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History

History doesn’t repeat, and it may not even rhyme, but it instructs and informs. History teaches us perspective. It teaches us humility. It teaches us to respect and value traditions that are different from our own. And it teaches us to read and think with healthy skepticism, including realizing that we can’t be certain of the past, let alone the future.

Public history is an increasingly important part of my history interest. By public history, I mean history developed with academic rigor but delivered to the non-academic public with story-telling, flair and humanity: rigor without rigidity. Public history occupies the accessible middle ground between rigorous but ponderous academic history and popular history that is flippant, frothy and unburdened by the facts.

We’re living through a time when some intentionally want to subvert and even pervert history to justify policies and behavior that, in fact, can’t be justified. Public history is a key antidote, bringing us back to the reality of our complex, difficult and diverse heritage. 

Experience

  • “Organizational History of the Defense Language Institute .” Unpublished research. Department of Defense, 1971
  • “Government by Compromise: Mutual adjustment in legislative coalition building.” Unpublished undergraduate thesis, Harvard University, 1975
  • “Inconvenient Founders: Thomas Young and the forgotten disrupters.” Presentation, History Camp Colorado, 2019; Presentation, History Camp America, 2021; and History Camp Boston, August 2022
  • “Fact-Checking Hamilton” and other topics. Tutoring inquisitive teens in US and world history. “It Takes a Village” summer program, Temple Beth Shalom, Santa Fe NM, 2020-22.
  • “Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Santa Fe.” Docent, Santa Fe NM, 2022-present
  • “Red, White, Blue and Green: America’s environment through the lens of history.” Presentation, History Camp America, November 2022
  • "Santa Fe, NM: A Window into the History of the West." Presentation, History Camp Boston, August 2024
  • "Using “Neighbor History” to Fill Gaps and Solve Mysteries." Presentation with John Cass, History Camp Boston, August 2024
  • "The Pursuit of History: Santa Fe." Program Director, October 2024.
  • "Deciphering a Diaspora: From Armenia to Massachusetts." Presentation based on the work of John Yacobian, History Camp Boston, August 2025