Living the Questions with Stephen Sloan

Today, our guest is Dr. Stephen Sloan. Dr. Sloan completed his PhD at Arizona State University, specializing in Post-1945, Public History, and the American West. He began his academic career as the co-director of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2007, he joined Baylor University as a professor in the Department of History and the Director of the Institute for Oral History. Dr. Sloan is a prominent figure in local history organizations, having served as the president of both the Historic Waco Foundation and the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair. He is the visionary behind Waco History, a website and free mobile app dedicated to local history, and the host of the Waco History Podcast. In the broader community of oral historians, Dr. Sloan serves as the Executive Director of the national Oral History Association and publishes research and guides for oral history. With his Baylor colleague Julie deGraffenried, Stephen edited the monumental primary source reader, The United States in Global Perspective.

In 2022, Stephen was an active learning lab fellow. And this year, Stephen was selected as the Cornelia Marshall Smith professor of the year, which is awarded to a faculty member who makes a superlative contribution to the learning environment at Baylor, including teaching that is judged to be of the highest order of intellectual acumen, and pedagogical effectiveness. We are delighted to have Dr. Sloan on the show to discuss role play and simulations in teaching, incorporating oral history into teaching, and what it means to instill in students the habit of “living the questions.”

Resources:

Baylor Institute for Oral History

The United States in Global Perspective: A Primary Source Reader

Stephen’s Cornelia Marshall Smith Lecture