History_Academix :“History Matters More Than Ever: What the Past Teaches Us About Who We Are”

  Why Do Tyrants Fear History? David Buie College History Professor | Historian of Reconstruction, Memory & American Conflict | Dual Credit & Higher Education Instructor | Writer | Curriculum developer July 27, 2026 "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." Winston Churchill Every semester, I ask my students a simple question. "Why should anyone study history?" The answers are usually predictable. "To learn about the past." "To know where we came from." "Because it's required." While each answer contains a measure of truth, none captures history's real importance. History is not about memorizing dates. History is not about dead people. History is about understanding people. More than two thousand years ago, Herodotus, the Greek scholar often called the "Father of History", set out to explain not only what had happened but why it had happened. His work reminds us that h...

  Reflections History_Academix 198 subscribers Subscribed The Best History Teachers Never Stop Learning Reflections on Teaching, Scholarship, and the Educator's Toolbox David Buie College History Professor | Historian of Reconstruction, Memory & American Conflict | Dual Credit & Higher Education Instructor | Writer | Curriculum developer July 23, 2026 When people discover that I teach history, they often ask what period I enjoy teaching most. Sometimes they ask if I prefer the Civil War, Reconstruction, Texas history, or the World Wars. Now and then someone will ask about my favorite historical figure. Those are all fair questions, but they aren't the questions that occupy most of my time. The question I think about most is much simpler. How do we become better teachers? That question has followed me throughout my career. It followed me as a graduate student, as a first-year adjunct instructor trying to find my footing, and even now after years of teaching thousands of ...