20 Mini-Courses So Far, With More To Come

Slender Threads / Global Citizens / Public History E-newsletter and Online Learning Community on Substack. Not mere commentary and opinion. Mini-courses (20 so far), grounded in the study of global and American history and culture, media, what ifs, wide travel, and journalistic experience. Seeking a common understanding of humanity, politics, religion, and the arts, with …

History Class Is Where Students Can Learn the Fun of Fascinating Arguments

Good students get excited about history class "when they realize much of historical knowledge is contested, enmeshed in a productive argument that never ends, and therefore fascinates," wrote David Ellis and Mark Vincent of Augustana College, in the Society for History Education's journal, The History Teacher, February 2020. They ask "How do Structured Controversy Debates …

7 More Posts on Alternate History, Part of a Larger Package on the Importance of Historical Knowledge

On Substack, I offer seven more posts on the theme of using alternate history as a way to make real history come alive. This adds to the six articles I posted last week, the 23 previous posts on the lessons of history, theories of history in the popular imagination, the 20 posts on developing historical …

12 Case Studies Using Alternative History in Education

Since about 2010, both high school teachers and university professors have researched the value of counterfactual thinking and experimented with it in classrooms. I’ve followed this trend. It includes the use of history “gamified” through the use of Civilization VI, Rise, and Fall, as a way of teaching the rise and fall of empires and …

Helping Students Understand Foundational Documents of the U.S.

“Driving excellence in humanities education,” the National Endowment for the Humanities has created lesson plans, teacher guides, and media resources for the study of American history. Among the resources: “A More Perfect Union: History and Civics Materials for the Nation’s 250th Anniversary.” “Landmarks of American History and Culture: Resources for Place-based Teaching and Research.” The site includes …

A New Civil War in 2025?

Dear Readers, I started "Slender Threads" on Substack partly because I fear that the U.S. is careening towards a new civil war. I think it is highly likely that one political party or the other will not accept the results of the 2024 presidential election, charging either massive voter fraud or voter suppression if they lose, no matter …

7 Examples of Engaged Learning

40+ Skills Learned By Studying History Active Learning Strategies for History Students Digital Teaching Tools Proliferate. Here are 18 Resources for Interactive Lessons Giving Students Choices in Social Studies Critical Thinking Questions About Wars in American History Abolish Long Lectures in History Class. Engage in Socratic Method

Society’s Slender Threads Are Fraying. How Can We Restore Them?

In my first Substack post in January, 2021, I wrote: "Society's Slender Threads Are Fraying. How Can We Restore Them?" Things have only gotten worse since then. I outlined an 11-point mission statement for a newsletter and online community. Read. A weekly e-newsletter is free. Full access to all content is just $5 a month …

‘Why Learn History When It’s Already On Your Phone?’

Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education and History at Stanford University, asks that question in the title of his 2018 book. "We definitely can’t stick to the same old read-the-chapter-answer-the-questions-at-the-back snoozefest we’ve subjected students to for decades," he writes. "If we want to educate citizens who can sift through the mass of information around them and …

Overview of the Course of History, Particularly American History

"The course of history is unpredictable, as irregular as the weather, as errant as affection, nations rising and falling by whim and chance, battered by violence, corrupted by greed, seized by tyrants, raided by rogues, addled by demagogues. This was all true until one day..." The "one day" was in 1787 when the U.S. Constitution …