The Uses and Abuses of History During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Thursday, July 16, 2020 | 4 p.m. EDT

Online via Zoom

History is in the news a lot these days. News commentators and politicians tell us we are living through 1918, 1929, and 1968, all compressed into a single year. We look back to World War II, in search of a tangible precedent for overcoming adversity. And some writers claim that the calls for a truly multi-racial democracy resonate better with 1868 than 1968. So how can history help us understand our contemporary moment?

Join host Kathi Kern, Associate Provost of Teaching, Learning and Academic Innovation, and 2003 Great Teacher Award winner, for a lively discussion with the following award-winning historians and Great Teachers as they reflect on the “usable past.”

• Dr. Tracy Campbell, E. Vernon Smith and Eloise C. Smith Professor of American History (2010 Great Teacher Award winner).

• Dr. Vanessa Holden, Assistant Professor of History.

• Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of History (2016 Great Teacher Award winner).

This session is part of the “Great Teachers on Great Challenges” virtual speaker series which is co-sponsored by the UK Alumni Association and the Provost’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). The series will regularly conduct conversations with UK faculty who have won the UK Alumni Association’s Great Teacher Award, the oldest, continuously-given award for teachers at the University of Kentucky. With the goal of responding to the numerous questions pertaining to COVID-19 and its effects locally and globally, these sessions will unpack the insights and expertise of UK’s teacher-scholars for all audiences.

For more information about the “Great Teachers on Great Challenges” series and to register for upcoming sessions, click the button below.