11.26.05
Religious Studies
Arab World and Islamic Resources
British Association for the Study of Religions
International Association for the History of Religions
Air Mail Pioneers
Air Mail Pioneers - an interesting find while researching something else.
11.13.05
Women Historians - Best Practices
Yet more from the September, 2005 issue of the American Historical Society’s Perspectives - Gender Equity in the Academic History Workplace: A Guide to Best Practices
“Constitution Day”
Another tidbit from the September, 2005 issue of the American Historical Association’s Perspectives - more about the US government mandate for all education institutes to teach the US Constitution on 17 Sept, designated as “Constitution Day.”
I found this heartening:
Some academics and conservative groups remain concerned the Constitution teaching mandate establishes a dangerous precedent for Congress in setting curriculum requirements. According to Becky Timmons, director of government relations at the American Council on Education, “our members find it [the provision] intrusive.” Even conservative groups, which seek to advance patriotism and a better American history curriculum, also criticized the provision, citing the same concern.
U.S. History: Our Worst Subject?
Bruce Craig, director of the National Coalition for History, writes about the Congressional concern over the teaching of U.S. History in the September issue of the American Historical Association’s Perspective. Titled A Continuing Congressional Concern: ” U.S. History—Our Worst Subject” - Craig recaps the Senate Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions conducted a hearing on yet another American history bill, “The American History Achievement Act” (S. 860) hearings.
Perhaps most disturbing to me is the 10-state pilot program or maybe the fact that this has to be legislated. American history teaching is now being legislated. Should I be happy the government is finally looking into the teaching of history and finding money to assist educators? Or should I be unhappy that the government thinks only American history needs to be legally enforced?
Skimming the article sends out warning bells that I should be morally outraged at something. The problem is, I’m not sure what I should be outraged about. This needs to be researched more thoroughly in order to completely understand what the bill is about and why it was brought before the Senate.
For the written testimony of the witnesses, please visit http://help.senate.gov/calendars/all.html and click on the link for the hearing on June 30, 2005 (with the title “U.S. History: Our Worst Subject?”).
Aha, a little further down is this paragraph:
While congressional appropriation committees appear to be supportive of funding American history-related programs, their focus continues to be on American history and only on what is characterized as ‘traditional’ American history (that is, political and diplomatic history that focuses on key individuals and events). Continuing efforts over the last five years by the National Coalition for History (NCH) and other professional history organizations including the American Historical Association to include ancient, world, or comparative history (or even ’social’ history in the definition of ‘traditional’ American history) have not resonated well with members or their staff. Nevertheless, our advocacy efforts will continue.
There’s the outrage, as I suspected it’s the emphasis on American history to the exclusion of other histories which all intertwine at some level. America wouldn’t be America without Europe or Africa, just to name 2 heady influences.
The Greeks thought it was all relevant and tied together, so they taught everything as connected. James Burke had it right with Connections, one of the most fascinating looks at how things that appear to be unrelated really aren’t. History should be taught this way too. (Maybe that’s the reason I’ve struggled with choosing a specialty.)
11.04.05
You Must Communicate
In any scholastic situation, it is important to communicate. With your classmates, your instructors and yourself. If you know what’s going on in your life and where you are having troubles, you can say so to your classmates and your instructors.
October was a big suck month for me and November hasn’t gotten off to a great start. It’s important to realize that even though college may be your top priority sometimes the universe has other ideas and other parts of your life go on. It’s a balancing act that sometimes ends up with lots of broken plates on the floor.
What has kept me in the good graces of my instructors and relieved me from a great deal of self-imposed pressure is communication. The minute I realized that my non-academic life was becoming too emotionally charged for me to keep at bay and was starting to impinge upon my classwork, I said something.
Tell your instructors that you are having a tough time because of whatever and make it sincere. Do not abuse your instructor’s good will.
In my case, it was a series of damnably unfortunate events, including a very dear friend being diagnosed with breast cancer and then finding out that not only had it spread to her lymph nodes, it was also in her lungs. Do not pretend that such things don’t have an impact on your life, they do and they will creep up on you and keep you from being at the top of your academic game. Be sure to tell your instructors, and acknowledge that you aren’t at your best and that you are struggling. Personally, I usually tell them that I know my lateness with assignments comes with consequences.
Doing the work to the best of your ability is still your responsibility. If you have already proven to be an earnest student, your instructors will be willing to work with you. But you must be honest, both with them and yourself. Do not think that one bad day gives you an excuse and do not use excuses. We all have bad days and that is not an excuse.
Simply state what is keeping you from keeping up and continue to keep trying. Your education is probably the single most important investment in your lifetime, it is up to you to keep up with it but don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help if tragedy strikes. (Too many keeps in the first sentence, I really must work on my vocabulary.)