You may have heard of gear heads, sneaker heads, and metal heads. I’d like to introduce the phrase “history head” into the popular lexicon. No more, “I’m a history buff.” It’s strictly history head from here on out.

My life as a history head started after I discovered the modest biography collection at the Ann Weigel Elementary library. I’d get home from school, grab some Kroger brand dinosaur fruit snacks, march to my room, and read for hours in my purple bean bag chair. These books gave me access to a time machine that allowed me to march with General Washington through the streets of Trenton, observe the maneuvers of Wellington at Waterloo, and float down the Mississippi River with a young Abe Lincoln.

Since then, much of my youthful romanticism has worn off. The longer I study history, the more I realize the field is highly subjective, political, and contested. I’m at peace with the ambiguity and the many open-ended questions that remain. Who decides what gets published? What gets left out? How have analytical categories such as race, class, gender, religion, geography, and culture shaped historical interpretations? Larger philosophical questions also abound. What is history? What’s its utility? How does history help reveal what it means to be human? While it’s tempting to throw one’s hands up in a postmodern, fatalistic defeat, these are the questions any serious history head must consider.

To that end, I’ve created this blog. It offers me a forum to challenge my former students with new perspectives and connect with fellow scholars. I’m also looking forward to posting book reviews, links, lesson plans, research progress, and the occasional spicy meme. Along the way, I think we’ll all learn a little something new. Thanks for giving it a look.