Everybody in the world knows Gandhi. While our seminar organizers provide a wonderful selection of speakers, one of our most appreciated speakers is Professor K. Swaminathan, the 94-year-old editor of the Collected Works of Gandhi. Upon receiving a master’s degree from Oxford and becoming a professor at Presidency College in Madras (Chennai), he became the …
Tag: history
800. Remembering India through a Fulbright-Hays Seminar
Similar to many other recent, freshly bestowed, humanities' Ph.D.’s, I didn’t’ have a full-time job. Fortunately, I am an adjunct at DeKalb College. Because my wife Mary teaches English at DeKalb Technical College which is right next door, we both know, and are known, by several of the DeKalb College faculty and administrators. One winter …
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677. Signs of Wars
Strangers from Overseas came for the neolithic hill forts. The Romans came. The Angles and Saxons from northern Germany and southern Scandinavia came. The Vikings from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden came. The French from Normandy led by William the Conqueror came, and landed at Hastings. The Spanish in the Armada came. Plymouth Sir Francis Drake …
669. “A Poor, Ignorant Girl”: Mary Anning
She hears all sorts of words like these. One fellow enters her shop and, we can hear his disdainful description, “a little dirty shop, with hundreds of specimens piled all around.” She writes to a friend “the world has been unkind to me” and “the world has sucked my brains from me.” Ouch! Look at …
631. Learning about Dorchester
Dorcester Thomas Hardy I know nothing about Dorchester. At first, I didn’t know which is the county and which is the city, Dorset or Dorchester. So, I’m pleasantly surprised when we spend several days in, the town. Staying here primarily as a convenient resting place to see ancestral villages, I grow to enjoy Dorchester for …
629. Kingsbury Ancestors (2)
Winterborne Whitechurch St. Mary's Parish Church There is no other good way to visit the three villages associated with William Henry Kingsbury. So, I cough up 120 pounds for three hours. Although Vince, our driver, doesn’t know much about Winterbourne Whitechurch, Milton Abbas or Morden, he is a safe and pleasant driver. I’m not entirely …
628. Kingsbury Ancestors (1)
Dorcester Alison We easily arrive in Dorchester. Only two blocks from our BnB, we walk past the Dorset History Center. “Look, here is where we meet Fran tomorrow. This will be easy. No rushing!” In a few minutes, we meet Allison, our wonderful BnB owner. At 8:30 AM, Allison brings our breakfast. I casually say, …
627. With a Little Help from Our Friends
Tavistock Ian and Anne Wood I meet Ian and Anne during breakfast the morning after walking my last section of the South West Coastal Path. After chatting on many topics, I mention that Mary will be arriving soon and that we hope to visit two villages where Mary’s ancestors lived. They get excited because the …
626. Pilgrims Remembered at Plymouth
I love history. At DePauw University from 1969-1973, I majored in history and religion. Like most programs at that time, my studies were primarily European and American. However, Harvard-trained historian Professor Clifton Phillips taught Modern China, and Professor Cooper, one of my American historians, soon published a collection of primary readings on American women’s history. …
Journeys: Explorations in Body, Mind, and Spirit 