Researching and Teaching VastEarlyAmerica
The following is a loosely (and necessarily imperfectly) organized set of online resources for researching and teaching about VastEarlyAmerica. We invite you to add suggestions to the list by leaving your comments via the form below or by contacting martha.howard@wm.edu directly. Resources Slavery Studies Freedom on the Move A database of… Read More
Teaching the Jerks
Today’s post comes from Doug Winiarski, author of Darkness Falls on the Land of Light: Experiencing Religious Awakenings in Eighteenth-Century New England, published in 2017 by the Omohundro Institute with our partners at the University of North Carolina Press. Winner of the Bancroft Prize and several other awards, it… Read More
Must Early America Be Vast?
by Karin Wulf Spoiler: I think yes. But it’s complicated. You may have seen this meme about historians, with “it’s complicated” mocked as the weak battle cry of our profession. I would argue that there is ample demonstration, from contemporary politics to technology, that an appreciation of complexity is newly resurgent. And so it is with vigor, rather than… Read More
Teaching Colonial Translations Through Archives
Today’s post is courtesy of Allison Bigelow (University of Virginia), 2012-2014 OI-NEH Postdoctoral Fellow. It appears in issue 14 of the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. The post is based in part on work Professor Bigelow did while completing her fellowship at the Omohundro Institute and teaching at William & Mary. From “Teaching Colonial Translations Through… Read More
Meet Vineeta Singh, OI-W&M Lemon Project Postdoctoral Fellow
Vineeta Singh began a two-year term at the Omohundro Institute on July 1, 2018, as the OI-W&M Lemon Project Postdoctoral Fellow. The fellowship was created to study the history of institutions and economies of oppression with a preference for higher education and slavery in connection with the Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation at William & Mary. The fellowship… Read More
Digital Paxton expands
The following is a report from William Fenton (Fordham University), recipient of an Omohundro Institute Digital Collections Fellowship and founder of Digital Paxton, a digital archive of more than 1,650 open-source images related to the 1764 Paxton pamphlet war. The Digital Collections fellowship program is funded by the Lapidus Initiative. by William Fenton When I set out to create… Read More
Report on the VCEA
by Holly Stevens White This past Saturday, the Virginia Consortium of Early Americanists convened for their fourth annual meeting at the University of Richmond. Founded in 2014 in order to provide a forum for the wealth of scholarship focused on early American history in Virginia, each year the program evolves and the number of attendees grows. To facilitate… Read More
Seats at the Table
The spring semester of the Omohundro Institute Colloquia series began last night with a presentation by Richard Godbeer of Virginia Commonwealth University. Four more colloqs will follow in the next few months. Here, W&M Ph.D. candidates Kristen Beales and Peter Olsen-Harbich share their takes on what value attending the sessions even though only postdoctoral work is presented. The… Read More
Ben Franklin's World and Podcasts in the Classroom
The following post originally appeared at Teaching United States History. by Erin Bartram We often emphasize to our students that our lectures, and even our entire courses, have arguments and use evidence to make those arguments. We also talk about historiography, even if we don’t use the term, and show students how historians produce new historical knowledge. This semester, my US I class is using Liz Covart’s podcast Ben Franklin’s World to consider both of these issues. Read More
Planning a spring syllabus? Read this first
2017 was an extraordinary year for the Omohundro Institute’s burgeoning role as a podcast producer. Liz Covart, creator and host of Ben Franklin’s World, joined the OI full-time as Digital Projects Editor. While they remain based in Boston much of the year, Liz, her partner Tim, and their companion Sprocket, planted a Red Sox flag in front of… Read More
Teaching with Ben Franklin's World
Among many other things, the advent of history podcasts has opened new possibilities for engagement both inside and outside of the classroom at all levels. The first Doing History series, which outlines the process that historians use to develop and create historical research projects, was designed in part for exactly that purpose. Over the past few months, we’ve heard from numerous teachers at all levels from elementary to college about the ways in which they’re using Doing History and Ben Franklin’s World as part of their teaching and professional development. With a new semester just about to begin and instructors polishing up syllabi and lesson plans, we wanted to share how some teachers are doing so. Read More