Ep. 10 | Annette Atkins: Making Meaning Through Studying History

How do you think about the study of history? Many of us were conditioned to think of history as a set of dates and names to memorize: a static set of facts that suggest the story of the past. But according to longtime Plymouth member Annette Atkins one studies history to bring today into contact with other times and populations. In the process, new questions emerge that lead to new understandings of both the past and the present.

 

A retired professor of history at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, as well as the author of “Creating Minnesota: A History from the Inside Out,” Annette reflected with me about how she has made meaning out of the study of Minnesota’s past, as well as her search for meaning and self-identity in a post-teaching time of life.