Dead People at Dinner

by | Nov 26, 2012 | Uncategorized

I’ve recently been reading a number of works by Voltaire (Candide is absolutely hilarious if you’re in the mood for an Enlightenment era soap opera) and really wish the famous philosophe was still alive so I could invite him to dinner. So that got me...

Crash Course: How and Why We Read

by | Nov 19, 2012 | Uncategorized

I’m not sure if any of you have seen John Green’s Crash Course:World History on YouTube, but seriously, you need to. I actually discovered this nifty (and obscenely addictive) series this year when a student told me Green reminded her of me lecturing,...

History’s Greatest Female Rulers

by | Nov 5, 2012 | Uncategorized

I was walking down the hallway behind one of my former students the other day, listening as he talked to his friend about Queen Elizabeth.  (Never mind how excited I was to hear students discussing history in the halls when they could be talking about the...

The Ascent of Historical Fiction

by | Oct 19, 2012 | Uncategorized

I am in the happy position of writing a genre that is currently on the upswing. I remember going into the bookstore fifteen years ago and combing the shelves, scanning for covers of ancient Egyptians, Victorian ladies with tiny waists and ridiculous hats, and English...