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
Every year in my United States history survey course we spend three or four class periods talking about the meaning of democracy in antebellum America. During a small seminar I introduce students to Alexis De Tocqueville, the author of Democracy ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
This is what you get when you hire an American historian to run a school of journalism. Historian and New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb is the new dean of Columbia School of Journalism. What a great pick! Here is a ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
Kevin Roberts is the Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He has a Ph.D in American history from the University of Texas. His 2003 dissertation was titled “Slaves and slavery in Louisiana: The Evolution of Atlantic World ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
Historian David Perry offers some advice to the class of 2021: We understand more or less the science of viruses, of germ theory, of infection. We know how to quarantine and that it works, and with modern telecommunications, quarantine didn’t ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
History teaching begins with facts. But history teaching that stops with “just the facts” is not history teaching. Historians think about “what happened” in context. They think about facts in relations to other facts, leading them to tell complex stories ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
Our culture war is rooted in competing perceptions of the American past. Here is Peter Burkholder of Fairleigh Dickinson University and Dana Schaffer of the American Historical Association at Time: Our recent national survey of people’s understandings and uses of ..read more
Current » History
3M ago
by John Fea
I understand Wheaton College’s decision to change this plaque. It is probably the right move. Here is Megan Fowler at Christianity Today; More than 65 years after two of its alumni were killed in what became the most famous example ..read more