Re-entry

by | Aug 9, 2010 | The Public Humanist

It’s August 1st and a faint scent of the new academic year is in the air, detectable only by returning teachers who with a mix of melancholy and excitement begin to brace themselves for re-entry. We have learned to expect neither understanding nor pity from our...

The Birthplace of Ideas

by | Aug 16, 2010 | The Public Humanist

Henry David Thoreau’s birthplace in Concord opened to the public this past June for the first time in its history. This momentous achievement was the result of fifteen years of hard work and determination by the Thoreau Farm Trust, which helped to save the site...

Teaching My Children History

by | Aug 20, 2010 | The Public Humanist

I have been studying and researching and writing about history for half of my life. For the seven years I have been a father, I’ve been thinking about what is appropriate to teach my children about history; what seminal events might constitute a beginning canon...

Teaching Difficult Subjects

by | Aug 25, 2010 | The Public Humanist

I am writing and posting this from Helsinki, where I am attending a conference and giving a paper. I mention this only because it reminds me that perspective is crucial: what is self-evident in one context may not be so in another. The first thing to consider when...