What do you think?

Is this feminist? I can't decide. Some of my students felt very strongly that it was but I was leaning the other way- what do you think?

The South

Recently one of my friends blogged about place-ness I've had some similar moments myself- most recently yesterday afternoon as I was walking Rusty. It had just rained and it was misty out and humid of course- but not unpleasantly so. It also didn't hurt that I was walking by Bassett Hall which is where the Rockefellers stayed when they began restoring Colonial Williamsburg.





The mistiness shows up a little bit better in this picture at the golf course-



And here is the obligatory picture of Rusty- here he is trying to sneak over to greener pastures- I'm not sure what he saw over there but it must have been very intriguing.



I've been dreading summer here. I've never been a fan of summer- the weather part not the vacation from school part (at least not since I can remember) and it's been even worse since I've lived here- summers here can be quite miserable. I had hoped to spend much of this summer at home but alas- one must work- and work I will. This summer is going to be an exceptionally busy one. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough money to pay the bills let alone cover luxury items- you know, like food. So in order to avoid standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign reading- "will lecture you in history for food" I signed on to 4 different teaching gigs- assuming that one or more of them wouldn't work out. Well right now it looks like they all are going to- I'll find out tomorrow for sure. I am really excited about the opportunities but I am also a little worried about managing it all!

Sorry- I got side-tracked there. I was going to say that it was nice to have such a pleasant walk and to enjoy living in the south. I will try to remind myself of that during the miserable summer months ahead.

Commercials

I recently complained about commercials and how sexist they are-I still think they are but at least they aren't as bad as they used to be. Here is a compilation of a bunch of old Folger's commercials that I shared with my students.

Advice

I showed Pettin' in the Park to my students (even though it didn't really have much to do with what we were talking about that day- but it did tie into larger themes of the class, so that's ok, right?)

Anyway- they requested that I show these as well- and they are too funny not to share. I apologize for the commercials but at least they are quick- and the clips are worth it.

Fist City

I love Loretta Lynn.

I was looking for the sing 'The Pill' to play to my class tomorrow and found this song on youtube-

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.

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).

Day 2 with NIAHD

Yesterday we went to the Yorktown Victory Center. I have been to Yorktown but this was my first visit to the Victory Center, it's a fun site- at least the students all seemed to like it.

This picture was actually taken along the Colonial Parkway (which links the Historic Triangle; Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown)- we stopped along the way to kill some time as we were going to get there before they opened.



Here are some photos from the outside of the museum where they have recreated what part of Yorktown may have looked like around the time of the Revolution.

This is a garden- an organic garden, they try to grow things that may have been grown here in the late 1700s and using methods that would have been used then.







Here are some turkeys that were chillin' in the shade- the students weren't too fond of them, they were all talking about how stupid turkeys are (one of them said they are stupid, but delicious).



This is a kitchen.



Laundry (I really hate doing laundry- but we are really rather lucky, laundry has always been an unpleasant chore but it has gotten much easier).



This type of house would have been owned by someone rather well off (not gentry but pretty wealthy).














These are some of the toasts patriots made while celebrating the Declaration of Independence- my favorite is the last one- "Perpetual Itching without the benefit of scratching, to the enemies of America."



I like this quote almost as much- "No Man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail: for being in a ship is being in jail with the chance of being drowned... A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company." Samuel Johnson, 1759

A Sigh of Relief- I Passed!!!

Well I took my exam last Friday and haven't had time to reflect on it too much because it's been a crazy busy week.

The exam went really well. I was very nervous the morning of but once I got in the room I was fine. There were a couple questions that threw me but overall it wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought. I was worried about one of the professors because he has a bit of a reputation, several people warned me not to work with him- or to at least expect that he would grill me during the exam. I am so glad I decided to work with him anyway. His section of the exam was the most enjoyable- I really did enjoy the conversation. I was also nervous about having War and Society as one of my minor fields because I don't have a strong background in military history- but again, this ended up being the list I enjoyed the most. I've already got a stack of war memoirs I want to read this summer.

In order to celebrate and reward myself for surviving comps and finishing in one semester- I went out and bought a Nook. I haven't actually read a book on it yet since I am still recovering from the comps reading but I really wanted to play with my new toy and it has two games on it chess and sudoku- neither of which I have ever played before- so I learned how to play sudoku. I am not very good at it yet- which is why I cheat.

I am also almost done with the training so I can teach online this summer- I am looking forward to the experience. And it looks like I will be working with NIAHD as well (the National Institute for American History and Democracy) but I am not sure which session or what exactly I'll be doing.... but either way it is going to be a busy summer!

Fun new blog and random thoughts

I've been meaning to post- but have actually managed to get into the comps (comprehensive exams) groove and haven't managed to do it.

Anyway, first I wanted to recommend this new (well now newish) blog, it is written by a guy that went to school with one of my sisters- he is recording his journey through culinary school- in Paris! It's a fun blog and he post almost everyday- far more often than I do. I highly recommend reading it- especially if you like Paris- or food- or hearing about someone who is following his dreams.

And speaking about following dreams- grad school was kind of getting me down- there are so many things to worry about and feel insecure about- and frankly my money situation is really freaking me out- what with the abysmal job market and all (especially in my field- which was abysmal even before the economy tanked). Last semester was kind of rough (as I may have previously mentioned- if so- sorry to beat a dead horse) so I have been questioning my decision- many years ago- to go back to school full time and to go onto graduate school.

Basically, I was in a terrible mind-frame to start reading for comps. For those of you who I haven't described comps to here's what I am in for. I have four reading lists for my three fields and have a professor to advise me on each list- and to eventually examine me. My fields are American History (19th, 20th, and 21st centuries) this field is split in two so I have two advisers- one for each half, and then I have two minor fields- Gender and Sexuality, and War and Society. In all I have about 285 books on my lists (yes 285!). And my examination is scheduled (somewhat tentatively) for April 28th.

Anyway- I dove into reading a couple weeks ago and last week I realized, much to my surprise, that I am actually enjoying myself! I now remember why I made my crazy decision in the first place- I love history. The way I decided to approach or think about my reading is to try to figure out how I would teach a class on what I am reading and to think about whether or not I would use that particular book or article in a class- I have thought about this while I've been reading before but my first focus was always on what I needed to get out of the reading for class- so I was more focused on what my professor wanted me to get out of a book than about what I might want a student to get out of it. I know it seems like a strange distinction to make but it makes a HUGE difference. I am really thinking about future as a teacher now instead of being dwelling on my own abilities (or insecurities) as a student. It's amazing! And brings me to the other big reason why I decided to continue school- not only do I love history but i want other people to enjoy it and to be curious about it and to want to know more- and to be surprised by aspects of history often left out of textbooks and to learn about some of the amazing people who are also often left out of textbooks.

People think that historians or those of us in American Studies have something against America- that, especially since the 60s and 70s- liberals have dominated the field and want to tarnish American History because we no longer focus on the usually white, usually wealthy, usually Protestant (or at least Christian), and almost always male, leaders of our country and because we no longer focus on the seemingly heroic moments of our history and argue for American exceptionalism. As I listen to a lecture on WWII and I read about slavery and the American Civil War I start to get excited about history again and to really appreciate the sacrifices Americans have made in the past- but to also think about the self-serving decisions and the brutality that the American ideal of individualism can also lead to- and it makes me want to share with students the complexity of our collective national past- Americans haven't always been good, haven't always cared about other Americans, but Americans have also been heroes who face incredible odds and sometimes willingly gave their lives for love of country. We are fortunate to live in this amazing country and we should celebrate that fact by studying our past- the good and the bad- because after all no one is perfect- and what better way to celebrate those who have have gone before us than by remembering them.

I didn't plan on writing all that when I started this post- I simply wanted to celebrate the fact that I am enjoying the beginning of my comps experience- I realize that I may not (ok will not) feel this way throughout the entire experience- but at least now I can remind myself why I am putting myself through what one of my professors called a hazing.

Cinema Class

i miss my students. They were a lot of fun. So in honor of them here is one of my favorite scenes from a movie we watched this semester.

ending a chapter

This is my last semester of coursework.

I remember talking to my fellow TA last Fall, my first semester here at W&M, about the end of coursework. It was his last semester and he was looking forward to being done with classes. At the time I couldn't imagine life without class- I love going to class, although I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I miss lecture courses- most graduate classes (well- all that I've taken) are seminars- where the students talk as much if not more than the professor. I love leading discussion sections as a TA but there is something special about listening to a (good) professor's lecture. And now that I'm getting closer to a point in my career that I will be giving lectures- I have started appreciating the skill and preparation that goes into a lecture. I gave my first lecture the week before Thanksgiving and I spent 5 full days working on it and preparing my visuals. But back to my original point, I wouldn't have been able to last this long in school if I didn't enjoy going to class- seriously, I feel like I've been in school forever- I hardly remember what life was like before my return to college.

My feelings about school have shifted since then. Now I cannot wait for coursework to be over. I am sick to death of writing papers on things I have no real interest in- I want to be able to do the research for and to write my dissertation. I am so happy that classes are coming to an end!

I'm sure that I will be reminiscing more about this as I move on to the next chapter of graduate school- but right now I'm too busy since I still have more books to read and papers to write- and of course, preparing for my colloquium- the fist official step towards my comprehensive exams. Yikes!

Keio

About a week after the DC trip Keio started. I have already mentioned Keio and I'm not sure what else to say about it, other than it was an amazing experience. I loved my students I had a great group. My dialogue class, the Yellow Dialogue Class, was by far the best group, everyone got along and everyone participated in class. We hung out together outside of class too and had a lot of fun. The program ended in DC, here are a couple pictures from my third trip there this summer.

my students

This semester has been nice because I am less busy than last semester but it's funny how the time fills up anyway.

While it's nice to have a less stressful schedule I still miss my students. One of them is spending this semester in India- I'm so impressed with her, I thought I'd share her blog with you- if you are interested click here.