The last surviving veteran of the First World War died last Saturday, just shy of her 111th birthday. Her name was Florence Green. She joined the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) as a mess steward in September 1918, nine months after she turned 17 and two months before the end of the war. Mrs. Green’s … More The Last Veteran of WWI
Calling museums “cathedrals of the modern world” (as I quoted cultural historian Jay Winter last week) might seem like setting the bar awfully high. Probably too high for something like the National Army Museum in London, which seeks simply to document the evolution of the British way of war in a way that’s neither intimidating … More “Cathedrals of the Modern World”: London
It’s been a busy first week of class here at Bethel, so I’m going to postpone my two posts on museums until next week. But before we wrap up the week, let me pass along a few more details about the Pietism colloquium (Friday, April 20) that I’m coordinating with my colleague Christian Collins Winn. … More Update: Jon Sensbach’s Talk at Our Pietism Colloquium
Before the beginning of the semester last fall, I wrote a post on the challenges (or, as I called them in the post title, “blessings”) of teaching the same course (Modern Europe) year in and year out. Today, the start of our spring semester at Bethel, brings a different kind of problem: teaching a course … More Human Rights in International History
Museums are the cemeteries of the arts. (Alphonse de Lamartine) Even their fans must admit that museums can feel like places where the past (or, for the poet Lamartine, art) gets embalmed and entombed. According to historian Jay Winter — already quoted multiple times in this series on exploring the history of World War I … More “Cathedrals of the Modern World”: Introduction
A week ago today the French Senate voted 127-86 to make it illegal to deny or “outrageously minimize” mass killings that the French have officially deemed to be “genocides,” with violators facing a year in prison and a fine of up to 45,000 €. The vote brought immediate condemnation from the government of Turkey (already … More Denial vs. Free Speech
Earlier this month the popular British historian Simon Schama took to the pages of Newsweek to write a withering attack on the British TV series Downton Abbey — and even more, on Americans’ obsession with it — as its second series began to air on PBS. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T BEEN WATCHING I … More Downton Crabby
Let’s dip into the imaginary mailbag, shall we? Dear Chris, It seems like you’ve got endless amounts of free time to fill. Have you ever considered engaging in some actual scholarship? Or, writing for another blog? Cordially, All those who invested time and money in your decades of education Excellent questions. I’ll defer the first … More Our New Blog!
When I take students to Europe next January to study the history of World War I, we’ll close the journey (as my wife and I did this month) in Munich — primarily to consider how WWI led to the rise of fascist movements and thence to World War II and the Holocaust. But we’ll also … More Commemorating WWI: Munich
While the British commissioned architects like Reginald Blomfield and Edwin Lutyens to construct towering monuments whose significance would endure throughout eternity and their Dominions (e.g., Australia and Canada) used commemoration to help establish their claims to distinct nationhood, the Germans generally tacked in the opposite direction, preferring simple, dignified symbols of quiet mourning. Ironically, it was … More Commemorating WWI: German Subtlety
The Pietist Schoolman 