Is There a Science to History? A Review of “War and Peace and War” by Peter Turchin

Can the cyclical nature of history be explained through science? Ecologist Peter Turchin attempts to do just that in his book “War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires.” Turchin argues that imperiogenesis (the birth of empires) occurs on the fringes of civilization, where members of one society interact with members of [...]

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Where Do Ethics Fit In Today’s Classroom?

Talk to any professional educator in the United States today and you will hear endless gripes about underperforming students, helicopter parents, and unsympathetic and detached administrators. What is noticeably lacking (at least noticeable to me, anyway) in this discourse is a vital question: In a technologically hyper-connected 21st century, where does morality fit and, how [...]

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Student Teaching History in American Suburbia

It’s been awhile since I’ve last updated this blog. From January to early May, I’ve been consumed with the transformative exercise known as student teaching. At a fairly white, suburban high school in culturally-deprived northern New Jersey, I taught American history to juniors, seniors (my high school was unique in that it required a fourth year [...]

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Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars

Thank God Lucasfilm and Spielberg decided not to go with this title. Still, the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise involves–you guessed it–extraterrestrials. Originally Lucas wanted the swashbuckling archaeologist battling Martians a la cheesy 1950s pulp fiction. Spielberg and Ford said no. Who could blame them?
Through our well-established connections among the Protestant elite (not [...]

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I’m Back But I Haven’t Returned From the Dead

It’s been quite awhile since my last post but I’ve returned! Here’s what kept me busy these past several months:
student teaching!
From mid January to early May, I’ve spent an exorbitant amount of time student teaching in a northern New Jersey suburban high school. I taught American history and an American history through film course. It [...]

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