Rebecca Koerselman

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…

As an alumnus of Michigan State University, I am deeply upset by the appalling abuse of Larry Nassar. When people say something to me about being a Spartan, I am compelled to acknowledge that I am not very proud to…

Originating around 1830 and maintaining popularity for decades, the minstrel show used blackface comedy to entertain white Americans. Minstrel shows were enormously popular, particularly among Americans in northeastern urban areas. Mark Twain wrote in his Autobiography, “If I could have…

When it comes to figures in United States history, who typically comes to mind? Out of curiosity, how many women can you name? Turns out that U.S. history is chuckabuck full of significant woman. I wonder why we don’t know…

In my last post here I reflected on Jennifer Senior’s book on parenting, All Joy and No Fun: the Paradox of Modern Parenting. I touched on the differences between happiness and joy and the ways to nurture our children in…