One of my classes is dominated by conservative Christians and I am unsure how to handle their reactions to 19th and 20th century poets. On the one hand, one wants them to read the texts in some sort of accurate way. On the other, one does not want to alienate them. Here is an example … More A Serious Question for Everyone

Now I am grading. I am at a loss to explain to one of my students why it is that she needs to complicate her thesis. With the one she has, she could not get out enough material to meet the length requirement for this essay. She does not see that the problem is the … More On Thesis Statements

Curious students want to know: why was Latin America so thoroughly colonized before Africa was, given that there was European penetration in Africa even before America was discovered? I am stumped. One layperson’s hypothesis (invented by me, but I am really just guessing and I have no serious knowledge to base this on): the Treaty … More Calling All Historians