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What was your favorite subject at school and why?

I suppose it comes as no surprise that my favorite subject in school is what I majored in in college: history. However, perhaps it is a bit surprising that I didn't really connect with history until high school (at least that's how I remember it).

I remember always liking the social sciences and writing (big surprise) but I don't remember really being into studying history until freshman year of high school. My freshman year of high school history teacher was a big inspiration to me. Although, I feel obligated to mention right now that this view is now tainted. She was later arrested for abusing a student. But, at the moment of being a high school freshman, I didn't know this and despite everything she did, she opened my mind to history. She didn't make history stuffy and serious; instead, she showed how goofy history is and how many mistakes we make and remake and how things relate to one another. She made history human to me. This is not to defend any actions she did or absolve her in any way, it's merely to explain the positive influence she had on me at the time.

My love for history expanded in college where I got to dive deeply into subjects taught by passionate, intelligent, and curious professors. My oral history class really opened my mind to what history is and what stories get priveleged over others. That class also allowed me to do a project that delved into my own family history (happy to tell you more about it if you're curoius). However, I will say that I was sometimes disappointed in the views of my professors and/or classmates. I had one classmate say that indigenous prophets weren't legitimate because they had an agenda. I also had professors not provide sources (or sources for sources) on indigenous history that weren't from a white perspective. I was writing a piece on the view of two spirit people based on folklore and all of the historians I was pointed to had vague ideas that were clearly based on their European values. When I asked my Lenape professor (who was of the PA Lenape tribe), she had a clear answer that they were and are greatly valued in their society.

Now I also have issues with how history is taught. One is that I feel like we like to decide if a historical figure is a hero or a villain. This is far too black and white in the vast majority of cases. It erases egregious things that "heroes" have done (for instance, FDR is often painted as a hero but he interred Japanese Americans) and glosses over positive things "villains" have done (for instance, did you know that Genghis Khan set an age of consent?). Additionally, who is painted as a "hero" or a "villain" is often so Eurocentric and simply white-centric (obviously, I am speaking about how things are taught in the US as I have very limited experience with the teaching history outside of the US context and no experience outside of a "western" context).

To those who don't like history, I say you haven't found the right story yet. History is fully of stories and there is no way that you dislike all forms of stories. You may dislike the way it's taught (and hey, I have plenty of issues with that too as I said before), but please don't say you hated history because history is boring for not all stories can be boring. I'd be happy to help you find a story that speaks to you whether it be goofy, inspiring, relevant to today, tragic, or romantic.

(Prompt provided by Amelia Sacco)

"History books" by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine


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