To teach is to encourage one to experience and to explore. In my teaching, it is my goal to convey to students two related beliefs: first, historical inquiries are not only about the past but are keys to understand the present; second, a critical reflection on the past must take into account as wide an array of experiences as possible. To get across these ideas, I seek whenever possible to acquaint students with the historian’s craft: close reading of primary and secondary sources, formulation of meaningful historical questions and persuasive arguments, as well as the abilities to conduct research (increasingly with the aid of digital tools) and to communicate one’s findings in clear and concise prose. Ultimately, what I hope to accomplish in and out of the classroom is to emulate the best of my own teachers: to encourage students to imagine and to help them discover the excitement of scholarship.
