Great question #sschatreads! 1/ I like to tell my students about my own journey. I hated history in high school. My introduction to US history was in summer school, taught by the water polo coach. It was a lot of timelimes, presidents, dates, and wars. I felt no connection to it. https://twitter.com/maineteacher/status/1281972263768567808

2/ Then I took a fabulous AP European history course taught by Mr. White (still remember him!) and he was much more committed to teaching students about history as inquiry, possibility, perspective. It was something dynamic and full of interpretation rather than memorization.

3/ I thought that the study of history, with its emphasis on excellent research, writing, & analytical skills, would be a useful major in college. This is what I still tell students to this day about the practicality of a History major. But I still did not LOVE it.

4/ Then I took a class in California History and learned about the anti-Chinese movement, the Chinese Exclusion laws, and Angel Island for the first time. I saw that my family's history mattered; that immigrants and Asian Americans were important to US history.

5/ After that, I saw the study of history - and the research, writing, and teaching of US history - was a way of making change; a way of creating a more just and equal world. History is so important to understanding and defining who we are as a nation.

6/ If our history if more inclusive, I believe, then our nation can be as well. History matters. And more than ever, historians are engaged in public debates. We see that on the op-ed pages, in films, on the streets. That is why statues are coming down.

#sschatreads - turning the question back to you - would love to know what advice you give to your students interested in studying history, or other social science & humanities majors?