Category Archives: Pondering
On authority and objectivity
I’m continually struck by how many students seemingly prize the ideal of “objectivity” and neutrality, but more than that, how many of them are convinced those ideals are actually–or should be–manifested in scholarship and the media. I suppose we could … Continue reading
American slavery, Indian lands: on money and marginalization
This is not actually a post about slavery, or really about Ed Baptist‘s The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, though indeed that’s where this train of thought begins. Rather, it’s about the study … Continue reading
Celebrating Wilderness
A Facebook friend posted this reflection on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act, and naturally, the Wilderness Society is commemorating it as well. If you’re not especially familiar with the legislation, its background, or it consequences, … Continue reading
Politics, power, and consent in the “redskins” nickname debate
With the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently canceling the Washington Redskins’ trademark, and burgeoning opposition from prominent and well-funded groups like the Oneida Indian Nation, I’ve been back into following a topic that one of my thesis students wrote … Continue reading
The Power of Wilderness
With the semester done, we’ve obviously wrapped up my American Wilderness class. We actually finished our book-based discussions a few weeks ago, on the penultimate Wednesday of instruction. Our final class session was comprised entirely of student presentations–10 minutes drawn … Continue reading
Sitting in the student seats
I’m one of those professors who likes to chat with students before class, about whatever. I feel like easy conversations about weekends, holiday plans, sports, trips, TV shows, whatever, can set a more conversational tone for free-flowing in-class discussions that … Continue reading
Digital equity
Darcie is out of town this week, so I’m doing a bit more than usual to take care of the girls (with the invaluable help of Darcie’s parents). This means that rather than staying at my place after my 10am-8:45pm … Continue reading
California droughtin’
Granted, I’m far removed from residing in California by this point, but that’s not to say I’m no longer a Californian–it’s still where most of my people are, and I still can’t help but cringe when I think about the … Continue reading
Frontiers and football
So yesterday I attended UMW’s Great Lives lecture series event, in which biographer Kate Buford discussed Jim Thorpe. This post isn’t really about the lecture, but about a thought that Buford’s comments prompted. She mentioned that American sports grew rapidly … Continue reading
