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By Paul Horton. While the Renaissance has been presented as a European phenomenon, historians have recently begun to recognize the ways that other parts of the world participated in the intellectual and artistic achievements of those times. How can we challenge students to investigate what was happening beyond …

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By Paul Horton. This is the fourth in a series. Here are the prior posts: Part 1: Historians and the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy Part 2: The Confederate “Lost Cause” and Southern Women Part 3: Confederate Monuments and Southern Memory: The Case of One Confederate General When Alabama …

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By Paul Horton. Part 1: Historians and the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy Part 3: Confederate Monuments and Southern Memory: The Case of One Confederate General Part 4: Where “Southern Heritage” Falls Short Part Two: The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and other groups played a …

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By Paul Horton. When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought about Western Civilization, he reportedly replied that, “I think it would be a very good idea.” While Gandhi certainly may not have spoken so pithily in response to such a question, he was, to be sure, a stern critic of “the West,” of the value …

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By Paul Horton. During the last year the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported an increase in hate crimes and hate groups. As political discourse in the United States in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has become increasingly focused on identity politics, ethnic, cultural, and racial …

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By Anthony Cody. This week we have seen a renewed attempt to rehabilitate the beleaguered Common Core standards, just as the scores arrive in many states, largely meeting projections that they would yield increased failure rates and a wider “achievement gap.” These results are the most basic problem that the …

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By Anthony Cody. For years teachers have heard about the crucial role parents have in supporting their children’s academic progress. Extensive research shows that increased parental involvement translates into success for students. However, the new Common Core approach to math is having a rather perverse effect. …

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By John Thompson. The 50th anniversary of Jonathan Kozol’s Death at an Early Age comes as we confront the horror of the Charleston, S.C. massacre and the epidemic of police killings of unarmed blacks. At a time like this, it is best to read Kozol’s masterpiece on its own, without using it as evidence for any …

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By Anthony Cody. We have been seeing the fallout from heavy handed monitoring and enforcement that is coming to us with the new Common Core tests. As I pointed out Sunday, this sort of security is made necessary when you have created a system where heavy consequences are attached to success on these tests. …