When a historian and a social worker go on Honeymoon, they take notice of culture and its resilience, what has changed and is changing, what has caused the change, and how people live in a community undergoing change. This was not lost on us as we explored Little Jamaica.
by Dan Miller. This past May I had the pleasure of leading a group of 14 Calvin alumni plus my wife on a ten day tour of Cuba as part of the Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning program. It was a rich experience for me. As the Latin Americanist in Calvin’s History Department for 32 …
Continue reading A Tale of Two Cubas
by Spencer Cone. Today, Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey. As a bustling city with a thriving economy and cultural life, it’s become a symbol of the modern, Westernized Turkey. However, the city’s prosperity disguises a tumultuous history. Throughout the course of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the city, known then as Smyrna, witnessed …
Continue reading Why the Past Matters: Izmir’s Historical Amnesia
by Will Katerberg Travel to conferences is a regular part of academic life. Give papers, go to panels, meet with publishers, find new titles at the book display, and enjoy debates, dinner and a drink with seldom seen colleagues. For some of us, conferences are a professional obligation to be endured, mostly, while others angle …
Continue reading Stolen Moments
by Dan Miller. The first installment of my journal focused on the lovely countryside of Scotland. We also encountered lots of historic sites, and I will write a little bit about those here. In the isles of Orkney we saw a burial tomb and standing stone rings that are more than 4000 years old. Not far away …
Continue reading A Historian Visits Scotland, Part 2
by Dan Miller. My wife and I just got back from spending two weeks driving around the highlands of Scotland and the experience has left me with several powerful impressions. My first impression is that Scotland has refused to submit fully to the demands of the automobile. While its roads are very well maintained, they …
Continue reading Travel Reflection: A Historian Visits Scotland
Historical Horizons 