Conversations in World History

I speak with Professor Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Distinguished Professor Emerita of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and former president of the World History Association. Merry has written books like A Concise History of the World and Early Modern Europe. We talk about women's history in general and the misconceptions about the lives of women in the past.    See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh   Additional books she recommends are: Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World by Catalina de Erauso A Medieval Life: Cecilia Penifader of Brigstock by Judith Bennett

I speak with World History Association president Jonathan Reynolds about the Cold War in Africa. Jonathan is a professor of African History at Northern Kentucky University. He's the type of teacher we all wish we'd had. Jonathan has written a number of books, including Sovereignty and Struggle: African and Africans in the Cold War. This short book has a ton of flair and the same vibrant voice that you will hear in the podcast comes alive in the text. 

Trevor Getz is a professor of African History at San Francisco State University. We discuss the what constitutes Africa, the tools for studying African history, misconceptions about Africa, and more. Trevor has written a number of books including Abina and the Important Men, Cosmopolitan Africa, and A Primer for Teaching African History. He is also Vice-President of the World History Association.   See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh   Additional books recommended by Trevor Getz: African Dominion by Michael Gomez A Fistful of Shells by Toby Green Crossing the Color Line by Carina Ray  

"Teacher's Corner" episodes are conversations with K-12 educators about how they bring topics in world history to life. Here, I chat with Andy Snyder about The Good Life (or "Living your Best Life"), his high school philosophy class. Andy was my former colleague at Harvest Collegiate, a public school in New York City, and he is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking teachers I have had the chance to work with. 

I talk with Professor Matthew Restall of Penn State University about his book When Montezuma Met Cortes. We discuss the problems with the traditional narrative and the ways that an approach centered on the actions of indigenous Mexicans is more accurate and more interesting. Did Montezuma really surrender? Did he give away his empire in his speech to Cortes? Did Cortes kidnap Montezuma? Did Aztecs really believe Cortes was a returning Aztec god? Listen to find out these answers and more.    See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh   Additional books recommended by Matthew Restall: Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend On Savage Shores by Caroline Dodds-Pennock

Ian Barrow is a professor of South Asian history at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has written three books, the latest being a history of the British East India Company. Ian is currently working on a new book about the history of the independence struggles in South Asia.  We discuss the meaning of India, power and resistance in colonial South Asia, the myth of Gandhi, causes of Indian independence, major issues in India between 1947 and today, and much more.   See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh   Additional books recommended by Ian Barrow: The Great Partition by Yasmin Khan Dispatches from a Precarious State: The Nine Lives of Pakistan by Declan Walsh