a newsletter for alumni and friends of WashU History
In 2020, our history classrooms have looked very different. Below, four faculty from the department describe how their teaching has changed because of COVID.
Douglas Flowe: "Political division now constitutes separate realities"
"It's really an honor to be here every day and to know that I’m just steps away from the mansion itself, from Mount Vernon, which was the first White House of the United States."
Big picture, my time at WashU helped teach me how to think. It may be a cliché but it's a true one. My time as a history major taught me to think about the forces that shape our society, and to think critically and skeptically about any fixed self-perception we may have as a society.
Ultimately my college education and life experiences taught me to genuinely question everything. I think it helped me to go deeper for the real source of information and ideas, and then challenge those sources of information.
By participating in discussions with people that had differing opinions, I learned how to listen to others, see multiple sides to an argument, and articulate my own position on a subject. These skills have come in handy both when trying to understand medical decisions from a patient's perspective and when making decisions with medical colleagues.
new books and book recommendations from our faculty
The Gospel of Germs
Wuhan Diary
Sowande' Mustakeem St. Louis Public Radio
Read the StoryPeter Kastor The Washington Post
Read the Story
