The F-Word

No, not that F-word, the other one- FEMINISM. I wasn't sure how to tie all of this together- but here are some random things I have been thinking about lately, the common thread is feminism.

My nieces got a Wii for Christmas, so I've spent the last couple days playing Wii Sports (I am especially good at Wake-boarding, sadly I do not think this skill will translate to real life. On the other hand, I am a horrible Wii golfer- which would likely translate to real life). I also have been spending a lot of time reading stuff for the Women's Studies class I will be teaching next semester. So between playing the Wii and reading feminist theory I have had some odd dreams including one where the Wii games were rigged so that female characters (I believe they are called female mii's) could not preform to the same level as the male mii's. I was incredibly mad in my dream but woke up before I did anything about it- perhaps my mii character could have staged a sit-in on the virtual table tennis court.

I have been irritated with commercials for a long time over the way they portray women as the only people capable of using cleaning products. Like those horrible paper towel commercials where a man and his son debate the number of paper towels it will take to clean up a spill and a woman steps in and uses one paper towel to clean up the mess. I'd like to think this commercial would annoy me as much if I were a man (though it's doubtful) because the commercial is basically calling men stupid (seriously- who gives that much thought to the number of paper towels one might need for a given spill? Is it that hard to simply clean it up? Are men really so dense that they have to debate such a mundane issue?).

But my annoyance at the paper towel commercials are nothing compared to my annoyance over the new Swiffer commercials. I think I am going to have to stop using their products. Who thought it was a good idea to show women (itty-bitty women) lying on the floor dreaming of the day when a worthy mop will come by and pick them up? Seriously Swiffer- it was bad enough that only women clean floors or dust in your world but this is a new low. Am I the only one who finds this type of commercial offensive? Am I being overly sensitive? It may seem like a little thing but it adds to the over-whemling message our media is sending to us about how the only things women think about are finding good cleaning products (so we can all be perfect wives and mothers- the only real roles for women) and how much we hope and dream of finding the right man (again so we can become perfect wives and mothers).

While it clearly doesn't take much to get my ire up it does sometimes sadden me that I can't turn off my feminist filter. I recently saw Tangled with my sister and nieces and found it rather difficult to simply enjoy the movie (though I have to admit I did like it). I found the message the movie sent about older women to be very off-putting. It demonstrates how our popular culture is constantly trying to pit older women and younger women against each other and shows how much we value youth (especially in females) in our society. While Disney's images of women (girls really) has certainly improved over the years- they now have several movies where the mothers of our heroine live past the first 5 minutes; feature women, such as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, who are intellectual; where women can defend themselves- like Mulan, and like Rapunzel in Tangled who welds a frying pan; where female's have dreams beyond getting married- as in the Princess and the Frog, where the heroine aspires to be a restauranteur, but at the end of the day the Disney heroines are all young, are all beautiful (even Belle our 'smart' heroine has to also be the most beautiful girl in the village), are all ridiculously (impossibly) thin, and only find 'true happiness' after they meet the right man. What message does this send to girls and boys who grow up watching these movies?

So, what do you think?

Teaching online vs teaching in person

I am in the middle of teaching my second online course. I am teaching the same class again, which is nice because I can start to think about what works and what doesn't and tweak things. I am also working on some syllabi for classes I will be teaching at WIlliam & Mary. So I have been thinking a lot about teaching and the differences between online classes and the more traditional classroom setting.

I am really grateful to have the online teaching experience- for better or worse it is going to play a part in the future of teaching in universities as more and more schools offer online classes. Frankly, I have mixed feelings about this. I have very little control over the assignments and readings for the online classes I am teaching- so I feel more like a facilitator than a teacher. I've felt a little more confident the second time around, so I'm sharing more of my knowledge of history instead of just sticking to the textbook. But sometimes I still feel like a glorified grader and I don't think I can have the same kind of impact on my students. When I think about the kind of professor I'd like to become, I think about teachers and professors who've had an impact on me- and I'm really not sure an online instructor can reach students in the same way. But I'm trying to anyway.

Unlike my classes at William & Mary, the majority of my online students are older than me- many of them have children older than me. And many of them are women. I've had a couple (female) students who have told me they had doubts about their ability to succeed in college and who have been told that they would fail by family and friends. This saddens me more than I can say. And I am incredibly impressed with their determination to try even though they lack a lot of confidence and support. This also makes me want to be a better teacher- to not only facilitate but to actually have an impact on my students' lives. To not only teach them history, but also to help them become better writers and to hopefully make them feel more confident about their abilities. So, in this way I am glad that online courses are available to students who would otherwise not be able to attend college or who might be more intimidated by the typical college classroom.

At the same time I worry about the impersonality of the online classroom. I have had several students plagiarize- to varying degrees (and have taken responsibility for their actions to varying degrees). I think this has something to do with the availability of information (or a multitude of places to plagiarize from) on the internet. However, I wonder if it is easier for students to break the rules when they don't ever have to see the instructor. But maybe I am just being naive- maybe someone who intentionally and repeatedly plagiarizes would have no problem looking their instructor in the eye after being called out for it. Fortunately these students seem to be in the minority.

At the end of the day, I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to work with students- whether it be online or in person.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful that my dad was able to come to Virginia for the holiday (Rusty's pretty excited about it too).

Now I just need to convince him that he wants to go to the White House of the Confederacy while he's here-I've been meaning to go for a while and it's always more fun with someone else!

Little Red Riding Hood lives on...

I've been thinking about have a chapter in my dissertation about wolves- as you probably already figured out if you have been reading my blog and all the recent entries involving Little Red Riding Hood. But I have to admit I am surprised that there is a Red Riding Hood movie coming out- this story apparently never dies. How fascinating.



Oh- and thank you Laura, for mentioning this preview!

Vote!

And as Katie noted on her blog- "Virginians, remember that a vote for Krystal Ball is a vote against slut-shaming."

Happy Halloween!

It's probably not fair that I dress Rusty up for Halloween, especially considering that I don't dress up myself- but thems the breaks...



In case you can't tell- he is a fish, though it kind of looks like he is being eaten by a fish.



And here he is curling up for a nap on his costume- so it serves two purposes- how handy!

Grover

(BTW- I changed the design of my blog so I could widen the posts and you would be able to see entire clips instead of having the sides cut off- what do you think of the new design??)

A friend posted this on Facebook- I love it and had to share. Hopefully Robin will see this as Grover was always her favorite!



The inspiration for Sesame Street's clip...

Kill Devil Hills

My sister has been in town and I decided to drag her to North Carolina while she was here (she went willingly). I have been meaning to explore more of the East Coast since I moved here and have failed miserably- I really need to get out more. And recently a friend mentioned the Outer Banks and there was a lot of news coverage of it during Hurricane Earl- so that's where I decided to go. It wasn't really the best time to go to the beach as there was a fairly massive rainstorm yesterday and today but it was still beautiful. Here are some pictures....

Stop It!

My sister, who recently received an APC- which stands for Associate Professional Counselor, recommended this video- apparently this clip was shown in several of her classes. And, since I love Bob Newhart, I decided to share it and encourage you to take his advice.

Little Red Riding Hood

I recently posted a video of Swing Shift Cinderella here and my friend Katie asked if i had read the book Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked- I hadn't, but i recently got the book and just started reading it. Every time i see the title I get the Little Red Riding Hood song stuck in my head and, as I only know one line of it, it was getting quite annoying. So this morning I finally decided to look for the song so that at least I would know more of the lines when it got stuck in my head and I came across this amazing video on youtube of an old Betty Boop cartoon put to the song. It seemed perfect because I had recently been talking to another friend who is teaching a film class and is using Betty Boop cartoons in the class and had just sent me an article on Betty Boop. Anyway, I figured I'd share the clip here- it's amazing what they could get away with in cartoons in 1931!

Bronte Sisters!

A friend posted this on Facebook- I had to share.

Nothing exciting to report

I've been somewhat busy but also not doing anything exciting. The online class I am teaching is mostly grading (and least it feels that way). I do think it's a good teaching experience for me even though I have mixed feelings about it. I am a little grateful that the first time I have to deal with some of the unpleasant aspects of teaching have been done online instead of in person. For example, I am glad that the first time a student swore at me it wasn't face-to-face and that I had time to think about my response before I sent it. I've also been dealing with some plagiarism, which has been eye-opening. I read a recent New York Times article that referred to the students now entering college as 'generation plagiarism.' It was disheartening, apparently students don't feel like they have to cite sources that have more than one author or a anonymous author- such as articles on wikipedia. This seems ridiculous to me. The papers you write are supposed to be your work- if it isn't your words you have to cite it- why is this so hard to understand? I don't care who wrote something if it isn't you- you shouldn't put your name on it. Period.

I feel like I should print a huge disclaimer on all of my syllabi, something like- I HATE CHEATERS, IF YOU CHEAT I WILL NAIL YOU TO THE WALL. Sadly I doubt this will discourage everyone. I think students delude themselves into thinking they can get away with it.

On the bright side- Rusty is awesome and cheers me up when the cheaters in the world get me down.

Sister Suffragette!

In honor of the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment...

Pirate Golf!

It only took me two years to get there- but I finally played pirate mini-golf at Pirate's Cove. Here is another reason for you (readers who know me) to come visit Williamsburg- so I can kick your a** at Pirate Golf.

Ok, not really. I came in third (a.k.a. last) when I played my sister and cousin during their recent visit- so you can come to Williamsburg and have a boast to your self-esteem when you beat me at pirate golf.

It was fun and educational- I learned a lot about pirates while enjoying a lively game of mini-golf. I didn't have my camera with me so the pictures (taken with my phone) aren't the best quality but you get the idea-


One of the holes was in the cave- it's hard to make out- but cool anyway.








can you see the pirate in the above picture?

The Oregon Trail

Is it strange that I had never heard of this game until I moved East?

too funny (and I'm not even a Star Wars fan)

Thoughts on NIAHD (and Keio too)

I have been busily grading papers for NIAHD (I only have 2 left!!!) and setting up my online class (only NINE weeks to go!!!) so I haven't posted anything here in a few days. Trust me, I'd rather be sharing pictures with you than grading papers.

Keio starts next week and I am a little sad I won't be working for them again. I am not sad that i will have some free time and will be able to visit with some family and friends who are coming to Virginia and to possibly work on my dissertation- oh and to teach the online class of course- but I am sad I won't get to hang out with some awesome students (because if this year's Keio students and even half as great as last year's it is going to be a good time).

NIAHD was a great experience. It was very different from Keio- for me the best part of Keio were my amazing students but I didn't really get to know the students with NIAHD because I was kind of like a substitute teacher- but I still had fun and I got to see a lot more of Virginia. Virginia is an amazing place to study history- the 'field trips' were totally worth suffering through the incredible heat and humidity well, mostly worth it (seriously it is disgusting here this summer- we have yet another heat advisory today- my family and friends who are coming to see me don't know what they are getting into to- no one is going to want to leave my air-conditioned apartment- I certainly don't want to. Ever. So gross). I also got to work with some amazing people. I love american studies but it was nice to get back to my history roots. And the one useful thing about the disgusting weather is that I think it really helped the students realize how difficult life was for a lot of our ancestors- especially the millions of Africans who were brought here as slaves.

All that said, it is really nice to be able to sit on my couch, with my faithful dog snuggled next to a me, and to waste some time on the internet. (Inside. Where its air-conditioned).

Last NIAHD Field Trip

Our last trip was to Yorktown- the 19th century class started out there and the Colonial class ended there- so I got to go there twice. And I have been there before. So it was less than exciting.

I do have some pictures to share but not much to say. Sorry, I have kind of fizzled out here at the end.

The first two pictures are of the battlefield.







And this is the monument celebrating the victory at Yorktown.



We also stopped by the Yorktown Victory Center- I posted about it already (from the 19th century class' visit) but last time I didn't make it back to the encampment.

Mount Vernon

The last couple days have been crazy busy. One of the instructors had to leave unexpectedly so I had to take over his course- which, is why I have been busy.

I hadn't planned to go on the Mount Vernon trip, I have been there before and wanted to go someplace new- but I am so glad I went- it was a really fun trip. Plus, the last time I went we didn't get to go on the house tour because the line was too long and my friends had to get to the airport- so it was nice to see the inside of the house. Unfortunately, I can't show you any pictures of the inside of the house because they didn't allow us to take pictures inside.

The house tour was kind of bizarre- we all filed through in a very long line, staying between the ropes, and the tour guides kind of shouted tidbits of information at us from the middle of the rooms- all they needed was a conveyor belt to keep it all moving more smoothly. It was the Disneyland of presidential homes. Very strange. The goal was clearly to get as many people through as quickly as possible. I think the tours are very different during less busy times of the year- I'll have to go back during the winter.

The assembly-line fashioned tour aside, it is now my favorite presidential home. I have only been to three but Mount Vernon is my favorite so far. It's beautiful. If you get the chance- go see it.



Here are a couple pictures of the garden...















and of the Potomac.

Colonial Williamsburg- again

I spent the day in CW, again. It wasn't too bad though since we went to two places I hadn't been before- the Peyton Randolph house and the Great Hopes Plantation.

Peyton Randolph was a wealthy and important man- he was attorney general of Virginia and was the president of the Continental Congress but he died before they declared independence- they told us more about it him but my brain was fried by the heat (the humidity was brutal today) and I just don't care right now. :) But I'll share pictures. Oh, I should mention that much of the focus at this house is on the slaves, so we heard a little about Peyton Randolph but the interpreter focused on the slave experience and how they would have felt listening in on the conversations of men like Randolph and Thomas Jefferson when they talked about how the King was a tyrant who treated them like slaves and how men should be free....

This is Randolph's office.



Here are a couple guest rooms.





The family room...



The staircase....



The master bedroom....







The parlor...



And dining room....



The back of the house and the outbuildings...





(this building housed the kitchen and the slave quarters)





And here are pictures from around the plantation- which is near the visitors center- but a ways away from the rest of CW.















these guys are working on fixing the windmill- which has been without it's sails for a while- it could be another year before it's back together again.



The slave quarters



Pigs



Chickens