Category Archives: Interdisciplinary Work

American Witch-Hunters: Salem & McCarthy (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 7)

Posted on August 15, 2014 by georgelamplugh

 [Note: Some of the most interesting “interdisciplinary” projects I undertook were the result, not of a school-wide mandate, but a request from a colleague for a little help in approaching a knotty subject. Such was the case when an English … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Cold War, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Growing Up in Colonial New England (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 6)

Posted on June 15, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[Note: One of the “joys” of teaching in a prep school with a PhD., at least in the state of Georgia, was the state’s assumption, “back in the day,” that folks like me were deficient in “professional education” courses and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Education Courses", American History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Research, Retirement, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Early Blues–Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Everything (Blues Stories, 17)

Posted on June 1, 2014 by georgelamplugh

A Review of R.A. Lawson, Jim Crow’s Counterculture: The Blues and Black Southerners, 1890-1945. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. [NOTE: As I’ve explained elsewhere, my initial interest in the Blues developed because my older son and I were … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, Big Bill Broonzy, Chicago Blues, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History of Rock and Roll, Interdisciplinary Work, Leadbelly, Popular Culture, Robert Johnson, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Famous for Being Famous”: A Kardashian for the Gilded Age

Posted on April 15, 2014 by georgelamplugh

Let’s admit it up front: for a lot of us, there is a definite “cringe factor” when we make our way through the supermarket checkout aisle and glance at magazine covers, or sign in to msn.com or yahoo.com. Whether or … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Current Events, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Mark Twain, Popular Culture, Retirement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “Famous for Being Famous”: A Kardashian for the Gilded Age

Blues Theology, Part 1: The “Devil’s Music” (Blues Stories, 15)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[Note: In previous posts [here and here], we have looked at the origins of the Blues in the Mississippi Delta and seen that life for Delta blacks involved hard physical labor, rigid segregation, and shocking violence. Among the few places … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, Delta Blues, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Research, Son House, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Reflecting in History’s Mirror (History Lesson Plans, 3)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: In a previous post, I introduced the “Lecture-Discussion” conundrum, the pedagogical approach favored by the prep school history department that had hired me. What did “Lecture-Discussion” mean, as a way to impart information to adolescents? I firmly believed, as … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Civil Rights Movement, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

B.B. King, “King of the Blues” (Blues Stories, 12)

Posted on January 1, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  There is a generic career arc for many twentieth-century Blues performers: a poverty-stricken background in the Jim Crow South, especially the Mississippi Delta; “escape” to the “land of opportunity” somewhere in the North or Midwest; early career success, followed … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, B.B. King, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, John Lee Hooker, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Urban Blues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Race–and History–Matter

Posted on April 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past” (William Faulkner) [NOTE:  Perhaps it’s because I live in the South; or maybe it’s because February was Black History Month; or I suppose it could be because the Republican Party is … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Constitution of 1787, Current Events, Georgia History, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Nullification, Philadelphia Convention (1787), Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Book that Changed my Life (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 4)

Posted on February 26, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note:  A couple of years before I retired, our energetic new high-school librarian proposed that interested faculty and staff contribute to the library’s website brief essays on books that had had a significant impact on their lives.  What follows is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Denying the Holocaust (Adventures in Interdisciplinary Land, 3)

Posted on February 1, 2013 by georgelamplugh

[Note: In the late 1990s, a number of seniors at my school received, through the mail, “information” from a group denying the reality of the Holocaust. (For an earlier instance, go here)  One of their English teachers asked me to talk to … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Georgia History, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Southern History, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments