Prairie State College Social Sciences Department

08/28/2026

This week in Political Science…

Is messing with the lyrics of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” the third rail of Midwestern politics? 🤔

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered 💨

You're listening to the official audio for Gordon Lightfoot - "Wrec...

08/27/2026

In case you were wondering...

The name “Ontario” is derived from the Huron-Wendat (Wyandot) word “Ontarí’io,” which means “great lake” or “beautiful water.”

By the 1650s (so the mid-seventeenth century), the French were regularly labeling the lake as "Lacus Ontarius" on their maps - a latinized form of Lake Ontario. They understood that the lake was the gateway to the homelands of the Onondaga, Oneida, and Cayuga peoples.

Fun fact... Amerigo Vespucci never set foot in North America.

Visit Native Land Digital for an overview of the tribes that have held stewardship over the land and waters of North America since time immemorial:

Native Land is a resource to learn more about Indigenous territories, languages, lands, and ways of life. We welcome you to our site.

08/27/2026

Historians: History doesn’t repeat itself.

Economists: 🧻

08/20/2026

The redesign - and possible renaming - of the soon to be laid down Ford class aircraft carrier USS Doris “Dorie“ Miller is in the news.

But who was Dorie Miller? There’s more to his story than the character you may have seen portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the highly fictionalized movie Pearl Harbor…

“On Sunday 7 December 1941, Mess Attendant Third Class Doris Miller was retrieving laundry [aboard USS West Virginia] when the Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. He arrived on deck, where he encountered his mortally wounded commanding officer and carried him to safety. He proceeded to one of the machine guns and although black sailors never received training on the anti-aircraft guns, he opened fire on the Japanese planes overhead. After the gun ran out of ammunition, Miller assisted in evacuating sailors after the order to abandon ship and was one of the last three men to leave the vessel as it sank. Even after leaving the ship, he helped numerous sailors to safety.”

Source:

He became a hero at Pearl Harbor and paved the way for generations of change in the United States Navy.

08/20/2026

Don’t miss this Constitution Day program on September 15! 📜 🇺🇸 👑 All are welcome!

Join us in the library classroom on Tuesday, September 15th from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM for a Constitution Day lecture. Dr. Justin Pariseau (History) will talk about Revolutionary ideology and the Founders' opposition to monarchy as a form of government, fears that the Constitution could betray the principles of the Revolution, and recent No Kings protests that have happened across the country and in our community.

08/19/2026

Bookstore Extended Hours!!! 📚📚📚

August 19 and 20
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The bookstore website is updated, and you can find all frequently asked questions as well as upcoming opt-out dates for the Pioneer Book Bundle Program at
https://prairiestate.edu/student-resources/college-bookstore.aspx

If you have any Social Sciences textbook questions, don't hesitate to reach out to your teacher!

Get access to your required course materials in a convenient package before the first day of classes.

08/19/2026

Student Resource Fair TODAY (8/19) 11-2! You don't have to navigate challenging times alone!

08/18/2026

🌍 How did human cultures shape our world - and each other?

Join Professor De La Fuente's upcoming 14-week Cultural Geography course (GEOG 101-FX) and discover how different societies developed across the globe, how they shared ideas, and how people learned to view their environments through time.

Whether you love anthropology, sociology, history, human behavior, or global cultures, this class will change how you see the world around you.

Class starts Tuesday September 1. Enroll today!

Please contact Professor Lalinda De La Fuente ([email protected]) or your advisor for more information.

08/18/2026

Evidence is mounting that AI companies are buying and using old books to train large language models before they shred the books… AND that they don’t want you to know 📚

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/ai-companies-are-buying-and-destroying-antique-books-heres-why/?utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ForbesMainFB&fbclid=IwdGRleATxWDhwZG9mBWZkaWQWUMtThUfUxo19vP4z7sB9gneg_y5tQWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7LUhP2htUWjf03CYfZpXO_vQWQTqbAVaAhESiWyOYzTK9Ojbti7dL_z9uPdQ_aem_Dd3Ldz1r2w81RA9z7kYIQA

Millions of physical books are being scanned to train AI models. They’re then dumped in the trash.

08/17/2026

We are greatly saddened to share that our dear colleague, Prof. Steve Tallackson, passed away on August 13. Prof. Tallackson worked at PSC for many years as an Adjunct Professor of History, teaching among other courses our department's African Civilizations sequence.

In addition to his career as an educator, Prof. Tallackson was a social justice advocate who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago in the 1960s. Memorial visitation and services will take place on August 28.

We will miss our wonderful conversations with him, and seeing Prof. Tallackson on his way to class with his personal collection of maps. May his memory be a blessing.

Share Memories and Support the Family.