What are you excited about as a history major?
Besides taking a few more excellent history courses at Carleton, I’m really looking forward to launching the Carleton Historical Review next term. Myself and two other junior history majors will be creating a scholarly journal similar to the American Historical Review that features excellent historical scholarship from Carleton students. We’ll be accepting all papers written at Carleton between 4 and 30 pages. Students should submit as many papers as they want, and papers from past classes are welcome too. The Review will be available primarily in an online format.
We decided to start the Review because we noticed that students have been producing tremendous work on a wide variety of subjects at Carleton, but very little of it has been read outside of families and professors. We wanted to create a vehicle to highlight this scholarship and create a medium in which students can start discussions about history outside of the classroom. Anyone interested in the Review should feel free to contact me at hallw@carleton.edu or my fellow editors Liza Peterson (petersonl) and Tanner Fliss (flisst).
What do you enjoy about the discipline of history?
One of my favorite parts of History is reexamining current narratives of events or periods that are widely accepted as the “truth.” I love going back over the evidence myself and finding nuances, qualifications and complications. It’s in those moments when you find really amazing and at times ridiculous stories. For example, I once had to study the historical relationship between Canada and the United States. While looking into the subject, I stumbled upon this conflict called the Aroostook War. Essentially American and Canadian lumberjacks went into the wilderness near the modern border of northern Maine and duked it out over where the countries should draw the final border. Only in “History” do you get the opportunity to study events like that.
Specific to this department, I really appreciate how supportive the faculty are towards students. All of the professors here have really encouraged me to pursue the subjects I’m interested in, even if they don’t fall under one of the main subfields.
What historical period would you most like to visit?
Without a doubt 1940s America. For one, wearing a suit every day would be ideal. But the opportunity to see a nation united and dedicated to the common pursuit of victory over a truly heinous ideology would be fascinating. I think people today have difficulty conceptualizing a world in which nearly every person is consumed with fighting a war that touches nearly all parts of the globe. Also, to see a new world order established and the political transition into the opening moves of the Cold War would be equally exciting, if not a little terrifying.
Who is your historical crush?
It’s hard to choose just one, but General Anthony McAuliffe will always occupy a special place in my heart. He had tremendous courage and an excellent appreciation for the use of absurd humor. His main claim to fame is leading the 101st Airborne in its successful defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Completely surrounded by a vastly superior German force, he received a German request for surrender. He sent back a reply, which just read “Nuts,” and then kept fighting.
