History Commons^™

Advocating For Mother Earth In The Undergraduate Classroom: Uniting Twenty-First Century Technologies, Local Resources, Art, And Activism To Explore Our Place In Nature, Christina Triezenberg, Ilse Schweitzer Vandonkelaar

Christina Triezenberg

Despite the growing evidence of humanity’s impact on the natural world and the urgent need to shape citizens who understand the impact that their choices and actions have on their local and global environments, colleges and universities throughout the United States have been slow to add environmental education as a core component of their undergraduate curricula. Harnessing our shared interest in environment issues and the humanities, we designed and taught an experimental course in environmental literature for the honors program at Western Michigan University that we hope will become a template of what is possible in postsecondary environmental education. Using …

The Why And Where Of Big History: Building A Program, Mojgan Behmand

Mojgan Behmand

The goals of our First Year Experience program are aligned with our institutional mission, our core values, and the goals of our General Education program. The program is designed to promote: recognition of the personal, communal, and political implications of the Big History story; critical and creative thinking in a manner that awakens curiosity and enhances openness to multiple perspectives; and, development of reading, thinking, and research skills to enhance one’s ability to evaluate and articulate understanding of one’s place in the unfolding universe.

Radical Academia: Beyond The Audit Culture Treadmill, Rowan Cahill, Terry Irving

Rowan Cahill

The pathos of radical academia: notes on the impact of neo-liberalism on the universities, especially the audit culture, the production-model, casualization, academic scholarship, academic writing, peer reviewing, and open access. The authors suggest ways scholars can be radical within, and outside, of neoliberal academia. Part I, 'Missing in Action' appeared as an Academia.edu session in May 2015, where it attracted many comments. Part II, 'What Can Be Done?' is the authors' response to these comments. The whole piece was posted on the Cahill/Irving blog 'Radical Sydney/Radical History' on 22 October 2015.

Response To Commentary On “Rethinking Combined Departments: An Argument For History & Anthropology” By Stephen M. Lyon/Durham University, Uk; Yasar Abu Ghosh, Pavel Himl, Tereza Stöckelová, Lucie Storchová/Charles University, Prague; Robert Gibb/University Of Glasgow; Jakob Krause-Jensen/Aarhus University, Denmark; Veerendra P. Lele/Denison University, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Ageeth Sluis

Contains response from the authors, Ageeth Sluis and Elise Edwards.

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Ageeth Sluis

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

Response To Commentary On “Rethinking Combined Departments: An Argument For History & Anthropology” By Stephen M. Lyon/Durham University, Uk; Yasar Abu Ghosh, Pavel Himl, Tereza Stöckelová, Lucie Storchová/Charles University, Prague; Robert Gibb/University Of Glasgow; Jakob Krause-Jensen/Aarhus University, Denmark; Veerendra P. Lele/Denison University, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Contains response from the authors, Ageeth Sluis and Elise Edwards.

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

A Response To John Sommerville’S 'The Decline Of The Secular University', William Vance Trollinger

William Vance Trollinger Jr.

Introduction to William Vance Trollinger's plenary presentation: I agree with Prof. Sommerville that in too many places the secular university has trivialized religion and religious commitment, and that it is high time for religion to be welcomed into our academic debates. I say this even while I take issue with some of the particulars in Prof. Sommerville’s book. I will give two examples related to our discipline of history. First, Prof. Sommerville decries that “secularist humanities have declared war on metanarratives because of their hegemonic power.” But I confess that I am very pleased to see the demise of metanarratives …

Bridging The Distances: Women Writers Exploring The Nightmare Of Vietnam, Christina Triezenberg

Christina Triezenberg

This essay seeks to challenge the now-common practice of excluding Vietnam-era antiwar verse from contemporary literary anthologies by exploring the works produced by professional and amateur female poets who, in many cases, had witnessed the war firsthand and reflected on their experiences in verse that depicts the often harsh realities of this still-contested conflict. By exploring poetry written by women who served in a variety of capacities during the war, this essay underscores the repeated attempts made by women writers to bridge the distances between the home front and the battlefront and offers a compelling argument about the importance of …

In Search Of The Wind-Band: An International Expedition, Daniel Rager

Dan Rager

In Search of the Wind-Band: An International Expedition is a new interactive E-book, exploring 16 countries.

The first-of-a-kind, interactive encyclopedic e-book uses text, video, mp3 and pdf files to bring the history and development of the wind-band to life.

1. Overture: What Constitutes a Wind Band? - 2. Introduction to European History and Development - 3. Historical Homogeneous Wind-Bands - 4. American Wind Music - 5. Denmark Wind Music - 6. Finnish Wind Music - 7. Industry Wind Bands - 8. Ireland Wind Music - 9. Japanese Wind Music - 10. Mexican Wind Music - 11. Native American Indian Wind …

"Big History: The Ultimate Multidisciplinary Course" For A Panel On The Topic: The Interdisciplinary Means Of Approaching Careers In Microbiology, Cynthia Taylor

Cynthia Taylor

Pulling The Wool Under Your Eyes: Preserving A Century-Old Wool Lab And Library At The University Of Wyoming, David Kruger

David Delbert Kruger

Sheep and wool have long been integral to the agrarian heritage of Western states, and still play a vital role in the region’s agricultural economy. From 1907-2012, Wyoming’s sole university supported wool research around the world through its Wool Department, complete with its own wool laboratory and library. When the Wool Department was permanently dissolved and its building condemned for demolition in 2012, the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries partnered with UW Extension and the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to preserve the unusual print and physical artifacts of this unique collection, as well as disseminate the spirit …

History Of The Blues, Dan Rager

Dan Rager

This all inclusive History of the Blues introduction begins as early as 1400, when the first global trading routes began. Two early maps are enclosed from this period showing the direction and locations from which people, food and supplies were moved.

This research presentation illustrates African tribes such as the Arada, Dahomey and Fulani who sang music in their daily rituals and ceremonies long before they were moved to other continents. Early developmental music elements are introduced including spirituals, worksongs, Scottish ballads, Methodist and Baptist hymns, call and response, guttural effects, interpolated vocality, falsetto and blue notes. All of these …

Advocating For Mother Earth In The Undergraduate Classroom: Uniting Twenty-First Century Technologies, Local Resources, Art, And Activism To Explore Our Place In Nature, Christina Triezenberg, Ilse Schweitzer Vandonkelaar

Ilse A Schweitzer VanDonkelaar

Despite the growing evidence of humanity’s impact on the natural world and the urgent need to shape citizens who understand the impact that their choices and actions have on their local and global environments, colleges and universities throughout the United States have been slow to add environmental education as a core component of their undergraduate curricula. Harnessing our shared interest in environment issues and the humanities, we designed and taught an experimental course in environmental literature for the honors program at Western Michigan University that we hope will become a template of what is possible in postsecondary environmental education. Using …