Barack Hussein Obama, the Democratic Nominee? by Alejandro Penafiel

The following piece was written by guest contributor Alejandro Penafiel, a friend and former student. Mr. Penafiel is a 2006 graduate of Houston Christian High School and a current student at American University in Washington D.C. He is majoring in three areas: Economics, Political Science, and History. Click here to read his previous piece. 
Right now [...]

What Would Du Bois Say?: A Response to Hitchens and Dawkins by Edward Blum

I am writing a comparative essay reviewing both Edward Blum’s religious work on W.E.B. Du Bois and that of David Lewis. This paper, in the end, will be more than just a comparative review, but an analysis of two great authors. I will share more on this later. Below is an essay that Blum published as a [...]

Thanks Santa

I do not know about you, but as a historian who enjoys teaching about and traveling to Europe, there is nothing better than receiving a wine chiller from Santa. My love for Merlot is ubiquitous. Because I do not have a wine cellar (or room since there are no cellars in Houston) in my home, I [...]

Reparations and Slavery

On Tuesday, December 17th – at the request of Congressman John Conyers – the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held “An Oversight Hearing on The Legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.” Academic and public policy experts reviewed the legacy of the slave trade in American history and culture.  The [...]

What Does A Teacher Look Like?

I do think the group of teachers below (including me) fit the part:

Now that I have completed another academic semester of teaching (I am in year 8), I must ask the question: What does a teacher/scholar look like? I have had instructors and worked beside a number of them enough to know that there is [...]

According to Carson

My students understand the teaching and learning of Carsonism; it is difficult to encapsulate this complex concept in a mere informal blog piece. Carsonism is the dominant ideological perspective taught in my courses. There have been students who bravely decided to construct an essay thesis against Carsonism. Those students usually repeat my course in summer [...]

Too Many Close Calls

Look at the above picture very carefully. Do you see the almost plane incursion? NASA spent millions conducting surveys of pilots and flight crews about their flight experiences.  After NASA completed its survey and interview of pilots, a chief NASA official ordered researchers to destroy the findings fearing public panic. The report was not destroyed and is [...]

Final Exams

 
 This is a partial re-post for students who are about to start freaking out about finals that start this week. It has been a number of years since I finished undergraduate and graduate school. And, even longer since high school; however, I do believe that I am qualified to give some advice on surviving semester [...]

The Confederate Flag: Symbol of Culture or Racism

 
   
The Confederate flag has gone through a number of face lifts since its origin. During the course of the Civil War, this flag represented Southern rebellion and defiance to the United States Constitution. According to the anti-defamation league, although some Southerners see the flag simply as a symbol of Southern pride, it is often used [...]