James Sawatzki

Award winning history teacher, author, and commentator providing context to current social and political issues and events.

Gov. Christine Gregoire congratulates James Sawatzki for receiving the 2005 Gilder Lehrman Washington History Teacher of the Year Award


Perspectives in the Context of History

My teaching and writing strategies stimulate naturally curious minds with provocative historical paradigms, eternal questions, theoretical models, source documents and world history, science literature and the arts. Headlines from tomorrow’s newspaper are often best understood in light of the ancient’s comments about human nature. 

  • A Bridge to the Past

Sen. Robert Dole was not wrong in emphasizing the importance of the principles and values of generations before as a guide in considering political issues of the day, in his 1996 presidential nomination acceptance speech.  He erred suggesting that the policies of the past might remain the policies of the future. He should have used the past as a call for progressive initiatives to expand social justice.

  • Paradigms Revealed

Internet technology provides  citizens access to the arcane, the wise, the idiotic and the irrelevant. People will recognize the wise, utilize the arcane and ignore the irrelevant or idiotic when well versed in the recurring themes of history, literature, science and the arts. These form cultural paradigms of personal meaning, relationship of the self to others, the community, political institutions and concepts of the Divine.

  • Question Authority

    “Question Authority” as a slogan or motto has been attributed to individuals as diverse as Socrates, Francis Bacon, Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Leary.  It is a call to self-educate, investigate, and challenge  power and practices of, institutions – especially in pursuit of social justice.

  • Empowering Citizens

    Independent research, understanding cultural context, awareness of contemporary world issues and the ability to frame, analyze, evaluate and defend an interpretation of all these considerations is every citizen’s responsibility.

  • Positive Reviews

“This collection of dissident and passionate thoughts, reflections, and calls to action from a veteran teacher, labor unionist, and political activist will inform and provoke anyone seriously engaged in the polarized politics of contemporary America.“

Peter C. Grosvenor
Associate Professor of Sociology & Global Studies
Pacific Lutheran University September 2023

“Interesting work.”

Noam Chomsky Massachusetts Institute of Technology June 2022