Senator Robert Byrd

Well, this is undoubtably a new record for me (3 posts on the same day!) but this one is brief. I just want to share a link to my friend Katie's blog post on Senator Robert Byrd- she wrote a great entry on him and I think it's worth reading.

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.

Twitter

Ok, I did it- I am now tweeting. I don't know how often I'll tweet but I think I may tweet more than I post here. I often think about random things I want to blog about and then never get around to it- so this way I can tweet my random thoughts and there won't be such long gaps between updates. Be fore-warned, I doubt they will be very interesting but there it is.

over exposure

So I've been thinking about blogging, and twitter and facebook, etc a lot lately (while not posting- as you may have noticed). I've seen and heard a couple news stories about about this topic as well. Recently, every time I think about blogging- something stops me.

I don't want to post anything about people I know because I am worried I might say something that would offend them and I feel like it is not appropriate to vent or complain about people in such a public forum (not that many people actually read this), I am also somewhat paranoid about safety. For example, one of the news stories I mentioned earlier was about a man who twitters and has about 2,000 followers. He and his wife took a vacation which he twittered about the whole time he was gone- announcing to 2,000+ people that his house would be empty and basically asking someone to burglarize it while they were gone.

I also worry about being a professional. I think there are certain lines you shouldn't cross and certain things you should publicize. So I also hesitate to say much either here or on facebook. I don't want to say much about the classes I take and the ones I teach because there is a possibility that students or professors might read this (this is also partially a safety thing). A couple of my former students are friends on facebook, as are a couple of the professors I've worked with, so I want to maintain a professional appearance.

Twitter and blogs also seem somewhat self-indulgent, or maybe self-involved is a better term. This is coming from someone who has a blog mind you, but I think twitter takes this further than a blog. I guess I just don't think anyone will care what I am doing from moment to moment- heck sometimes I even bore myself- why would you want me to bore you too? This isn't to say that I don't think blogs or twitters can be interesting and relevant- I read several blogs regularly- I just think blogs like mine- those intended to let my family and friends who live on the other side of the country know what I'm up to and what I'm thinking- would get really boring rather quickly if I twittered too. in sum, I don't have enough to say in a blog- why twitter?

So, if anyone is still reading this blog please weight in on this, I'd love to hear what other people think- where should we draw the line on the amount and type of information we unleash on the internet? And for my fellow grad students, and the rest of you with an opinion on this- do you think it is appropriate to be friends (both in real life and on facebook) with your students?

Something new

I have a list of blogs I check regularly to see if there are any new posts and I keep checking mine as I go down the list and then I realized- there's only something new here if I post it- whoops.

Of course there would also be something new here if you commented (yes I'm talking to you) (wink- wink, nudge- nudge (aka hint-hint)).