Rediscovering the American Story

In all my years as a student, I never quite managed to grasp the purpose of history class. Try as I might, I can’t recall a single classroom experience that awoke in me a passion for learning history as story.

What I do remember of studying history is that subjects were often presented as mere facts — dates, names, places — and accompanying interpretations. Teachers presented a trove of data meant to be absorbed, regurgitated for tests and papers, and forgotten thereafter.