This will be a series of posts about the process of course creation, using my “Religions in America” course as a case study. I’m thinking about it this week because this is my university’s faculty “Winter Institute” and as part…

This winter break I’ve enjoyed two luxuries that worked well in tandem: our woodstove, and a stack of books I’m reading for the sheer enjoyment of them. Yes, okay, some of them relate to upcoming courses I’ll be teaching, but…

Today was the last methods course class session, and the topic was History on the Internet. Williams’s The Historian’s Toolbox, which was published in 2007, was our reading for today. Williams tacks on a chapter at the tail end about…

So I’ve been looking forward to going to a THATCamp since I narrowly missed the first one, by being lame enough to go home after the 2009 Omeka playdate (which was great, by the way, and completely worth the trip).…

Tonight (Friday, Oct 21, 2011) I’m one of the three “Bootcamp” instructors for #THATCampNE, The Humanities And Technology Camp New England, at the Mandel Center at Brandeis University, my graduate alma mater. It isn’t really a formal presentation, because those…

A very partial curated list for #THATCampNE

Or: why I send my freshman students to Wikipedia first thing in the semester. Shocking, I know. Irresponsible? No, I promise: my students are better for it.

So I teach on a small campus. There are only 3 buildings that have classrooms, and one also houses about half of the departments. Among many of my colleagues there’s a strong bias against teaching in a building where your…

This morning was the initial class in the Fall 2011 historical methods course, made up of undergraduate history majors/minors. It will be an interesting mix this term; some are double majors with education heading for public school classrooms, and I…

Just posting here to call attention to a new page of mine elsewhere on the site, a small project of mine this morning (like I have nothing better to do, 2 days before classes start – but this is more…