Place-based United States History
An experiential an online course offered in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021
Studying Place-based US History, we will discover how to become lifelong creators of historical understanding. We live at a time when location is tracked by GPS satellites and phone data and time is standardized and objectified in digital archives beyond our control. Living in a globalized, capitalist economy, most of us have understood ourselves to be consumers of history, the big-box version of which was packaged in textbooks for mass distribution. In this course, we will re-cultivate approaches to tending history that are local, intuitive, handmade. We will approach US history through the simple question:
How do we know where we are and when we are?
These are historical questions and their responses come through our ability to engage in direct perception. The only sense of history that we can ever have comes through our ability to perceive what is around us right now—experiences, geographies, documents, environments, interactions. Our ability to sense our place and our moment is our ability to know history.
The Fall 2020 course included learners from 11 different states over a span of 5,000 miles, ages 13-94! The course generated $1,500 to redistribute to three organizations stewarding a sense of place and non-dominant historical narratives.
Testimonials
“Nora is kind, culturally humble, thoughtful in her planning of course content, and takes a learner stance with the students. She comes with a wealth of knowledge and facilitates learning through discovery. She cares about making this course relevant to each individual learner. I love the content and she embodies respect for marginalized groups throughout history, with the central theme of the course honoring their version of history. Highly recommend. I really like the communal feel Nora helped build among us.” (Santana R.)
“I am thrilled and overwhelmed with the depth and breadth of your offering. I look forward to revisiting the places I have discovered and continuing to explore new territory for many months and years to come. A more general goal was just to see if I could develop an appreciation for history by engaging with a different way of learning. I would say that this is a big," Yes"... All of your communications felt warm and inviting. It really felt as if you were gathering your family together for a special time of connection and storytelling and we were all part of that family.” (Kerry R.)
“It was very meaningful for me to think not only about US history, but how to think about US history. It felt important to not only be learning about Indigenous peoples in different regions I was traveling through, but also to think about how was conceptualizing and learning. How was/am I perpetuating a settler-colonial mindset in my thinking and my understanding? How can I learn about Indigenous people in a way that was not harmful nor passive, but active and intentional? I think that the course laid out life-long history practices in a really engaging and helpful way. The design of the course made all the concepts applicable to any part of my day, and easy to integrate into my thinking/perception of what is in front of me. The practices were taught in a way that felt woven and interconnected smoothly into my life to keep learning regardless of if I was reading, walking, or talking with others.” (Hannah E.)