Haind-sait (noun) - the ability to understand, after something has happened, why or how it was done and how it might have been done better

The Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest is proud to introduce a new blog that examines contemporary events through a historical lens: HINDSIGHTS .

Amid passionate debates about societal issues, there are often aspects we cannot see clearly or understand fully without some distance. Historical knowledge and historical perspective can help illuminate, educate, and offer new ways to think about our world in hopes we may make it better.

In this spirit, the Lepage Center launches its new online publication: Hindsights . The blog will feature fresh writing from Villanova historians and others that bring history to bear on contemporary affairs. Our vision is to publish a new post every Friday. Follow us on Medium, and plan to make us part of your Friday reading schedule.

Click the icon to see our new blog

Featured writers:

Paul C. Rosier and Whitney Martinko

Our featured writers for the fall will be Villanova historians Paul C. Rosier and Whitney Martinko.

Paul C. Rosier is the first holder of the Mary M. Birle Chair in American History at Villanova University. He is the author of three books, and his award-winning research focuses on integrating American Indian history into the broader narratives of American history. His column will focus on environmental history.

Whitney Martinko is assistant professor of history at Villanova whose research examines preservation in early America. Her book, The Permanence of the Past: Preservation and Property in the Early United States , is under contract with the University of Pennsylvania Press. Her column will examine how early histories of historic preservation in the U.S. can inform debates over historic monuments today.

Paul's first post on the Dakota Access Pipeline and the American Indian is now live. The piece examines how recent debates over the pipeline cast Native Americans as opposed to progress -- but, in fact, a history of Native environmentalism reveals a different picture. Read the post >>

Stay tuned for Whitney's first post next week, on memorial sites and public spaces.

Lepage Center directors Jason Steinhauer and Paul Steege will also contribute to the blog, as will...

...Our new fellows!

The Lepage Center is ecstatic to welcome two new student fellows into the fold, the first-ever History Communication Fellows at the Lepage Center.

One graduate student and one undergraduate student will assist the Lepage Center in communicating historical scholarship to multiple audiences, in addition to honing their history communication skills. The Fellows are Margaret Strolle and Claire Hoffman , and they are jumping right into their work in addition to jumping into the start of the semester.

More details on our History Communication Fellows will be in next month's newsletter !

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