Back to School

 Yes, I'm moving, I'm working, I'm trying to continue with my writing...and now I'm back in school, working toward that History degree. Unfortunately, the course options are rather threadbare for online students. In the age of COVID, there are a few more options, since the university is offering some of its in-class-only courses online this term. But still, after three terms I've gone through the courses that are actually interesting, and now I'm left with the dregs.

I find myself in a bit of a quandary, really. With so few options available, and faced with a certain number of credit requirements to get a degree, I'm stuck with some courses that really don't appeal to me. Sure, the Gilded Age history course looks like a lot of fun, especially since I wrote a book set in that time period, and the Astronomy class is moving out of the Solar System and out to the stars this term, which will be great fun. But the course on Latin American history is basically fulfilling a requirement. Yay.

But the biggest challenge is going to be the course on Gender History in North America to 1880. Yes, that is an actual thing. And because the course options are so slim, I'm forced to take this course if I want to graduate with my chosen degree. It was either that, or the History of India course. And my interest in Indian history ranks somewhere around my interest in Navel-Lint Chemical Analysis. At least the course I'm taking has the potential to provide enormous entertainment. I doubt I'll last more than two weeks, though; my opinions on the subject are likely to prove somewhat 'unenlightened.' Let's face it: I'm a white, straight, married, Catholic man who's about to turn 50. I expect that my presence in that course is going to trigger at least half of the students in the class, and all of the teaching staff. As I said, entertaining.

What frustrates me about this is that there really aren't that many courses available that cover Western civilization's history, at least not in a way that doesn't make our history look like a vast wave of oppression and evil white patriarchy. Seriously, we aren't that bad. Western civilization is awesome, and so is our history. But instead of learning about it, we get to learn about the history of pandemics (gee, nothing subtle about that one), gender history, or the history of other cultures. Why can't we learn our own? Is it because we'll find out that it isn't really as bad as we're being told?

I've studied history for over forty years; I'm just now going for an official designation on the matter. But I've read countless books on our history, and it's a fascinating subject. Even if you dig into it past the commonly-held myths and legends that comprise the majority of what we know about our history, you'll find incredible tales that really happened, and secrets that have shaped our society for centuries.

I hope that I'm wrong and that this semester will be full of learning, eager and open minds, but I'm not holding out a huge amount of hope in that regard. In the meantime, though, I'm going to keep packing, keep reading, and keep up this blog as best I can. I've already linked to a couple of my books in this post, so I'll add a third one just cause. It's my first book, Final Exam, still available on Amazon for the low introductory price of $0.99. And it's a topical book, since it takes place on a college campus. Which one? Does it really matter? Check it out, and spread the word; Indie publishing is the wave of the future.