In September, it was a possibility: “Yeah, Syria is one of the places I’m thinking about.”
When December arrived, it was a choice: “I’m hoping everything works to go to Syria.”
By January, the wheels were in motion: “So I’ve got my ticket to go to Syria!”
In February, I was assured: “I think you will be pleasantly surprised about traveling to Syria.”
This past weekend, I began saying adieu: “Check out my blogs while I’m in Syria!”
Being a somewhat less eloquent writer than some others, I find myself at a loss for the words to appropriately describe my intentions at the outset of my visit to Syria. The official reason for this trip is to gain experience teaching and learning in an international context. I have the incredible opportunity to introduce students the history of the Crusades and accompany these young individuals on trips to a number of the castles that were built during this period of history. As a historian, the prospect of traveling through one of the cradles of civilization where innumerable historic figures lived, fought, and traveled even now leaves me awe-struck. While I hope that friends will never peg me as merely the guy who will always be happy as long as you find him a museum, historical site, or dusty manuscript, I simply cannot wait to find myself surrounded by the walls of castles that once sheltered Salah al-Din and his armies or crusading knights from Europe.
To understand my most deep and fundamental desire to visit Syria though, my reader needs only to recall recent history, hysteria, and horrors. Despite its rich past, its cultural diversity, and its devotion to religious values, the Middle East has been characterized in black-and-white images as a haven for terror, a region of instability and intolerance, and a breeding ground for religious fundamentalism. This is simply an unfair characterization of a region inhabited by hundreds of millions of people. If it is the historian’s job to present and analyze information in a fair and balanced way, then this historian is seeking to address the imbalance in the story of the Middle East that is being told and retold in the media and in households today. If educators are responsible for preparing students to live well and make thoughtful and intentional decisions, then this educator believes that students need to hear an alternative narrative to the prejudiced, conflict-driven message that is currently being circulated. If there is ever to be lasting peace on this little planet of ours, that peace is going to come from understanding.
To this end, as I write over the next month and when I return to Canada after my trip, I hope to be an ambassador for Syria. I do want to describe the amazing experiences that I am having and reassure worried family and friends that I am indeed safe and sound, but it is my deepest desire to convince my readers and listeners that we need to consider these people – Syrians, Arabs, Muslims, people from the Middle East – as individuals who are our friends and neighbours rather than a faceless mass to be feared and contained.
I am not the greatest storyteller –I can never think of the appropriate story at the party unless it occurred in the last two months and often need to be reminded of events that happened only a few years before; consequently, my blog posts and the photos I take will help me to recall teachable moments and surreal experiences in the unlikely event that this trip does not leave a profound impression upon me. At the same time, I will likely comment on matters historical here and educational in Humility in Education, and some posts (like the one that you are now reading) will appear in both blogs, so please look forward to posts that are academic but hopefully not too irregular or uninteresting! When you read though, it is my desperate hope that you will also consider the serious purpose of my visit.
Syria-usly? Yep. Seriously.
Finally, I hope that you will share in my travels by commenting on my posts. Well-wishes and wish lists, comments and concerns, stories and suggestions are enriching for everybody who will continue read on.
“What’s new with me? Well, I’m going to Syria.” What an adventure!
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Mar 3, 2008
Working at Library and Archives Canada
I had the opportunity to work at Library and Archives Canada for the summer. I am truly sorry that I found myself too busy to blog regularly about what I was learning as a historian working in the public sphere, so I will be unable to do real justice to the institution and my experience there. It is nevertheless important for me to post a few enduring understandings I realized during the summer.
First of all, I would like to say thank you to the folks with whom I had the opportunity to work. For students studying both Public History or subjects in History, the archives provided a terrific mix of short- and long-term projects as well as the satisfaction of knowing that the majority of this work would benefit clients down the line. Overall, the internship proved to be a great opportunity to employ my historical skills in an forum that was both accountable for storing and managing information while also making historical sources available to the public.
Secondly, I gained an incredible appreciation of the challenges that archival institutions face. If Canada’s national archive struggles with the enormous challenges of acquiring, assessing, organizing, and describing collections, I can only imagine the state of smaller archives with fewer resources. It will take increased financial resources to maintain the massive volume of information acquired annually archival institutions. In order for governments and taxpayers to agree to the allocation of greater resources towards archives though, I believe that archivists will have to prove and demonstrate to the public that archival institutions have value to an audience broader than historians and genealogists.
Thirdly, I cannot say enough times that I think it is more important make documents available than to preserve them. I strongly believe that documents should be put at some level of risk if it means that more people will appreciate the historical, educational, and social value of archives. While some documents have legal value and are kept for that purpose, there are certainly documents of purely historical value that should be more widely used in traveling and in-house exhibits and educational programs.
I wish Library and Archives Canada and my co-workers all the best as they continue on with their very important work. They can look for me soon when I bring a class of students in to cause a ruckus in the reading room at the building on Wellington!
First of all, I would like to say thank you to the folks with whom I had the opportunity to work. For students studying both Public History or subjects in History, the archives provided a terrific mix of short- and long-term projects as well as the satisfaction of knowing that the majority of this work would benefit clients down the line. Overall, the internship proved to be a great opportunity to employ my historical skills in an forum that was both accountable for storing and managing information while also making historical sources available to the public.
Secondly, I gained an incredible appreciation of the challenges that archival institutions face. If Canada’s national archive struggles with the enormous challenges of acquiring, assessing, organizing, and describing collections, I can only imagine the state of smaller archives with fewer resources. It will take increased financial resources to maintain the massive volume of information acquired annually archival institutions. In order for governments and taxpayers to agree to the allocation of greater resources towards archives though, I believe that archivists will have to prove and demonstrate to the public that archival institutions have value to an audience broader than historians and genealogists.
Thirdly, I cannot say enough times that I think it is more important make documents available than to preserve them. I strongly believe that documents should be put at some level of risk if it means that more people will appreciate the historical, educational, and social value of archives. While some documents have legal value and are kept for that purpose, there are certainly documents of purely historical value that should be more widely used in traveling and in-house exhibits and educational programs.
I wish Library and Archives Canada and my co-workers all the best as they continue on with their very important work. They can look for me soon when I bring a class of students in to cause a ruckus in the reading room at the building on Wellington!
Feb 17, 2008
Whither Blogging?
As has happened a number of times in the past eight months, I find myself wrestling with the purpose of this blog. Blogging has become like going for a run after a month of not running. It is really hard to get back into a groove, and I am not even sure what my new groove should be.
Do I jump into conversations that this year’s Public History class at Western is having? Perhaps I should stick to the discussions and challenges presented by the digital historians I try to read regularly. Should I seek out K-12 teachers blogging about many of the issues that I am coming into contact with as a teacher candidate? I did start a second blog on education, but I can’t help but think that it might be easier for my audience, which because of my absence from the blogosphere has likely dwindled down to a few hardcore readers, to read just one blog. On the other hand, a different blog might be a more appropriate forum to discuss my upcoming practicum in Syria or my challenges with teaching Chemistry.
The one question that overshadows all of these considerations is: “Why blog at all?” Indeed, my motivation to publish my reflections online deteriorated rapidly after my Public History coursework was completed last spring, and the moments that I have found to actually reflect and write have been few and far between since I began my B.Ed year. Yet the professional value of maintaining a blog has not diminished in my eyes. There have been numerous occasions where I have thought, “This assignment could easily be turned into a blog post.” My “Blog Drafts” document has grown into a fifteen-page long stream of consciousness that could be converted into brief flashes of brilliance if I ever found the time to get back up to date.
I welcome any thoughts on how I should continue to blog. Let me conclude this stream of consciousness by setting out a renewed direction for my blogging: Both Humility in History and Humility in Education will be maintained in order for me to continue wearing both my Public Historian’s and Educator’s hats. While I cannot promise that my posts will be regular after this next burst of writing, I can promise that I will continue to do my utmost to provide genuine reflections on what I am experiencing, reading, and learning about. Where I deem it appropriate, I may even publish the same post on both blogs, but in general I will keep my comments in each blog geared towards my intended audiences.
Time to get to it!
Do I jump into conversations that this year’s Public History class at Western is having? Perhaps I should stick to the discussions and challenges presented by the digital historians I try to read regularly. Should I seek out K-12 teachers blogging about many of the issues that I am coming into contact with as a teacher candidate? I did start a second blog on education, but I can’t help but think that it might be easier for my audience, which because of my absence from the blogosphere has likely dwindled down to a few hardcore readers, to read just one blog. On the other hand, a different blog might be a more appropriate forum to discuss my upcoming practicum in Syria or my challenges with teaching Chemistry.
The one question that overshadows all of these considerations is: “Why blog at all?” Indeed, my motivation to publish my reflections online deteriorated rapidly after my Public History coursework was completed last spring, and the moments that I have found to actually reflect and write have been few and far between since I began my B.Ed year. Yet the professional value of maintaining a blog has not diminished in my eyes. There have been numerous occasions where I have thought, “This assignment could easily be turned into a blog post.” My “Blog Drafts” document has grown into a fifteen-page long stream of consciousness that could be converted into brief flashes of brilliance if I ever found the time to get back up to date.
I welcome any thoughts on how I should continue to blog. Let me conclude this stream of consciousness by setting out a renewed direction for my blogging: Both Humility in History and Humility in Education will be maintained in order for me to continue wearing both my Public Historian’s and Educator’s hats. While I cannot promise that my posts will be regular after this next burst of writing, I can promise that I will continue to do my utmost to provide genuine reflections on what I am experiencing, reading, and learning about. Where I deem it appropriate, I may even publish the same post on both blogs, but in general I will keep my comments in each blog geared towards my intended audiences.
Time to get to it!
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