Providing a Path for Lifelong Learning
As I mourn the loss of my second graders’ year (no field day, walking field trips, last hugs), I can’t help but think of how much harder the loss would be if my son were an 8th grader, senior in high school or in college. Graduation weekend at Centre is such a lovely time. Watching… Continue reading A Letter to the Families
We hope everyone is staying safe! And staying safe right now means a lot of time indoors. A friend of mine at Whitworth University shared a list of songs she had put together on Spotify – a “playlist” if you will – and I thought this was such a great idea! I used to love… Continue reading Pandemic Playlists from the History Program!
We are now two weeks into emergency online teaching and I’m writing this from my closet if that tells you anything about my experience so far. I’ve had to accept that I look ridiculous when I record myself teaching, I can’t possibly grade things meaningfully while my children are in the same room as me… Continue reading Learning and Community
John and Tara sit down to talk about Tara's research over the summer. She had two main projects: a book on American holidays written for a popular audience, and in-depth archival research on documents from Centre College's mid-nineteenth century history. She talks about what it is like to work on two projects, and the benefits… Continue reading Centre Trail Podcast 27: Studying Holidays and the Bhoys
When elite Kentuckians founded Centre in 1819 they were not starting the college in a vacuum. As I wrote about a few weeks ago, Centre was a part of white Americans "civilizing" the west as they expanded past the Appalachian mountains. I think 1819 is a hard year for Americans to wrap their heads around.… Continue reading 1819
In 1819, Centre College was chartered in Kentucky. This year, we celebrate this institution's 200th anniversary. A celebration like this is no small feat. Few schools were founded west of the Appalachian Mountains before 1820; Centre, along with Transylvania, the University of Tennessee and Ohio University and a handful of other academies were among the… Continue reading After 200 Years
Our intern Colleen Coyle joins us this week to talk about relics and other objects and spaces that people like to commemorate, from a President's prosthetic leg to computerized renditions of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
John and Tara celebrate Opening Day in the United States by talking about the subject of John's book coming out this summer: baseball... in Taiwan! Come for tales of imperialism and cultural interaction across the Pacific, stay for slightly graphic accounts of intensive high school baseball training sessions.
This week we talk about Tara's latest publication, a book chapter about multiracial communities in antebellum Ohio. We discuss Quakerism and slavery in North America and the complexities of multiracial identities and communities in early nineteenth century Ohio.
Over the past few weeks, my American Religious History class has been grappling with the question "was America founded as a Christian nation?" We have thought about whether the founders envisioned a Christian country, why people have argued about this question for the past 200 years, and why it matters. The question is fascinating for… Continue reading History, Religion, and the Bladensburg Memorial Cross
