Less Scrambling, More Reflecting: Unpacking Simulations of Imperialism and How We can better Teach about the Berlin Conference, the European Colonization of Africa, and African Resistance

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Bram Hubbell · 16 Comments

Every year thousands of teachers of world history teach about the problematically-named “Scramble for Africa”, and many of them make use of a popular classroom simulation that seems to have originated in the 1990s, based on what some teachers have told me. I remember first seeing pictures of the activity showing up on the closed […]

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A Revolutionary Challenge: The Túpac Amaru Rebellion and Rethinking the Atlantic Revolutions

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Bram Hubbell · 7 Comments

In many world history textbooks, discussion of the Atlantic Revolutions often begins with the background causes, such as the Seven Years’ War and the Enlightenment, that contributed to the outbreak of the Revolutions, and the first revolution discussed is almost always the North American Revolution. While it makes sense to start with the North American […]

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Two Views of Global Lisbon

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Bram Hubbell · 2 Comments

In October of 2016, I was exploring the Navy Museum in Lisbon. For a country with such a rich maritime history, I was somewhat disappointed with the museum itself. But as I was wandering through the bookstore on my way out, I came across this incredible book by edited by Annemarie Jordan Gschwend and K.J.P. […]

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More than Four Turtles: Global Renaissances in the Fifteenth Century (Part II)

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Bram Hubbell · Leave a comment

In the final part of the Harkness discussion on Day 3, we talk about the second part of my essay “Reimaging the Renaissance,” which focuses on events in Central Asia in the fifteenth century. Central Asia never seems to get the credit it deserves in world history classes. Besides the Mongols, we almost always seem […]

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More than Four Turtles: Global Renaissances in the Fifteenth Century (Part I)

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Bram Hubbell · Leave a comment

After spending two days setting up the big picture of the revival of Afroeurasia in the fifteenth century, we dive into the Renaissance, or Renaissances, on the third day. I use two different readings with the students and set up the class in a sort of a modified Harkness style discussions. With each reading, the […]

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