• A Little About Me
  • Resources, Blogs, Podcasts

The Jolly Historian

~ The personal blog of Jim Jolly, The Jolly Historian

The Jolly Historian

Tag Archives: Education

Book Review – Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by thejollyhistorian in American History, Book Review, Education, Historical Memory, Memorials, Public History

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American History, Book Review, Education, Historical Memory, Memorials, Public History

Memorials

Senie, Harriet F. Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. p. 261.

How we remember and memorialize events has always been of interest to me.  My specialization in American History is up to Reconstruction.  Consequently, much of what I have studied has been mostly Civil War related:  David Blight’s Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory & Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory, and the American Civil War, Timothy Smith’s The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation: The Decade of the 1890s and the Establishment of America’s First Five Military Parks & This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park, Jim Weeks’ Gettysburg: Memory Market and an American Shrine, Caroline Janey’s Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation, and of course, Edward Linenthal’s Sacred Ground: Americans and Their Battlefields all adorn my bookshelves.

In introducing Memorials, Seine discusses national memorials in relation to national identity, something that the United States has always and continues to struggle with.  History is not always pretty and many are, to put it mildly, uncomfortable with the uglier side of American history.  (For example: the issue of slavery is contentious when presented as part of national memory and national identity as debates over the “Confederate Flag” or blog posts such as this one demonstrate.)  Consequently, modern memorials, Seine points out, become more a memorial to the victims a la a private cemetery.

One common thread Seine identifies in the four memorials presented in this book is the heroic status conferred upon the victims and a lack of a greater historical narrative to give context.  She sees this as a “camouflage” of history with the result of defining the, “United States as a nation of victims”.  She argues that memorials are created to both remember the deceased AND the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

Seine does a good job of presenting her argument.  For each of the memorials presented she discusses “immediate memorials” (flowers, notes, teddy bears left at or near the site of the tragedy) as well as the evolution of the permanent memorials constructed.  Each chapter closes with a summation of what each memorial highlights as well as what each leave out.  This helps build her case that the larger more complicated historical narrative is missing.

Memorials will certainly get the reader thinking about national memory, the historical record, and how the two should connect.

Advertisements

A New Semester Begins

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by thejollyhistorian in Education, History, Resources, Teaching, Video

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Education, History, Resources, Teaching, Video

As some of you may know from the “A Little About Me” section in the Fall I teach online for Southern Adventist University.  Honestly, I do miss classroom teaching and hope to get back into one someday, but I still do find teaching online rewarding and it has given me experiences that I believe have made me a better teacher.  But I digress….

Since learning styles are different I try (both online and in the classroom) to use a variety of methods to present the material.  One thing that I did when in the classroom was to begin each class session with a video.  Sometimes they were serious, sometimes comical, sometimes downright full of errors but I found it a great way to start the class.  The class I taught was after lunch and while a darkened classroom might not have seemed the wisest place for students to go to after their midday meal, it allowed for everyone to quiet themselves, students arriving late did not interrupt lecture, and the videos were short enough to prevent anyone from nodding off.  The video marked an absolute beginning to the class and was directly related to the lecture.  No video was outrageous, but many students were curious what video I would show next.

I also use videos in my online class.  This week as we begin the semester I have my students watch a video on why history is important (actually we watch two videos and read an essay).  Here is the one assigned to my students for this week.

Around the ‘net

20 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by thejollyhistorian in American History, Education, History, Resources, Social Media, Teaching, US History

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American History, Education, Resources, Social Media, Teaching

Here are a few resources from around the internet that I have discovered over the last few weeks.  Some are serious, a few lighthearted, but I enjoy history displayed in creative ways and thought some of you might too.  I’ll also be adding a new “resources/blogroll” page here in the next few days.

Podcasts

American Military History Podcast – http://americanmilitaryhistorypodcast.com/ – A fairly new podcast dedicated to American Military History, it is currently focused on the American Revolutionary Era but has plans to progress through the present day.

Backstory with the American History Guys – http://backstoryradio.org/ – A public radio program heard on about 170 stations, they podcast the show for those who miss the radio broadcast or whose local public radio station doesn’t carry it.

Ben Franklin’s World – http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/ – Hosted by Liz Covart, Ben Franklin’s World focuses on Early American History.

Youtube

Mr. Betts Class – https://www.youtube.com/user/MrBettsClass – A YouTube channel dedicated to creatively educating the public on History and Social Studies topics.  As a fan of song parodies I really like this channel.

Crash Course – https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse – A YouTube channel dedicated to a variety Crash Course topics, my favorites, of course, are the ones on US History.

There, now armed with a few fun resources from around the ‘net, you too can spend a bunch of time watching videos, listening to podcasts, and wondering how the heck it got to be 3 AM.

Here a Truck, there a Truck…a History Truck

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by thejollyhistorian in American History, Education, Public History, Teaching, US History

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

American History, Education, Public History, Teaching, US History

Once in a while you stumble upon something and say, “dang, that is a good idea”.  Today was one of those days.  I present to you the Philadelphia Public History Truck.  No, this isn’t like the time I posted a picture of Penguin Publishing’s Book Truck to my Facebook page.  Instead, we have Erin.  Erin is a student at Temple University who wants to use the Philadelphia Public History Truck to, “make culture accessible through creative community building based in Philadelphia neighborhoods via history exhibits”.  But don’t listen to me tell you about the project, head on over to their website and learn about the Truck for yourselves.  And if you could, share this information with your friends and neighbors…especially if you live anywhere near Philadelphia, PA.

Now, I like this idea.  Why?  Well, first of all history isn’t something that happened in a book.  It isn’t stored in a museum and it isn’t something that just academics discuss in campus classrooms and AHA or OAH meetings.  History is everywhere and this project not only brings history to the people, but also does historical research among the people.  Or as their website puts it, “In other words, this project is a fusion of archival research, oral history, and material culture study.”  But again don’t listen to me talk about it, head on over to check it out for yourselves.  And share…share…share…

You can email me at: thejollyhistorian (at) gmail (dot) com

Recent Posts

  • US Colonial Religious History
  • Less Grid, Solar Power
  • Sling it at Me
  • Book Review – Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11
  • The Public Universal Friend

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Goodreads

Social

  • View @JollyHistorian’s profile on Twitter
  • View thejollyhistorian’s profile on LinkedIn

Blogroll

  • Civil War Books and Authors
  • Jacksonian America
  • The Junto
  • The Way of Improvement Leads Home
wordpress analytics
Follow The Jolly Historian on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 114 other followers

Categories

  • African-American History
  • American Civil War
  • American History
  • American Revolution
  • Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
  • Blogging
  • Blogs
  • Book Review
  • Books
  • Cable TV
  • California
  • Chattanooga
  • Colonial Williamsburg
  • Conservation
  • DDay71
  • Education
  • Emancipation
  • Events
  • False Cape State Park
  • Fort Nonsense
  • Freedom
  • George Washington Birthplace National Monument
  • Historic Huguenot Street
  • Historic Preservation
  • Historical Fiction
  • Historical Memory
  • Historiography
  • History
  • History App
  • History Channel
  • Instagram
  • Insurrection
  • Introduction
  • Ishi
  • Jamestown
  • Jemima Wilkinson
  • Jockey Hollow
  • Lightning
  • Memorials
  • Monmouth Battlefield
  • Morristown National Historical Park
  • My Studies
  • Native-American History
  • New Jersey
  • North Carolina
  • Oasis Books
  • Online Seminar
  • Photo Friday
  • Photography
  • Physics
  • Public History
  • Public Universal Friend
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • Seven Years War
  • Seventh-day Adventist
  • Shays' Rebellion
  • Slavery
  • Sling TV
  • Smithsonian
  • Social Media
  • Solar Power
  • Sport
  • Teaching
  • Tennessee
  • ThisPlaceMatters
  • Travel
  • Twitter
  • US Civil War
  • US History
  • Used Book Stores
  • Used Books
  • Vacation
  • Video
  • Virginia
  • Virginia Gazette
  • Wash Woods
  • Websites
  • Western
  • White House
  • Williamsburg
  • Women's History
  • Writing
  • WWII

Archives

  • January 2018
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • July 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com
var category_id=48;var toplist_id="";http://www.ontoplist.com/widget/widget.js
Advertisements

Recent Posts

  • US Colonial Religious History
  • Less Grid, Solar Power
  • Sling it at Me
  • Book Review – Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11
  • The Public Universal Friend

Recent Comments

history825 on Clio History App
Christ Centered Teac… on The Thesis Proposal
southernhondapowersp… on On the Road Again…
The Seven Years’ War… on The Historiographic Essay
harryhall12013 on Book Review – The P…

Archives

  • January 2018
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • July 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015

Categories

  • African-American History
  • American Civil War
  • American History
  • American Revolution
  • Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
  • Blogging
  • Blogs
  • Book Review
  • Books
  • Cable TV
  • California
  • Chattanooga
  • Colonial Williamsburg
  • Conservation
  • DDay71
  • Education
  • Emancipation
  • Events
  • False Cape State Park
  • Fort Nonsense
  • Freedom
  • George Washington Birthplace National Monument
  • Historic Huguenot Street
  • Historic Preservation
  • Historical Fiction
  • Historical Memory
  • Historiography
  • History
  • History App
  • History Channel
  • Instagram
  • Insurrection
  • Introduction
  • Ishi
  • Jamestown
  • Jemima Wilkinson
  • Jockey Hollow
  • Lightning
  • Memorials
  • Monmouth Battlefield
  • Morristown National Historical Park
  • My Studies
  • Native-American History
  • New Jersey
  • North Carolina
  • Oasis Books
  • Online Seminar
  • Photo Friday
  • Photography
  • Physics
  • Public History
  • Public Universal Friend
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • Seven Years War
  • Seventh-day Adventist
  • Shays' Rebellion
  • Slavery
  • Sling TV
  • Smithsonian
  • Social Media
  • Solar Power
  • Sport
  • Teaching
  • Tennessee
  • ThisPlaceMatters
  • Travel
  • Twitter
  • US Civil War
  • US History
  • Used Book Stores
  • Used Books
  • Vacation
  • Video
  • Virginia
  • Virginia Gazette
  • Wash Woods
  • Websites
  • Western
  • White House
  • Williamsburg
  • Women's History
  • Writing
  • WWII

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com
wordpress analytics

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel