Providing a Path for Lifelong Learning
Following the passing of Senator John McCain, we discuss the history of social conventions honoring the passing of public figures, particularly in political office. In the United States, the importance of lowering flags can become the center of huge discussions and arguments regarding respect; furthermore, John McCain's passing and the trajectory of his political career… Continue reading Centre Trail Podcast 16: Passing Away of Public Figures
Marco! Polo! For years, I knew Marco Polo as so many others first come to know him, clearly an accomplished hider and seeker in medium sized swimming pools. In time I learned he was a Venetian trader who traveled the world, and only later learned the man was a rather shameless teller of tales if… Continue reading The truth, the whole truth and Marco Polo’s version of the truth
Professors do not get summers off, at least not typically. Even at a teaching-focused institution like Centre College, research forms an important part of our professional lives, and given the strong focus on teaching the summer often presents the best opportunity to get some research done. As a direct result of that, I spent my… Continue reading Summer Research
Yet another blog post written with the hulking specter of all the blog posts I haven't written this summer sitting behind me, rather pointedly not saying anything. Still, here we are, back again. I am excited about the autumn, with one of my favourite classes, "Creating the Orient", making a comeback. Last time I taught… Continue reading The Fall Approaches
This past spring, I taught a class on Popular Sport & the Modern World, with a pretty wide brief... the basic outlines of the class held our discussions to the mid-nineteenth century and later, but we read and discussed topics from the emergence of association football in industrial England to segregation in American baseball to… Continue reading Chasing History: Industrialization and Sport
We are coming to the end of the term here at Centre College, with commencement only a few days away. This semester has proved to be very, very busy for us here. I have been completely wrapped up in my new class "Popular Sport and the Modern World." I had buckets of fun, and was… Continue reading Popular Sport and the Modern World
This week in my class on popular sport and the modern world, we are discussing Brazilian soccer. In particular, we are moving towards discussions of cultural representations of “samba football” within and outside of Brazil. Our reading, Howard Goldblatt’s Futebol Nation, makes some fascinating arguments about the connections between the evolution and celebration of Brazilian… Continue reading Futebol Nation
Last week in my class on the history of popular sport in the modern world, we looked at Gaelic Games and the interaction of sport and nationalist identity in twentieth century Ireland. Following from previous weeks, when we discussed how segregation mitigated baseball’s claim to being the American Pastime and manifestations of religious tensions in… Continue reading The West’s Awake
The Chinese Communist Party has made major news across the planet in the last week, after removing term limits from the positions of president and vice president (though Chinese leader Xi Jinping is not actually “president”, that title more a result of convenience in English translation). The move has generated enormous interest in the Western… Continue reading The Power of Words: Xi Jinping’s Show of Force
Tara and John get together at the end of Black History Month to discuss the life of Frederick Douglass, whose two hundredth birthday was this past February 14th. We particularly focus on the impact of his famous memoir A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and think about this month’s release of the new… Continue reading Centre Trail Podcast 15: Frederick Douglass & Black Panther
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