Teaching
Group of men and women at evening class conducted by Miss Velma Patterson, vocational home economic worker from Elba, and by other vocational agricultural teachers, at Mount Zion school. Coffee County, Alabama. Marion Post Wolcott, April 1939. Courtesy: Photogrammar Project
I teach at the University of New Hampshire, in the Economics Department of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. As I often teach students whose majors are outside history or even outside the humanities, I relish the opportunity to change many minds about the value and attraction of historical thinking–one of the most common comments I receive in evaluations is that a student found my course unexpectedly engaging!
I have previously taught at Yale University, Lesley University (MA), and Weber State University (UT) in both History and American Studies departments. In all my courses, my first priority is modeling rigorous, open-minded inquiry, dedication to the hard work of factual precision, and compassionate awareness of the ordinary lives that are at the bottom of all histories.
I have nothing but kind words for Professor Seal. His enthusiasm and effort for the lectures and class was unrivaled. The way he presented his materials was interesting and was told in a story like fashion. His lectures built upon one another in a way that requires full attention from start to finish. The 50 minutes went by too quickly and for the first time I genuinely had a passion and enjoyed a history class. I would highly recommend this professor to anyone who hasn't had a history class since high school. His class will bring history back to life.
– Student Evaluation comment, Fall 2019