D’Souza’s E-Letter on the Existence of God

I am not even close to being a Dinesh D’Souza fan. I wrote briefly about him after reading a few sections of his book The End of Racism. I have actually put him on my watch list for a few reasons I will write about later. I like this piece he wrote below to members [...]

It is Tough being Back

I spent the day touring the city of Little Rock taking note of the many changes. The two things I noticed the most were the major building and renovation projects taking place on CAC’s campus, and the construction of the new downtown baseball park for the Arkansas Travelers. After a very light dinner with a [...]

Return to Arkansas

Since my return from Colorado State University on Tuesday, I have been making a few last second adjustments to my presentation for my European history institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). This will be the first of four I am conducting this summer. The other three will be at Texas Christian [...]

I am No Republican….I am No Democrat….Bloomberg

…supports abortion
supports gay marriage
favors a tax increase
believes in government social programs

After hinting that he might run for president, today New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. If he does this and still runs for the White House, there is a chance that he could [...]

About My Blog

Last summer while attending a history conference, a professor of history from a very elite New England private school joined a group of us in a conference lounge for beverages and small talk. He started telling us about the wonderfully rich intellectual community he teaches in. Many of his students are pretty elite 11th [...]

W.E.B. DuBois on Josef Stalin

I am in the middle of Blum’s DuBois: American Prophet. I hope to write an extended analysis and review once I am done. While reading some this morning, Blum reminded me of a document DuBois wrote entitled On Stalin. In this eulogy drafted shortly after Stalin’s death, DuBois praises a man that brought faith, confidence [...]

Colorado State, Day Seven of AP Reading

Yesterday after the reading of the Document Based Question, I made my way over to Clark Hall here at Colorado State to hear two paper presentations: Carol Herringer presented her research on Jesus and Gender in the Victorian Church in England. Afterwards Elizabeth Lehfeldt presented a paper on Masculinity and Decline in Early Modern Spain. [...]

Colorado State University, Day Five of AP Euro Reading

I had dinner with four wonderful colleagues at a great Italian restaurant tonight. Unless we are at a conference together or co-presenting at a conference, we only see each other here during the summer months, and when we travel to work and meet at our four day fall and spring meetings — usually in Manhattan [...]

Bonnie Smith’s Lecture during Day Four at Colorado State

Above: Bonnie Smith
I am not sure as to how many AP European history exam essays I have read so far, but I am learning a lot about what to teach my students not to do. I am just returning from a post-lecture reception where many of us were discussing the reading and Bonnie Smith’s [...]

Religious Ignorance

A recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a piece by Stephen Prothero on the religious ignorance of Americans; he did a nice job addressing how some liberal Americans are quick to anger when the Christian right states that homosexuality is wrong, but do not know why they hold such views. Moreover, some [...]

Re-Working the Conference Paper during Day Two at Colorado State

As some of you know, I have been re-working a conference paper to submit to a journal for publication. A friend and colleague of mine who teaches at a large university in a very cold state has been reviewing it for a few weeks. Actually, it has been sitting on her desk for a few [...]

John Carlos Set to Speak at Democratic Socialism 2007

John Carlos (right) and Tommie Smith (center) showing the Black Power salute in the 1968 Summer Olympics while silver medalist Peter Norman (left) wears an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge to show his [...]

Colorado State University, Day One of AP Euro Reading

For the fourth year in a row, I am spending roughly 9 – 10 days with other college and high school instructors reading and scoring the national AP European History exam. My flight arrived in Denver at 1:00. I, as well as others, took a bus from Denver to Fort Collins, home to Colorado State [...]

Teaching History

I have a list of things that must get done today. I leave to do some work at Colorado State University in a couple of days, so I hope to complete the acceptance and rejection letters for students who are looking to take an Advanced Placement or Pre-Advanced Placement course next year. Also, as director [...]

It has Arrived: Edward Blum’s Book on Du Bois

Below I reposted a previous blog piece addressing Dr. Edward Blum’s recently published book on W.E.B. Du Bois and his religious journey and ideological construction. I ordered a copy of this book from the University of Pennsylvania Press months ago and just got it in the mail yesterday. I am going to push it to [...]

A New Cold War

Just two weeks ago I told my world history class that I am pretty sure we will never have another global war — nothing to the likes of WWI and WWII; I am not backing off of that comment. The world is at an apex that has created the greatest social and economic interdependence in [...]

Is it Time to Leave Iraq?

Numbers compiled by Juan Cole:
122 US troops died in Iraq in May, the worst total since late 2004.
A radical Salafi group in Baghdad claimed to have killed two US embassy employees, a husband and a wife, after robbing them of large sums. The US embassy will only say that the two are missing. An AP [...]

Commencement

I congratulated yet another group of students as I watched them march across the stage Thursday night to receive their diploma. As always, the speaker was great and families misbehaved as their graduate was handed his /her empty diploma cover. Houston Christian High School students should feel proud to know that they survived a very [...]