Du Bois Book

I spoke to Phil some last night and I am very excited that we believe we can get our book done by March; we talked about what publishers to go with and how we could present it to schools and college faculties across the country. Our work, as noted before, is a reader: W.E.B. Du [...]

Dear Student Part 4: Common Student Questions by Professor Mark Lewis

Mark Lewis is a distant colleague and buddy of mine; we met years ago at a conference held on the campus of the University of  Nebraska; he offers some interesting points on the “dumb” things students ask. Oh, he blames me for students asking the questions below.

I wanted to contribute to this discussion, so I [...]

Dear Student Part 3: Know Your Subject

As I noted in an earlier post, I was very excited to hear from a former student who is concentrating in history and wanted advice on the teaching profession. This student gave me the greatest compliment when she stated “I was inspirational in her career choice.” She will finish graduate school this spring and is [...]

Dear Student Part 2: No Assumptions

Here is a post that has appeared on my blog before. Because I have decided to devote a number of post to one of my favorite students and to those looking for a teaching position –especially one at an independent school, I thought I would repost this one. There are two lessons here: 1) do [...]

Dear Student Part 1: The Interview

A former student of mine is preparing to enter the market and is seeking a teaching position at a few independent schools. I have done the market thing in the past. It is exciting, stressful, and exhausting. I was telling her that the process, if it is done correctly, could be more of an endurance [...]

Conference Trip to OKC

I am writing this post from 30,000 feet in the air; at the conclusion of my last class Tuesday, I jetted off to the airport in order to catch a flight to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma… where I spoke to a great  group on social progress and European course construction. As the invited guest speaker, I [...]

New Urban Hip-Hop Academic Journal

My friend Phil, who is the former chair at the Second Baptist School and who is currently a visiting professor at Sam Houston State University, sent me information on a new and different type of peer-reviewed academic journal that is looking for scholarly works for publication. I am interested in the academic audience this journal [...]

History Honor Society’s Call for Papers

I presented my very first paper at a professional meeting over a decade ago  after being invited to become a member of Phi Alpha Theta — the national history honor society; I was still a student then. I woke up early this morning to review my notes and the rough draft of my paper discussing [...]

Henderson-Vegas Invite

While in Henderson, Nevada this summer, I got to work with a group of national history teachers; we discussed the direction of history education and various approaches that should be reconsidered in the discipline of history. I was honored to attend this conference since it was by invitation only. One of the things we looked [...]

The Professional Meeting

I am excited about finishing my paper on the 1980s as a significant historical period in the United States History survey course. I usually teach this decade with great passion and interest seeing that I still listen to much of the music, and can recall every member of the Brat Pack that shaped teen pop [...]

The Conference

I conducted a European history session with a colleague this past weekend; it went seemingly well. My colleague was a star and did a great job engaging the audience and asking great questions. The audience was wonderful. The overall conference went great. Now that part one is complete, we must now finish the writing process [...]

Writing and Presentation Projects

I have been doing some work towards completing two journal articles this summer; one looks at the historical impact of rap music and the socioeconomic conditions that shaped race relations during the 1980s; much of this piece looks at the pedagogical significance of teaching the 80s via music and pop culture in the U.S. history [...]

AP European History Reading 2009: Too Much Hitler

It has been an excellent week at Colorado State University in Fort Collins – – site of the 2009 European history read. We spent our days reading essays while attending seminars, lectures, and forums at night;  I found myself dinning most nights with bright scholars, ambitious teachers, learners, and colleagues. Honestly, to call them just a colleague [...]

European History Reading and Debating the Drinking Age

Above: Downtown Fort Collins
For the third year in a row, I am spending the second week of June doing European history work and reading at Colorado State University.  It is safe to say that I love this college town; it has all of the ingredients one would want: shops, bookstores, restaurants, bars, live music, and [...]

Being a Teacher and Runner is Much Like Being Wile E. Coyote

Below is a great post from Runner’s World running blog. I love what Mark had to say about setting goals and staying focus; I think this post applies not only to running, but to life; I am always thinking about my academic goals and ask: Have I done all that I really want to [...]

Post AP Exam Thoughts

Both my AP European and AP US History classes took the Advanced Placement National Exam on Friday. Traditionally speaking, the AP US History exam has proven to be a far more difficult exam for my students over the past nine years of teaching. That was not the case this year. European history students thought the [...]

Princeton Visit ‘09

Left: Friend and former student Alejandro Penafiel
I have spent the past four days here in Princeton working with a group of great friends and excellent colleagues; I like to think that I am pretty smart, but when I am around this group I realize I have much to read. I find this most exciting. I [...]

Good Luck Phil Sinitiere

Today is a big day for my friend and colleague Phil Sinitiere; he will be defending his doctoral dissertation at the University of Houston; Phil’s research interest centers around race and religion. Phil and I are working on a book that looks at WEB Du Bois’s writings and artistic depictions and placing them in a [...]

Campus Beauty

I am off to Princeton University in less than two weeks. Thus I thought I would pull this post up again with the number of college letters arriving daily; I have enjoyed writing recs for a number of students I care about. My trip to Princeton will be my fourth to the prestigious New Jersey [...]

Publish or Pay: It Has a Price

Have you been to a book store of late? Man there is a lot of junk being written by academics and journalists. In higher education, faculty member are asked to publish a great deal for tenure and promotion; however, what about the junk that is being written for the sake of publishing? According to the [...]