For the past five years, I’ve began the US History course with a challenge: can you tell the history of the US in sixty seconds? What do you need to say? What do you want to say? What themes are ideas must be part of your explanation?

It’s gone fairly well. It allows me to see what sorts of things remain from past history classes. It provides a window into the kinds of questions the students have about the past. It shows me their understanding of what it means to “do” history as well.

I don’t know, though. This segment from the New York Times — America is — could offer a replacement. The students would love digging through bits of pop culture to find their idea explanation. The series itself offers a kind of template. We could use the pieces as the readings for the first three weeks; it would help them understand the notion of how where you stand, in 2023, shapes how you view the past.