Author Archives: Nate

About Nate

Originally from Salt Lake City, UT, Nate Kogan taught for eight years in Fort Worth, Texas, but is now back in his hometown teaching Upper School History at Rowland Hall. Nate is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Arlington studying Transatlantic History. Nate holds a B.A. in history and architectural history from Columbia College, Columbia University (NY), and an M.A. in history from the University of Texas at Arlington. His pedagogical interests presently center on how to integrate technology into the classroom to encourage greater student accountability, self-directedness, and improved critical thinking and research skills. His historical research interests center on transatlantic religious and disability history. Some of Nate's previous research, (largely the result of his upbringing as a Jewish gentile in the land formerly known as Deseret) Nate wrote about the history of the LDS Church, its changing presentation of identity to various outsider groups, and its concomitant quest for integration into the mainstream. His dissertation focuses on the role of Quaker transatlantic humanitarians in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and how their advocacy served to help Quakers gain legitimacy within the public sphere of mainstream Atlantic society.

Final Exam Haikus – March 2013 Edition

If you’re noticing that I only seem to post when other people do the writing for me, then you might just be onto something. This momentous occasion, much like the previous one, I think, involves amusing haikus that my AP … Continue reading

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Facebook: Committee of Public Safety, Class of Sept. 1793–March 1794

Tomorrow my Western Civilization classes are watching and taking notes on the BBC documentary Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution. The documentary does a great job of detailing the inner workings of the Committee of Public Safety and the major … Continue reading

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Historical Haikus – Final Exam Edition

So, I just finished administering my Fall Trimester final exams and am now in the midst of grinding through the grading in order to maximize my holiday merriment. However, I stole an extra credit idea from one of my colleagues … Continue reading

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Form *still* ever follows function

As I’m making last minutes preparations to administer my Fall Trimester final exams tomorrow, I thought I’d go ahead and create a procedure for my students to follow so that they don’t get confused about what materials they’re allowed to … Continue reading

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Timeline Wizardry!

I’ve been searching for an easy, collaborative, and sharp-looking timeline generator for a number of years now and hadn’t had success in finding anything until a few weeks ago. Previously I checked out Dipity, XTimeline, and some clever solutions for … Continue reading

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Churning out new assignments!: “Introduction to Historical Research and Presentations”

There are two major exciting things about this post. Firstly, I’ve actually written something new! In order to accomplish this lofty goal, I thought I’d return to my approach of sharing new assignments that I’ve developed. Secondly, I figured out … Continue reading

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Wither the popsicle stick?

For the past few years, I’ve taken to using popsicle sticks as a central item to facilitate discussion and create groups in my classroom. At the beginning of the year I’d put every student’s name on a popsicle stick, group … Continue reading

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“History Now” with Conor Bentley – Episode 2, featuring yours truly!

As I’ve recently moved back to my hometown, I’ve had the chance to reconnect with a number of acquaintances with whom I grew up, catch up with them, and learn about all the cool things they’re up to currently.

One of the people who fits into this category is Conor Bentley, who I went to high school with and graduated a year after me. He’s presently working on some cool podcast projects, one of which is called “History Now” and focuses on bringing various historical moments to life through interesting editing, in-depth contextualization, and a unique presentation.

Conor interviewed me about five weeks ago regarding the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Impressively, Conor took the roughly 25 minutes of our interview and discussion about the Pavilion and turned it into a really nice final product that captures the core of my research and writing on this topic quite nicely. It was fun to get to talk with Conor about this topic and I think he’s done a really great job with the end product.

Check it out and you’ll get to hear my silky-smooth pipes – what could be more enticing than that! Also, Conor’s first episode of “History Now” was about the Great Chicago Fire and features my colleague, Dr. Fiona Halloran – check that one out too!

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Teaching at Your Alma Mater

Reblogged from Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics: Twenty years ago, I started my freshman year at Cumberland University. Sixteen years later, I returned to take a faculty position. Teaching at your alma mater can be difficult. Former professors become … Continue reading

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…And I have reinforcement from my podcasting hero!

I’m a big fan of the MaximumFun.org family of podcasts and have been listening to them religiously for roughly the last year and a half. I think Jesse Thorn, the proprietor of MaximumFun.org, is a really smart host, conducts an … Continue reading

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