In this episode, we are thinking historically with Jocelyn Kho, Student Programs Coordinator, and David Rodgers, Gallery Educator at the National Portrait Gallery. Ms. Kho and Mr. Rodgers help us think historically about the role the role of portraits and portraiture in early America. This episode explores how portraits provide context, tell stories, and give insight into the lived experiences of the diverse population in early America. Thinking Historically About brings history to life. In each...
Jul 11, 2025•35 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Alexandra Montgomery, Director of the Center for Digital History at George Washington's Mount Vernon. Dr. Montgomery helps us think historically about the role Mount Vernon played in the American Revolution, as well as how the historic site preserves certain artifacts and documents that better tell that history. This episode explores themes around disease, enslavement, and emancipation during the American Revolution as it relates to Mount Ve...
Jul 01, 2025•29 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History Emerita at Baruch College & the Graduate Center, CUNY. Dr. Berkin helps us think historically about how women impacted the American Revolution, as well as how the American Revolution impacted women in America. Dr. Berkin also addresses women's history more broadly, discussing part of the process, as she experienced it, in elevated women's history in an academic setting. This episode is part...
Jun 09, 2025•32 min•Season 2Ep. 17
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Katharine Gerbner, Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Gerbner helps us think historically about the codification of race in early America. Dr. Gerbner discusses the legal, cultural, and religious contexts that cemented race as a tool to divide people and integrate into the institution of slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries. Her book, Christian Slavery , explores much of what is discussed her in greater dept...
May 07, 2025•22 min•Season 2Ep. 16
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Sean Jacobson, Assistant Professor of History the University of North Alabama. Dr. Jacobson helps us think historically about American Westward Expansion and its impact on American Indians. Dr. Jacobson discusses the importance of centering an Indigenous perspective in this particular area of study as well as gives insight into the role of a public historian. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically...
Apr 10, 2025•37 min•Season 2Ep. 15
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Steve Heimler of the popular AP History Youtube Channel, Heimler's History . Heimler's history is meant to support students success on the AP exam "with a healthy mixture of seriousness and buffoonery." In this conversation, though, we see a thought-provoking and contemplative Heimler, who muses on the system of success created by the College Board, the purpose of learning, and the impact this work can have on students' futures. This episode is ...
Apr 02, 2025•42 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Manisha Sinha, Draper Professor of History the University of Connecticut and President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. Dr. Sinha helps us think historically what slave resistance looked like and why it is important to center the study of abolition through the lens of those who were enslaved. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar hel...
Mar 18, 2025•31 min•Season 2Ep. 13
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Denver Brunsman, Professor of History and Department Chair at The George Washington University. Dr. Brunsman helps us think historically about different ideas that shaped the American Revolution and how we can see them in relation to each other. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the driving questions that students are engaging with...
Feb 19, 2025•36 min
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Alicia Jackson, Associate Professor of History at Covenant College. Dr. Jackson helps us think historically about how political rights changed or stayed the same for African Americans during Reconstruction. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the driving questions that students are engaging with in our curriculum.
Jan 22, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Michael Kazin, Professor of History at Georgetown University. Dr. Kazin helps us think historically about different historical perspectives of the famous New York City political machine, Tammany Hall. The conversation demonstrates history's complexity and how more evidence often leads to more nuance. Dr. Kazin is an expert on political history of this era and listeners can learn more from his scholarship in his most recent book: What It Took...
Dec 23, 2024•24 min•Season 2Ep. 11
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Curtis Austin, Associate Professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Dr. Austin helps us think historically about how Black Americans asserted agency amidst discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement. The conversation covers the importance of defining agency, the broader movement beyond the "icons" of the movement, and the Black Panther Movement. This episode is part of Thinkin...
Nov 14, 2024•35 min•Season 2Ep. 10
With the 2024 election less than a week away, we thought it appropriate to release a recent conversation about the presidency. In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Robert Elder, Associate Professor of History at Baylor University. Dr. Elder helps us think historically about Andrew Jackson's Presidency. Specifically, we how to best evaluate the historical significance of his presidency. What stands out? Why does it matter? Dr. Elder helps do what historians do best, complicate t...
Oct 30, 2024•35 min•Season 2Ep. 9
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Jennifer Cullison, Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Stanislaus. Dr. Cullison helps us think historically about our present. Specifically, we discuss the following question, "How does the current border surge reveal different perspectives about U.S. immigration policy?" Dr. Cullison brings necessary historical context to best understand the perspectives on United States immigration policy in the present. This epi...
Oct 09, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 8
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Katlyn Carter, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Carter helps us think about the 1798 Sedition Act's relationship to the First Amendment to the Constitution. Specifically, we discuss the extent to which these two laws were incompatible. The interview ends in a discussion over the broader implications of the discipline of history. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historic...
Oct 02, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Dylan Shearer, historian of labor and memory in American History. Dr. Shearer helps us think about the growth of the American Labor Movement between 1865 to 1920. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the driving questions that students are engaging with in our curriculum.
Sep 05, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Lily Anne Welty Tamai, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Channel Islands. Dr. Welty Tamai helps us think about how the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II impacted both individuals and the larger Japanese American community. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better...
Aug 27, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. J.B. Mayo, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education. Dr. Mayo helps us think about how LGBTQ people resisted and protested cultural norms in the United States before the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the driving questions that students are engaging with in our curriculum.
Aug 13, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this episode of Thinking Historically About, we go back to the basics. Why should we think historically? What is historical thinking? Why does it matter. Our guest is Dr. Catherine O'Donnell, Professor of History at Arizona State University. Dr. O'Donnell is an early Americanist by training, having published works on women, religion, and intellectual aspects of early American history. Dr. O'Donnell, who also sits on Thinking Nation's board, brings us back to the foundations of historical thin...
Aug 05, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. James Merrell, Professor of History Emeritus at Vassar College. Dr. Merrell helps us think about how trade influenced the relationship between American Indians and Europeans in Colonial North America. Dr. Merrell has been awarded multiple awards for his research in this field, including two Bancroft Prizes. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better u...
Jul 30, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this episode, we are thinking historically about artificial intelligence at the intersection of education, democracy, and social cohesion. Today, July 16th, is AI Appreciation Day. But what does that mean? What should we appreciate? What should we ask further questions about? To explore this topic, Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, talks with Ace Parsi , Director of Coalition Engagement at iCivics. Ace oversees the engagement of the CivXNow coalition's over 340 members. Back...
Jul 16, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Adam Seagrave, Associate Professor at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. Dr. Seagrave helps us think about how the interpretation and application of concept of freedom developed from the time of America's founding through the Civil War. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the driving ...
Jun 28, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this episode, we are thinking historically (ok, actually politically) with Dr. Benjamin Gross, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the General Education Program at the Jacksonville State University. Dr. Gross helps us think about citizenship, what that has meant to people in different times and places, and what the citizens's role is in a democracy. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps...
Jun 12, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with Shawn Healy , the Senior Director for Policy and Advocacy at iCivics. In this episode, Shawn helps us think to think about the policy implications around the state of social studies education and what steps toward stronger advocacy can be taken. This is the 6th in the series where Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, will interview various leaders in social studies education in the lead ...
Mar 08, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with Dr. Janet Tran, the Director of The Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Janet has consistently been so generous and kind to us at Thinking Nation and has cemented herself as a leader in the civic education space for many years. In this episode, she helps us think deeply about continuity and change over time in history education, the...
Mar 01, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with the Andrea Foggy-Paxton , the entrepreneur-in-residence and founder of Social Studies Accelerator at Education Leaders of Color as well as Los Angeles County Board of Education. Andrea dives into many aspects of her work in the podcast, but one thing to highlight here is her championing of the California State Seal of Civic Engagement through her work on the LACOE Board. This is the 4th in the series w...
Feb 23, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with the Executive Director of the National Council for Social Studies, Dr. Lawrence Paska . For the next six weeks, Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, will interview various leaders in social studies education in the lead up to Civic Learning Week (March 11-15, 2024). On March 11th, Zach and Larry will cohost a webinar entitled, " The State of Social Studies Education: Collaboratively Movi...
Feb 16, 2024•30 min
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with the Executive Director of the National Council for History Education, Jessica Ellison . For the next six weeks, Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, will interview various leaders in social studies education in the lead up to Civic Learning Week (March 11-15, 2024). In each episode, Zach will talk to the guest(s) about the state of social studies education broadly, while also looking spe...
Feb 09, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode, we are thinking historically about the state of social studies education with two leaders in the museum world. For the next six weeks, Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, will interview various leaders in social studies education in the lead up to Civic Learning Week (March 11-15, 2024). In each episode, Zach will talk to the guest(s) about the state of social studies education broadly, while also looking specifically at the data found in a white paper published ...
Feb 02, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode, we are thinking historically with John Fea, professor of history at Messiah University. Dr. Fea helps us better understand how Alexander Hamilton's and Thomas Jefferson's divergent views on human nature shaped their vision for government. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the historical questions that students are engaging with in our curriculum.
Jan 12, 2024•17 min
In this episode, we are thinking historically with Dr. Pearl Young, Assistant Professor of History and Affiliated Faculty member in the Women's and Gender Studies program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Dr. Young helps us think about the complex experiences women had on the home front during the American Civil War. This episode is part of Thinking Nation's curriculum series, "Thinking Historically About." In each episode, a scholar helps us better understand the historical questions tha...
Dec 13, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 4
