Rebecca Koerselman

The controversy surrounding Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s 1984 year book photos has caused many to ask questions about blackface. Again. According to a recent headline from The Onion, a satirical news site, “Every Baby Boomer in Country Urged to Resign…

To honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is fitting to read a portion of his speech, “The Other America,” presented April 14, 1967 at Stanford University: What I'm trying to get across is that our nation has constantly…

There’s nothing like moving to give you concrete evidence of how much stuff you own. We moved from a rental to our own home and were forced to confront our possessions. Not only that, we had to pack it all,…

When December rolls around, I enjoy opening the mailbox to find Christmas cards instead of the usual fliers and bills. In fact, I look forward to it every day. Whether it is just a picture or, even better, a picture…

Not only did the Puritans not celebrate Thanksgiving, they firmly banned Christmas. (Spoiler alert: the Puritans did not celebrate Easter either.) The Puritans rejected Christmas as a pagan celebration, full of bawdy revelry and tainted by Catholic association. The Puritans…

What is the correct story of United States history? Historian Lendol Calder, in his article, “The Stories We Tell,” highlights the difficulties of choosing a narrative for the U.S. history survey course: Poor, old, American history survey course—the Charlie Brown…

If it snows in November, is it because folks are decorating for Christmas? So I have been told. But I would have to live in a cave not to see that Christmas consumption and wars over red cups and tidings…

As I hear the partisan language connected to the midterm elections, I cannot help but reflect on how we got here. It may be difficult to think of anything except current red and blue debates over the role of the…

I recently attended the biannual Conference on Faith and History at Calvin College. Robert Orsi, a prominent scholar of American religious history, gave a remarkable plenary address entitled “The Study of Religion on This Side of Disgust.” Bob Orsi has…