Thrilled to share that I have been promoted to Full Professor. I owe so much to very supportive department & college colleagues & I’m so grateful for them. Special thanks to my wife for putting up with a stressed me the past 12 months as I prepped/submitted my file & waited.

I get plenty of spam emails on the InterMtnHistories account, but this one is just plain weird.

What is going on here?

Wrong answers only.

Celebrating grades submitted and another semester in the bag by exploring some new trails. 5 minutes from my house. How have I never done these before?!

Another amazing year of supporting a bunch of VERY COOL research projects, public programming events, and other activities relevant to the Intermountain West. I wish we could give $ to everyone, but these annual awardee lists are a good start.

Inaugural hammock #MountainOffice of the season to finish off the pile of awards and funding application judging and ranking. The local avian population doesn’t seem to be thrilled about my presence though. 🤷‍♂️

Hot and dry this summer? Say it ain't so!😭😭🥵🥵😭😭

cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predi…

Petroglyphs, fossils, Alta Springs, & the behemoth north end of the Cascade Mtn massif with its warped layers and banding last night with Ben Abbott. I still regularly have to remind myself how lucky we are to have this just a few minutes from home. 😍 Thanks for the pics Ben.

Thanks to Michel Brickey for taking the time for this generous review in the Winter 2024 Western American Literature on my lasted edited volume, 'The North American West in the Twenty-First Century' (@UnivNebPress, 2022).

muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/article…

The plight of the whales of the Great Salt Lake. This is amazing in every way possible. Folklorists do such fun work. Thanks KUER's RadioWest!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rad…

Congrats to Michael Childers, Amy Lonetree, and the rest headed to the National Humanities Center Center!

nationalhumanitiescenter.org/the-national-h…

As Jeff Ostler was generous enough to call attention to my recent essay calling for an end to the term 'Indian Wars' in favor of a term like 'colonial invasions' or the 'bloody ground' here is the link: cambridge.org/core/books/cam…

I say “the kids are gonna be alright” a lot, but now I’m having doubts. My wife & the other music teacher did a March Madness bracket of songs from their 80s-90s childhoods & had the 6th graders vote. Friends, I have bad news. The kids might not be alright. So much wrong here. 😩

I'll be moderating this panel. It should be a lot of fun.

Public History friends! I'll be at #NCPHUHS2024 Friday and Saturday in SLC (teaching and meetings I can't miss Thursday). Drop me a message if you want to connect for a meal.

Tempted the Weather Gods today and they responded with howling winds, corn-snow whiteouts, and random moments of blue skies and sunshine. Shwhacked up to the rocky outcrop/subpeak/ridge above Alta Springs, where our city gets a lot of its drinking water. Great outing.

Exciting news, if you’re a nerd! 🤣

*narrator: Brenden was, in fact, excited.

No matter what alternate activities you’re choosing between, opting to spend time with Jane Hafen Dr. P. Jane Hafen is ALWAYS the correct choice. My trust in her may be 2nd only to my PhD advisor John Wunder (who, incidentally, introduced me to her).

I know I always say that my Writing Westward Podcast episodes could have gone on forever, but this one REALLY could have. There was just too much to cover that Lyndsie Bourgon and I barely scratched the surface of all the things I wanted to dig into. Enjoy!