“The Past is Prologue”

Welcome to my website! Shakespeare’s line from The Tempest (Act II, Scene 1) reminds us that context is key to understanding the world of 2022.  Studying history, of course, has its own set of challenges. I am reminded of those words from novelist L.P. Hartley, “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”  

After 41 years of teaching high school history and politics, 30 in the BRF School District, I pivoted to the world of virtual teaching starting in the fall of 2020 through UW-Green Bay’s Dual Enrollment Access Academy as a Lecturer. This is a continuation of work I have been doing since 2014 with UW-GB’s First Nations Studies Department.  I continue to be involved with the Falls History Project which I coordinated for 20 years. In addition, I remain an active contributor to Wisconsin First Nations, a web-site devoted to advancing the cause of First Nations studies in our state.

I graduated from West Fargo High School in North Dakota in 1975 and earned a B.A. in History and Coaching Minor from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1979.  I also earned a Master’s Degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1985 with an emphasis on American History.  I taught in Appleton High School in Minnesota and West Fargo High School in North Dakota prior to coming to Wisconsin in the fall of 1990.

This page reflects my areas of interest and current activities related to studying the past.  Thanks for the visit and please contact me if you have questions.

Contact Information

E-Mail:  pstrykken@gmail.com
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