Istanbul is AMAZING

My lack of posts indicates that Istanbul has kept me very busy! My favorite things so far have been Hagia Sophia, the Grand and Spice Bazaars, and Chora Church.  I got to meet up with old friends and even meet some new ones...and of course the World Cup has loomed large over it all (our boys are quite obsessed with that)...but today I had the most intense Turkish experience of all I would say--I went to a Turkish bath! I won't share the dirty (or clean?) details here, but I'll tell anyone who wants to hear about it when I return!  Tonight is our last supper so to speak and I'm having a hard time deciding if I want kofte, kuzu, or tavuk sis...choices choices! Especially because Turkish cuisine is so good! But one thing is for sure, I know we'll be having Baklava! (I'll leave the Turkish delight tho...yuck!)  I can't believe it is almost time to go home...but all good things must come to an end...and I'm excited to tell everyone about my adventures!

See some photos of me in Istanbul below:

The first is of me in Hagia Sophia...the second is of me and Andrew Jelinek in front of the Blue Mosque!

Istanbul!

I have now arrived in Istanbul which means that my trip is more than half over :(  I am truly enjoying myself and don't want to leave, but I did get a little sentimental about home because of my birthday yesterday--thanks everyone for the wishes!!

I spend the last weekend traveling ALL OVER Turkey.  I was on buses for a total of 15 hours, a train for 13 hours, and several hours on minibuses (or dolmushes as they call them in Turkey)...But it was totally worth it!

Before we left Ankara, our last fieldtrip was to Ataturk's museum as I related...see me and Folke (our professor) in front of it below

I also had cocarech with the Kora girls for lunch on my last day--lamb intestines! It was in a sandwich, and kind of greasy, but not all that bad.  I ordered kofte as well though, just to be safe...

Okay so to my crazy weekend! We took an overnight train from Ankara to Izmir on Thursday night...we all had sleeper cars which was awesome! It was like having a hotel room on wheels...

When we arrived in Izmir the next morning, we took a mini bus to Selchuck to stay at the Hotel Nazar.  They drove us from there to Ephesus...a town that is just Roman ruins and nothing else.  Now I have seen Roman ruins in Italy, but Ephesus was completely different because there is literally nothing else in sight...makes you feel like you have actually stepped back into the 1st century...Below is me in front of the library, it was my favorite part of the city and the best preserved:

We also visited the last known house of the Virgin Mary--Marylemana as they say in Turkey.  It was truly awe inspiring to pray where she once resided:

Saturday morning we got up early and caught a mini bus back to Izmir, took a bus from Izmir to Ezine, took a mini bus from Ezine to the harbor, caught a ferry to the island of Bozcaada in the Aegean, and rode with someone in a truck to our BEAUTIFUL pension.  This place was truly idyllic...a 100+ year old farmhouse complete with vineyards, cherry trees, plum trees, and a quaint tree lined stone path to a private beach with a stone dock.  We spend 2 days/nights on the island, and I can't even begin to describe the amount of peace I felt.  It reminded me of Mackinac Island, but way better...hopefully the pictures help you to imagine.

After all of that ridiculous traveling, it was completely worth it.  On that score, I have learned about traveling in Turkey that things always appear when you need them to :)

We met a cool couple from Australia, the girl was 25, had quit her job and was just traveling for 5 months in Europe, Turkey, and Africa thinking about her life and having fun...it has been amazing to meet people as we travel...

The only bad thing about the weekend was that we made Folke seriously panic because it took us so long to arrive in Istanbul.  We stayed on the island enjoying the sun for a little bit too long...OOOPS hehe...we didn't arrive in Istanbul until 11pm, and we had class at 9am today. YIKES...

On that note, I am exhausted and am going to take a nap, but I wanted to catch everyone up on my amazing weekend!

Busy Days

Wednesday, June 2

Sorry for the long absence everyone! I have had a busy few days across the pond here! On Wednesday, our class took a field trip to Ankara Castle and to the Ancient Civilizations Museum.  Ankara Castle had an even better view of the city than Aysel Sabuncu but I was a little uncomfortable being up that high without any kind of walls! 

with the girls from Kora at Ankara Kalesi

The Ancient Civilizations Museum was really well put together and that day we had a lecture on the same subject which really helped me to tune into the importance of what I was seeing.  The most interesting things I learned were about letters that these peoples used to write to one another on tablets (I bought a replica).  The Professor who lectured to us was telling about how she had her final exam in this ancient language right before she got married, and the tablet she had to read was about a wedding!   We also learned about the sundisk and how this was an important symbol for the ancient peoples.  Ankara used to use this image as its municipal symbol, but the new AKP government in Ankara changed the symbol to a mosque.  People around METU don’t like that because it 1) isn’t secular and 2) is not unique to Ankara.  I also bought a replica of this because of its significance regarding the current political situation.

Wednesday night I went out with the graduate students at Kora who are our assistants and really enjoyed my time with them.  It’s really nice to spend time with professional women who are working towards a similar life to what I want to have.  Besides the four of them, Gokten, Lelya, Birce, and Duygu being AMAZING people and women, hanging out with them really gives me a sense of what it is like to be a Turk.  I’m really going to miss them when I have to leave to go to Istanbul...

Thursday, June 3                                                                                       eating carrot ice cream in Beypazari with Kora staff

The class went on another field trip on Thursday to Beypazari...a really touristy town that is quite quaint because of the houses built into the hills.  They are famous for their mineral water (which, I might add, is really good!).  We had a really traditional Ottoman lunch, complete with frothy yogurt to drink (which was really sour and gross) and dalmas and kofte and baklava for dessert! YUM! Best kofte (meatballs essentially) that I have had in Turkey.  Then, our really nerdy, but also hilarious, tour guide took us to a pasha’s house and to a silver shop which was nice.  Then we had the rest of the afternoon to explore.  All and all it was a really great day.

Friday, June 4                                          

On Friday, I left on a bus to Cappadocia for a weekend excursion with six others from my group.  I can’t even describe how beautiful and peaceful it was there...

We stayed at a sort of Mom and Pop’s/bed and breakfast place run by this really nice family.  I never cease to be amazed by Turkish hospitality. Everyone in town was so concerned about helping us out, it was great!

We went hiking on the first day, which was really scary for me, but I did my best! I even went all the way through a rock! And at one point I couldn’t see anything at all--it was really scary!! 

We saw a whirling dervish show which was kind of like a medieval times, dinner and entertainment thing.  I really want to learn more about that tradition and Sufism which goes along with it.

On Saturday, we toured the Goreme Open Air Museum which is a series of Christian Churches carved into the rock from the 11th century...the paintings on the insides were beautiful as well as the architecture. I was amazed at how similar the churches were to the ones I attend today...and what faith those   Christians must have had!  They built the churches in their flight from the Roman soldiers.  And the amount of detail they put into making their worship space worthy of their God, even in their situation is inspiring...

In the evening, Sarah, Noah, and I went for a horseback ride up one of the mountains.  The view was to die for...no photos though! I was afraid of falling off of Pearl.

Today--

I am sad that my time at METU is coming to a close.  Last night, Folke and I went to dinner with the graduate assistants here at Kora and we had just an amazing time.  Those girls are so inspirational to me.  They are so much more down to earth than graduate students in the states it seems.  We had great political discussions over a dinner at a fancy restaurant called Tike which means little pieces of meat.  The food was spicy, but I ate all of it and it was SOO GOOD! Right and Left here politically is really different here and the girls were helpful explaining that.  We argued a bit, but I definitely held my own!

Today, our class toured Ataturk’s Masoleum.  It looked a lot like the Lincoln Memorial.  Ataturk is Turkey’s Washington.  His vision for Turkey was just amazing.  I really admire the man and reading his biography is now definitely on my to-do list.  I wish I could explain better, but there is just an aura about Ataturk...

S’all for now.  Hopefully blogger will start working better.  I have been struggling to get on!

Turkey in the News Today

The news around here is all about the conflict between Israel and Turkey!  I find it fascinating to listen to university students and faculty here at METU discuss the incident.  Being on the ground actually living in the country you are studying makes it that much more intriguing...I am definitely liking the class part as well as the tourism portion of this trip thus far!

Classes started yesterday and we have had two excellent lectures.  I usually hang out with the female graduate students at METU who are coordinating our stay after classes.  Tomorrow we are having a girls' night out and going downtown--I'm really excited.  As a class, during the day tomorrow we are touring a castle and seeing the ancient civilizations museum.  This weekend, half the group is going to Antalya to log some beach time while the rest of us are touring ancient ruins in Cappadocia.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day! We didn't celebrate in Turkey...

First Weekend

I have just finished a great first weekend in Ankara, Turkiye! We explored campus, tried some local cuisine, went out in some local establishments, made it downtown, and I even shopped in a Turkish mall!  I even found time to do my reading :)  I would say my favorite experience of the weekend was mingling with the locals.  First, our waiters at Drunk (literally the bar is called this) loved us...and when we returned for night number two, they remembered both myself and another guy on our trip, Sean and asked for us by name as we arrived later than the others...there is a picture of Sean and me with our waitstaff below:

Last night, at a downtown cafe we danced with some Turkish girls who were celebrating a birthday! They even taught us a dance...check out the video below:




We were jamming to this guy...I thought he was really talented!


We also heard some great music at another downtown cafe, but they covered American music, including Elvis Presley...check out the video!




Well I probably should go to bed soon. It's almost midnight here and I have my first class in the morning at 10am, but have to leave the guest house around 9:20 because the walk is so long...believe it or not, this campus is bigger and more spread out than MSU! :)

First Days

The first full day here has been really great! But we are all very tired! After 19 hours total transit time, we arrived at the Ansyel Sabuncu (Guest House) at METU (Middle Eastern Technical University).

It is so nice here! Looks like a fancy hotel! We have 2 to a "room" which is really like a mini apartment with a kitchenette, living space, bathroom, and separate bedroom!

Each day there is complimentary breakfast which consists of hard boiled eggs, cheeses, meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, and jam.  Along with cay (tea) or coffee. At 10am today we made our way 30 minutes down the huge hill our Guest House is on to main campus to see our classroom. We also had a campus tour.  This campus is very spread out and MUCH bigger than MSU.

After our tour, Folke and Birce (one of the women graduate students coordinating our time in Ankara) set us loose! We ate at Pasa Kebap and I had a Kuzu Sis, which was basically a lamb, lettuce, and pita sandwich with rice that was equivalent to Mexican rice.  Others had Tavuk Kebap which was a chicken dish that looked and kind of tasted like an enchilada.  All of it was really great! and even though our waiter didn't speak any English, we understood each other and he was very patient with us which was good. We then went grocery shopping and caught a cab back to our place for only 3 TL which is $2 USD (1 dollar equals 1.5 TL or .67 USD=1 turkish lira).

Now we're all updating friends and family before grabbing a nap to cure our jetlag! Tonight we're going down to the Drunk cafe--the closest bar!

I'm going to try to keep everyone updated as much as possible but I just figured out that my camera card doesn't fit in my new Mac :( I have an XD card and the mac only takes SD cards...my new bff Sarah is going to upload my pics on her computer however and let me borrow hers from time to time.  Her computer won't connect to the internet so she connects through mine and an ethernet cord and so we have a good symbiotic relationship going :)

Keep reading and I'll keep posting! Miss you all already!

Leaving in 2 days!

I will be leaving on my first study abroad experience (though not my first time abroad!) on Wednesday! After a 9 hour flight to Frankfurt, a 5 hour layover, and a 3 hour flight, I will find myself in Ankara, Turkey! I have been reading up on my destination, but I still have no idea what to expect...I'm planning to spend my life savings on bottled water as you can't drink theirs and I will save critical comments about Turkey or its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk for my personal journaling as it is illegal to criticize the government in Turkey.  For now, I think I will focus my study of Turkey on two ideas--Turkey's efforts to officially join the Western ranks through the European Union and the barriers to the admission and the role of secularism as Turkey democratizes. Stay tuned for details of my experience!

Final Thoughts about History 480: A Senior Seminar in Public History

Our assignment for the end of this course is to blog about our experience in public history this semester and what it has taught us about history more generally. I must start by saying that this course was nothing at all like I imagined it to be. When I signed up, I thought we were going to spend the semester talking about monuments and that the final project, though it was described as anything but a research paper, would end up being one anyway—I mean what humanities class doesn’t end with a paper or an essay exam—come on! Now as I think back through the fifteen weeks, complete with frustrations, surprises, and light-bulb moments (as I call them,) I sit here with a completely transformed understanding of history. This transition I have made is not the typical one from an understanding of history as facts and dates to one of analysis. (luckily, I made that one during my first history class at MSU). Instead, it is, at base, the ability to think back to Maria Leiby’s warning that “history is messy” and nod. This realization came about primarily from our class project. When Maria first warned our class that doing public history, which I have come to realize characterizes all of history, is messy, I thought, well how can history be messy? Everyone is dead. You just piece together various parts of the puzzle and you find answers to your questions. What I didn’t realize is how hard the pieces would be to track down, or how many interpretations and opinions these difference pieces would generate amongst those searching them out. Indeed, history is messy on two fronts: finding the information you think/know exists, and interpreting it amongst your peer group.

Thus, another lesson I have learned is that history is about people. In our class, we learned that history is about working with the people who have the information you need, no matter how inconvenient their schedules. It is also about working with one another to communication information found and agree on a common narrative. Even in my individual project, I am learning that sharing history with others is only possible if the historian is still alive to share what he/she has written! Which brings up another point, history is also about the people you share it with—audience. Audience is especially important in public history (which if you recall I said is all history) because its purpose is to share history with the public. Institutions and organizations that support history through public programs care more about how you as the historian plan to convey history to your audience, than how many facts, figures, and dates you know. I am learning this idea in writing my grant proposal. I am actually having to justify why the history I am studying matters and is useful. This is another lesson I have learned this semester, but really have always known—history is useful!! I try to have this argument with doubters and skeptics every now and again, and my fall back has always been that we can learn from the past to avoid future mistakes, but I would say that there is so much more to the story after this semester’s experience…

Now throughout the piece I have said that public history really is all history—and here is why I think so. What I learned through the I-496 project is how the small city of Lansing, MI was representative of larger themes in US history. However, these large themes don’t get to be themes without the same thing happening in several places. Figuring out the situation of the construction of a highway for Lansing, MI really has relevance for anyone interested in those general themes. Big ideas in history don’t get to be big without the small ideas which compose them. I guess I learned to think about history in this different way this semester—through the small ideas. Not just through macro themes, but in the everyday workings of human life and the passions and motivations that drive that life.

That being said, the overarching ideas make the small ideas count. I am thinking about history versus heritage here. Not only do we need to look for the small pieces to the history puzzle, but we also have to consider how they fit in with the narratives society is used to. And sometimes, the best way to convey history to an audience is to rely on those narratives, especially when you can’t find the small details to support what you are saying. History is never completely separable from heritage.

Ultimately I leave this semester with a little more preparation for the real world. And more of an understanding why all of these ideas I have spent four years learning and debating really matter to everyone outside of the ideal world that is Academia. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still am planning to be an academic, but now I feel I can take on that life mission with a different perspective. I feel I can actually engage my audience with ideas about history because I have a better understanding of their impact in reality.

Working on the Final Project

For the amusement of anyone still reading these, I wanted to say that I am excited to be working on this final project. I will say more about this in my official concluding post for the class, but I think my excitement speaks to the importance of public history.  I love history, but my history classes at times make me want to hate it.  Working on ordinary, run-of-the-mill research papers during Finals Week when you have a million things to do and just want to scream at midnight,

does not encourage love of history through such a project.  However, this refreshing new assignment has me not dreading my library cubicle, because I see how it can bring something I love to my real life--even my professional adulthood life--GO FIGURE!

I hope this post (if any of my classmates are reading) encourages you onward as we try to finish up and reminds you that you love history and this project is a way you could make it come alive for someone else.  It is a project that actually matters in the world of alive-walking-around people instead of the world of old-dead-white-guys.

Exciting Day!

I was going to post earlier after our 8:30 HST 480 seminar this morning, but got caught up in the events of the day, but now that exciting thing number two has happened regarding this class, I cannot help but pull myself away from my thesis on the thought of Pierre Manent to post.

First things first, this morning in class, my fellow public historians in training, Ed and Kelly produced what has seemed like the hardest things to find, yet, in my mind at least, one of the central parts of our research project--AN ALTERNATIVE to the I-496 interstate!  While it is not the exact portion of the expressway we have been working with, the fact that an alternative indeed exists means that MDOT did at least consider alternatives to the route. Also this alternative is labeled as "2" which means there has to be a first somewhere, even if we can't find it.

Along these same lines, I discovered amidst the files my father has been sending me, construction/acquisition files from 1966 when the portion we are concerned with (33047 is the official code number I believe) was built! One of the files is labeled "removal items" and details what must be removed from the houses in question...I would like to post the picture here but can't seem to figure out how to download the tiff file at the moment, but still... AWESOME RIGHT?

BUT THEN...my day got even better as far as this class goes. On the way out of class, Dr. K was asking me how my individual project on the grant proposal was going...I explained how thrilled I was to have had RB Bernstein comment on my post and offer his help, but that I was still waiting on the LeFrak forum for the grant proposal they had sent to NEH as an example (as the forum was where my idea came from) and lo and behold, Professor Melzer came through tonight and the document he sent IS PERFECT. It doesn't really include budgetary things as far as I could tell from my quick skim of it, but as the important part of this project is the history anyway, I think I'll stick mostly to the narrative portion myself.

All in all, public history can be a great struggle, but the small successes become awesome victories :)

Two Projects--Three Weeks--Time to Panic?

I write you all from one of those lonely library cubicles that I hate because they inevitably produce LOTS of productivity because there is little else to focus on but the work in front of you...

I was very productive tonight on my individual project. I think I want the focus of the lectures to be one of the issues brought up by R. B. Bernstein's The Founding Fathers Reconsidered.  He has a chapter entitled "Achievements and Challenges" and one of them is "The Constitution as Exploding Cigar."  The central idea in this chapter is as follows:



“As Jefferson complained in 1816, later generations have ascribed to the founding fathers ‘a wisdom more than human and have treated their handiwork with ‘sanctimonious reverence.’ This attitude disregards one central fact that Jefferson recognized and stressed—that the Constitution was and remains a human artifact that human beings made and that human beings must make work, and one consequence of its being a human artifact is that it includes imperfections. Some of these imperfections were deliberate compromises…Other imperfections were the product of fear…Still others were the result of the founding fathers being subject to the same human frailties that bedevil all human beings in all societies—lapses of creativity or imagination and failures of care or foresight…” (108)

Basically the idea is that the founders were human so the Constitution is filled with their mistakes or errors. I think an interesting discussion forum would be the errors of the founders...something similar to this conception is another idea voiced in Bernstein's conclusion:

“America’s contentious relationship with the founding fathers has unfolded within and been shaped by a pair of linked questions. How much do the founding fathers resemble us and how much do they differ from us? To what extend are we obliged to keep faith with them or set them aside in the face of changing conditions and problems? That the American people still govern themselves under a written constitution framed by the founding fathers, albeit with a series of amendments adopted between the early 1790s and the early 1990s, gives these questions urgency and bite” (168).

I mean isn't this the reason we study these old dead white guys anyway? To understand how to apply their thoughts to ours today and to the current and future products of modern politics?

Safe to say, I had much better luck today in the library thanks to Dr. K's helpful advice. I now have an extremely heavy bookbag and lots of reading to do, but feel a bit better about the direction of the project.

As for our class project. I (and perhaps foolishly) agreed to be the overall editor/reviser of our I-496 museum exhibit proposal. I generally enjoy this kind of work and hope I will find this endeavor just as enjoyable.

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed (total understatement) with the idea that there is so little time left and I have so much to do in this class. I'm hoping as I keep working that things will fall into place like they always magically seem to do...

Class Project Thoughts

I think the project is going well and as Dr. K put it this morning we have "found our working groove" as a class (or something to that effect).  However, I am a bit frustrated.  I feel like the two teams are trying to communicate with one another, but I feel like only one of the teams is listening and responding--namely the Research Team. This may sound surprising as I am a member of the Writing and Design Team, but I feel we are not doing our part to respond to the hard work of the Researchers.  How many of you have read the documents that they keep posting? I read the summary document from the trip to the library this last Friday and it was FASCINATING. Much of the things we have just been assuming as Designers are proven in that document. I know I am guilty of this too(I certainly have NOT read everything they post), but I think we as a team are too stuck in our ideas and our creative side, and I am worried that we're not using the valuable research they are producing. 

Now maybe I am still too stuck in the academic side of things and the normal way I write research papers. I feel like we should be trying to incorporate all of their research into arguments and support for arguments in our proposal. Maybe I am missing the point a bit though. I know our exhibit is trying to leave things open-minded for our visitors, but I feel we should present a good persuasive presentation for both sides: that the highway destroyed a neighborhood and that there was a need for the interstate.  Yes we need to be concerned about the design of our exhibit and what items are going in it, but I feel we also should be concerned with the overarching story.

If I were a researcher, I think I would feel a little neglected.  They were all so so so excited about the work they accomplished this weekend (and rightfully so I would say!) as evidenced in their blogs, but I felt the reception we gave that excitement was subpar.

Moving forward, I think the designers need to be better about absorbing the information the researchers find instead of worrying about only the vision we have for the project.

More on the Pesky Final Project

I've forgotten how truly productive/refreshing a day at the library can be. I typically avoid this place like the plague, but whenever I do decide to grin and bear it, I usually do some really great work--it's all in the mindset I guess. And though I would rather have spent this gorgeous spring day outside, I found myself a desk by the window looking at the river, so I was content :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on a grant proposal for my final project on American Intellectual History. I think I have focused in on a theme and some thinkers! In their book The American Intellectual Tradition, Vol 1: 1630-1865, David Hollinger and Charles Capper divide this portion of intellectual history in the US into five parts. I have decided to focus in on Part Two: Republican Enlightenment. These authors utilize documents from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. I would like to focus on all of these ideally, but perhaps leave out one or two (Thomas Paine?). I want the theme of my proposed conference to be the Origins of the Constitution--Understanding our Nation's Constitution--or something to that effect. Since my plan was to make this primarily a scholarship program for students culminating in a lecture series that is open to the public, I thought it would be cool to have the conference in the fall during the week of September 17--Constitution Day!

After doing some research today, I learned that Constitution Day was established in 1940 by Congress to help Americans develop their citizenship. Schools that receive federal funding are required to do activities for Constitution Day on Sept. 17 as well. I thought organizing the conference around this theme would help me to get a grant as the idea of it supports the objectives the government has set forth. Also, originally I wanted to apply for a We the People grant because the fellowship I have this semester through the LeFrak Forum uses such a grant to support its lecture series...I think this would be more plausible now because NEH supports this grant program as well as Constitution Day.

On the actual research side of things, I found myself frustrated because the library doesn't seem to have many books on the subject of intellectual history. However, when I found a book on the intellectual history of the Constitution itself, good research skills allowed me to find great books on the history of American Political Thought...guess I found myself a new buzz word!  I also searched encore for the specific intellectuals I am interested in and found books on them by scholars I could potentially ask to come and lecture.

I feel a lot better about this project after today, but I need to work on the 'story' I want to tell in my grant proposal--as in how exactly learning more about the Constitution's founding helps one to be a better citizen. This should be a good exercise for me more generally as I want to be a political philosopher and need to start learning how to better defend why I want to do this with my life.

S'all for now!

Where are these "alternatives" hiding?!

I have been in email contact with my Dad every few hours for the last few days as he is trying to help us find those alternative construction plans for I-496.  Here is some text from an email that I thought would be helpful:

You know if you go to the following link: http://mdotwas1.mdot.state.mi.us/public/ROWFiles/index.cfm you can view our current R/W ownership along I-496. It also has all the acquisition records (in the table). I can help you interpret them if needed.


If the alternatives don't work out (well either way), I can get you original construction plans but I don't know if I can justify printing them out (maybe a half-size set) & digitally it would overload your computer, but let me know.

Hopefully we are able to find what we are looking for but here is some more stuff to add to our piles!

Flying Solo

This week, our 480 class is flying sans our captain--Dr. K.  But I think it went really well today! I think without having someone who is actually in charge to facilitate discussion, people actually discussed more and took on more individual responsibility.  There was productive discussion between groups today and I think we now have a better understanding of where each group is coming from. 

The Design Team (DT) projected the layout of the temporary exhibit on the board and walked through our thought process with the Research Team (RT). Additionally, we spent our group time today walking through our story board thinking about artifacts (they are now listed in blue on the design page of the Wiki). The DT also shared with the RT  that the project is meant to be a proposal--we only have to prove that items exist, rather than actually having them in hand.  This seemed like news to the Researchers, but they were grateful. We also decided as a class that the RT shouldn't go to Sterling Heights because our time could be better used in other ways. The Researchers (thanks Kelly!) shared with us this awesome interactive website that the LSJ has created about I-496. If our exhibit ends up being merely an online exhibit, getting the rights to that website from the LSJ would be awesome. 

Personally, I feel like the class is getting close to finishing up on this project. The Researchers need to fill in a few gaps as far as artifacts go, and the Designers need to pull everything together into an actual proposal, but as far as conception and thought processes--I think we've got it--which is incredibly encouraging!  Thoughts from others?

History matters in Indianapolis too...

So it has been an incredibly long time since I have blogged--shame on me! But now I am posting from such an interesting location--Indianapolis, the site of this year's Final Four! Per my title, I learned from Coach Izzo himself yesterday at the Spartan pep rally, that 10 years ago today, the Spartans won a National Title--right here in Indy! Obviously, every green-blooded Spartan fan is hoping for a repeat of historic importance :)

But I am also thinking of history in the context of our class on this trip as my time in 480 and at MSU is quickly (and fast than I would like, I might add) coming to an end. I met with Dr. K this week to discuss a final project (finally!) I wanted to do something that would matter to my professional life after MSU and that would help me to bring history to the public in my future job--the whole raison d'etre of our class no? In case I haven't mentioned it on this blog, I am hoping to be a professor of political philosophy. To this end, after talking with Dr K. I have decided to write a grant proposal for a lecture series on Intellectual History. We thought it would be cool to have some kind of One Book, One Community type of program in which people (I have yet to determine my audience) would read the original works of let's say 3-5 American intellectuals and then they would read the commentary on those 3-5 by leading scholars on the individuals. Then, this whole process would be followed by a lecture series where the experts come and give a talk on their people.

I have not figured out all of the logistics yet, but I think I want there to be a theme of the whole series--which will help me determine what interesting individuals to study (if anyone has a favorite American Intellectual--please comment below!) Also, I am fairly certain I want my audience to be students and the larger university community, but I would like to do the program as a scholarship program for students in which they would read the information over the summer and then the speakers would come in the fall.

That's what I have for my project for now--any ideas/thoughts are welcome as this is supposed to be a public-type project. Concerning our class project, I am really excited about our direction--think we should really be able to come up with a great proposal for the MI Historical Museum.

I leave you with this image, as I forgot my camera and can't give you a real photo from Indy:

(don't worry, I plan to purchase one today!)

2nd Visit to the Michigan Historical Center

Today we visited the Michigan Historical Center for the second time--and I feel this visit was much more instructive. Listening to Maria Leiby talk through the exhibits on Michigan as we walked through them allowed us to see inside the process of exhibit-making. Her sort of off-hand comments and interesting asides helped at least me to realize new intricacies of designing exhibits. For example, in each exhibit area Maria would explain that certain things had to be left out because there weren't artifacts to fit that story or that stories were included because of certain artifacts. Even at this stage of our planning process, I think we need to keep in mind the feasibility of collecting artifacts--if we have no artifacts all we have is a story, which is about equivalent to an essay, and does not embody public history. I know we have touched on this, but the more she talked, the more I began to realize that if we started finding artifacts, things, perhaps this would help our class form our story.

Maria also emphasized that most of the exhibits were designed as an entire environment rather than by display cases. In fact, in every room she would point out an "ordinary" looking object that actually served as a case with more artifacts. I thought this was a great use of space, but also a way to make exhibits more interesting/interactive.

I did notice however, that many of the exhibits seemed to lack a clear organization. On my own, without Maria, I don't know if I would have proceeded through all of the displays in the proper order. Also, there seemed to be too much information in such exhibits. I consider myself an educated person, and even I wouldn't stand there and read all of the information that was available, let alone small school children trying to take in exhibits.

Concerning the planning/design stages of exhibits, all of our speakers emphasized that they work on teams and committees because the job is just too big for one person. I think Dr. K has already established this precedent for us by making teams, but I think we need to start utilizing this mentality. Maybe this will be easier once we really have a focus and direction.

I found this visit very helpful and interesting--it got me excited about this project again. Therefore, I sincerely hope we can stop spending class time discussing a direction and what we want to do, and just pick one and get working.

From the shores of Daytona

Hello all! I have decided to post about our class project even though I am miles and miles away from Lansing and I-496. Before departing for "sunny" (I have to qualify that adjective as the weather has not necessarily been cooperative here) Florida, I met with my grandparents for an evening of card playing--and the opportunity to pick my grandpa's brain about our class project. As you may recall, I told the class early on that my dad works for MDOT--well so did my grandpa--which means he was working during the time that the I-496 project was underway. While he was not in any kind of supervisory or decision-making position at that point in his career, he was able to tell me quite a bit about the process. Should we choose option 2, I would be able to conduct a more formal oral interview with him. He also said he could connect me with others that could be helpful. My grandma was also very insightful about what the atmosphere in the city of Lansing was like around that time.  She had a lot to say about the perceptions of the project that we wouldn't necessarily find easily.  She suggested that we talk to Mr. Canady and Trustee Ferguson--sources we are already well aware of thanks to Matt Miller's article.

I maintain that I would like to pursue option 2 as I believe that finding sources for that project will be easier.  But more importantly, I feel that we would be exploring a side of the I-496 story that has not necessarily been explained--something good research always tries to do--fill in the gaps. I think projects like option 1 are much more common, for example the "Stan's Walk" website we looked at in the beginning of the course. I think option 2 would force us to think more outside the box and create a truly unique museum exhibit. Doing this more "creative" option, in my opinion, would also likely help us with our own projects as it covers a broader range.

Hope everyone is having a great Spring Break!

Visit to the Michigan Historical Center

Today we visited the Michigan Historical Center in downtown Lansing, right by the Capitol building. I realized I had been there before and was really excited while walking in past the big tree. But I left a little disappointed. Our presenters did an excellent job, but I thought in going to the Center we would get to check it out a bit, and really we sat in an empty room that resembles a classroom at MSU. I know the State Archivist couldn't be with us as planned, but I just thought we could have made better use of where we were. Even discussing how to build an exhibit in front of an actual exhibit would have been better...

That being said, I did have some new thoughts about our project today. Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock of the State Historic Preservation Office mentioned two mansions that would have ended up on the National Register of Historical Places that would have fallen in the path of I-496: The R.E. Olds Mansion and the Orlando Barnes House. It made me realize that we could maybe appeal to an audience with our project by showing them what history they are missing because of the decisions made in the construction of that highway.  Maybe if we could recreate the history of these mansions in our exhibit we could argue for why Lansing should have tried to preserve parts of this neighborhood and what the public could learn if these buildings had made the National Register.

Nicholas Lemann's The Promised Land

For the urban history reading project, I was assigned Lemann's The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How it Changed America. I actually purchased the book for myself, having heard it was a best-seller and a great addition to any library.  After reading it, I truly agreed.  The main theme of Lemann's book is the subject of race relations in America and he handles the topic with grace and skill--weaving in personal narratives and the narrative of how the Great Migration changed America from the standpoint of governance.

I also found Lemann's title instructive and ironic.  As he describes, blacks absolutely believed that moving North would bring them the kind of life they had always dreamed of--the kind of life that had not been achieved with the abolition of slavery. And yet, the title proves ironic in that the blacks that move north to Chicago find anything but the promised land they had hoped for.  Instead, as Lemann asserts, they find yet another substitution for the oppression of slavery.  I found it very interesting how Lemann compares and explains the transitions between slavery, sharecropping, and the ghettos of the north. 

At the same time, Lemann's description of the view of white people and their inability to deal with the sudden demographic shift was equally as enlightening. The middle section on "Washington" explained the federal government's actions to me in a way I had never considered.  I wasn't aware that there was so much politicking surrounding the phenomenon of the Great Migration

For our class' purposes, I think Lemann's work provides all of the background for the situation in the nation leading up to Lansing's decision to build 1-496 through black neighborhoods. When I first read Matt Miller's article, I felt like I was getting a glance at a situation with a much broader context--well, Lemann is that context.  The conflict between whites and blacks over a relatively small incident was indicative of similar instances occurring all over the nation. Also, Miller provides some of the black perspective and little of the white perspective.  I felt that Lemann's book filled in a lot of these gaps for me. While the situation in Chicago which Lemann focuses on for a case study was not exactly the same as Lansing's situation, the feelings of individual blacks who had moved from the South, the reaction of whites to the influx of blacks, and the response of the government of Chicago displayed the various factors that most likely went into the I-496 decision as well.

Overall, I found Lemann's book compelling. I think our class should try to employ his technique of mixing in individual tales with the overarching narrative--for me, this provided the most insight in the dynamics involved in race relations as a result of the Great Migration.

Visiting the City of Public History: The District of Columbia

This past weekend, I traveled to Washington, DC to attend a conference.  Having interned there this past summer, I spent lots of time touring the cuisine and the shopping rather than the monuments and museums, but I did have one experience that was completely new.

On Friday afternoon, my group had a tour of the Pentagon. I was so thrilled to be enrolled in this 480 Public History seminar while touring the host site for our nation's Department of Defense--it allowed me to consider the tour on several levels that I wouldn't have thought of prior to the class.

 

*in the lobby--represents all branches of the military

First, I was surprised at how lax the security seemed--all we had to do was have two forms of identification, have someone check our bags (we were allowed bags?!), and walk through a metal detector. It was my understanding that our entire group had also had a background check prior to the tour day.  We waited in a lobby with several military personnel sort of roaming about.  In the lobby we were allowed to take photos, use the restrooom, eat, and purchase gifts from the giftshop--all things we would NOT be allowed to do on the tour.

 

*tourist attraction in the lobby. enough said.

The real fun started with the tour itself. We were escorted into a holding room with other groups. They gave us yellow security badges reading "escort needed" and then we were led into the the main part of the building by two petty officers from the navy.  They explained that giving tours is a one year assignment given to low-ranking officers. One escorted at the front, the other at the back.

Here is where my thoughts on public history come in. I didn't realize that the Pentagon has memorials and displays (like a museum) throughout all of its five floors, outer and inner rings, etc. I got to thinking about why this would be necessary in an office building, especially such a high security one. I mean the "decorations" were nice, without them the halls would be so depressing--all white, everywhere! Also, I thought for practical purposes that these different displays could help one find their way around the building as it is HUGE and the only identifying factors are huge numbers on the outside of every room. They explained that the numbers signify which floor, inner/outer ring, section, wing, room, (I think that is all?) and I was already confused!

So turning my public history brain on, I thought, 1) why have all of this great historical stuff in a building which has such high security? 2) why have it in an office where people trying to see it could distract daily business?

On the first point--It seemed that the things had been put there precisely for public consumption--they wanted to give people something to look at on their tour. It also seemed that for some of the items, they didn't know where else to put them, AND they wanted them to have the high security provided in the Pentagon.  They had one of the 5 original pens used to sign the treaty ending WWII--the other 4 reside at Pearl Harbor--each valued at 1.6 million dollars.  They also had all of General MacArthur's decorations in a wing dedicated entirely to him.  But they also had famous paintings that didn't seem to have anything to do with the Pentagon/defense/military specifically.  For example, they had several of John Trumbull's paintings...you probably recognize the one below. I learned interesting facts about these, including that Trumbull paints himself into the photos. The one you see is replicated in the Pentagon--the original appears in the Capitol's Rotunda.

 

*Trumbull always locates himself fourth from the edge of the painting looking in the opposite direction--do you see him? 

*Also, Thomas Jefferson paid Trumbull to look better than John Adams in this photo--notice the differences?

My favorite part of the tour was when they took us to the place where the plane hit the building on 9/11--they had built a memorial chapel there. The reason for this piece of public history/memorabilia/heritage was clear--mourning, grieving, remembering, respect. The windows from the chapel overlook the outdoor memorial. I don't know how to describe how moving this experience was...

But now to my second point--aren't all of these visitors distracting to the literally life and death work done in the Pentagon? Kyvig's book: Nearby History brings up this very point--that preserving history can be distracting when those buildings are still in use. Our tour guides were shouting, and we were stared at by almost everyone walking by. Also, aren't we a security issue? I would never even think of wandering the Pentagon for fear of becoming lost, but I wouldn't put it past some...

Overall, I would say that because of the nature of our political regime--liberal democracy--the people expect our government to provide us with opportunities to see all that goes on inside of it. I think we are only willing to give up our access to this history/heritage when we feel in danger--like when the WhiteHouse was closed to tourists after 9/11...but at what point are we given too much access? and at what point does the government cater to much to what the people want? I loved my tour of the Pentagon, but was it necessary?