Teaching & Pedagogy             

 

This proverb captures the key aims of my teaching philosophy.  I seek to inform students about the variety and complexity of the human past, challenge students to think critically and historically about their place in today’s world, and equip students with the tools necessary to constructively participate in and contribute to today's global society. 

Through lecture and discussion students acquire knowledge; posing thoughtful questions leads to intellectual cultivation, a reformulation of class themes and objectives; these moments of encounter and interaction, ideally, offer a way to discuss what the application of historical knowledge means.  After all, a garden takes great care, consistent planting, careful weeding, and creativity to distribute what it yields.  I believe learning and the acquisition of knowledge is a two-way street: since each student is different, and since learning styles vary, at its best education is organic. 

It is no secret that today’s students and learners are part of the plug-and-play, wired generation.  This is why my teaching also reflects important technological objectives that seek to be creative, innovative, and collaborative.  Internet technology makes possible new forms of community, and with this in mind I attempt to foster electronic collaboration, this year most notably through a class blog.  (See examples here and here.)  Furthermore, use of new media demands a new kind of visual literacy for both scholar and student.  Such fluency necessitates new kinds of critical thinking skills as well as a keen ability to synthesize and analyze large amounts of information quickly and accurately.  Practically speaking, this means that the innovative classroom utilizes the latest technologies and employs the latest pedagogical strategies.  It addresses the needs of oral, visual, aural, and kinesthetic learners even as it focuses on written expression and oral proficiency.  This does not mean that traditional lectures or discussion are obsolete or unnecessary, but retooled for a new generation.  Students can and must take ownership of their own learning. 

The age of the digital citizen is here, and the only passport one needs is an Internet connection.  Imagination is the fuel for one's travels.   

In conclusion, I now return to the Swahili proverb with which I began: “Knowledge is like a garden. If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.”  Pursuing doctoral work (since 2002) while teaching high school history full-time (since 2001) has resulted not only in expert time management skills, but also fruitful interplay between research and pedagogy.  Like my students, I have had countless opportunities to acquire knowledge, cultivate it, and harvest it.  More than just sprucing up lectures with information gained from graduate seminars, I have come to place tremendous value on interdisciplinary history and interdisciplinary teaching.  I am persuaded that thinking, researching, and writing across disciplinary boundaries not only makes for better history, it requires innovation in the classroom and challenges scholars and students to think deeply about the past in order to make sense of the present and impact the future.

Classes Taught:

World History (SBS, 2001-Present)

United States History (SBS, 2002-Present)

Advanced Placement European History (SBS, 2003-Present)

Global Christianity (2004 elective, SBS)

9/11 in History and Memory (2007 elective, SBS)

Religion and the Civil Rights Movement (2008 elective, SBS)

Investigating the Issues: Election '08 (2008 elective, SBS)

United States History to 1877 (HBU, Winter 2006-07)

American Religious History (UH, Summer 2007)

Sample Syllabi:

World History

Advanced Placement European History

Global Christianity

9/11 in History and Memory

United States History to 1877

American Religious History

Statement on teaching United States History

Given the realities of today's global world, I'm persuaded that teaching U.S. history in global or international perspective is important and useful.  Contesting the narrative of American exceptionalism, a global approach to U.S. history situates this nation's history in a much broader context which can yield new lines of thinking and more balanced perspectives. 

Thomas Bender's observation in his important book A Nation Among Nations (2006) is helpful: "If historians want to educate students and the public as true citizens, they must think more profoundly about the way they frame national histories...in ways that reveal commonalities and interconnections....If we begin to think about American history as a local instance of general history, as one history among others, not only will historical knowledge be improved, but the cultural foundations of a much needed cosmopolitanism will be enhanced."  For a fuller statement on U.S. history in a global perspective I recommend reading the La Pietra Report.

Statement on teaching World History

The field of world history reflects ambitious research agendas, displays intellectual innovation, and maintains an important pedagogical imperative.  With organizations such as the World History Association (and its numerous affilates), publications like the Journal of World History, World History Connected, and the World History Bulletin, and a thriving Advanced Placement World History program, the field maintains an inviting energy.  There are numerous theoretical paradigms that organize the field, and it is important to note that these approaches, while diverse, demand a rigorous and innovative pedagogy. 

In my own teaching I have found the approach offered by Jerry Bentley, Herbert Ziegler--and now Heather Streets in the book's third edition--in Traditions and Encounters both persuasive and helpful, although I consult and use approaches reflected in other standard textbooks and resources.  In short, the approach Bentley, Ziegler, and Streets focuses on the creation of societies and the cultural, social, and political scaffolding that upholds them, as well as the cross-cultural interaction and engagment through which people experience life and create meaning.  Traditions influence and in many ways create the context for encounters, while encounters, in turn, inform traditions and new context for understanding traditions.