One of the beautiful things about a book is one can return to important passages again and again for inspiration. Brent Tomberlin I recently picked up David Brooks’ book “The Second Mountain” from the local library and took a second tour through it. In one section, he returns to his college days at the University of Chicago.
He writes about his education and the virtues his professors provided. Brooks says his teachers put him in touch with six important values. He makes a great case for each one of them.
When studying any subject, one must go back to the first principles. Knowing who wrote meaningful history about a particular subject and how ideas flow and change is very important. Ideas change over time.
The meaning of certain words does, too. As a history instructor, I desire my students to get a decent look at good history writing from credible authors. In our recent past, the works on race by Annette Gordon-Reed, the compilations of American history put together by David Rubenstein, and the writing of David McCullough can offer students great insights into the American story.
When teaching, it helps to mention authors who are diving deep into their subjects and to see their points of view. In other words, students need to be exposed to different histories and philosophies. They do well by being able to see the ideas behind different modes of thought.
They do well to see a point of view by getting out of it and looking at it from another direction. Understanding is.
