Proby No More

This weekend we're having a garage sale at our fire hall to raise money for the department, so last night I headed down to drop some items off and to help get everything organized.  To my surprise, I was greeted with handshakes and congratulations.

 

I missed our monthly business meeting because of school last Monday; it turns out that it was announced that myself and my four fellow probies were voted on as official members of the fire department.  This is a photo of my new helmet!  All five of us received new lids instead of previously worn ones.  Money does not grow on trees on volunteer firefighting property, so this was a very nice surprise.  I'm lucky to be part of a great department with great firefighters; I was also extremely lucky to have such a great group of probies to go through training with.

 

AE

Interpretations Galore

It's been too long since I've posted; school, job, finances and firefighting will do that to a guy.  Historical Interpretation has been going pretty good so far.  Our first topic to better understand why interpretation is so important in historiology is the Atlantic slave trade.  We've ripped through several essays from various authors and time periods.  The main points of these essays are the causes, effects and statistics surrounding African slavery and its expansion westward.

 

Scholars vary in opinion on the ultimate cause of slavery's growth.  Some cite cultural beliefs that reach back as far as the Roman Empire.  Others take a religious point of view citing, as just one example, the historical struggles between Christians and Muslims.  And what would any argument be without the many Marxist philosophies.  Yes, there are those too.  Some geared more towards class warfare and/or the distribution of power; others are pointed to the economic advantages for, not only the European beneficiaries of slave labor, but of the African slave traders themselves.

 

Remember, the point of this class is not to necessarily learn about our topics (although it's an obvious perk), but it's to understand that there are many interpretations of history.  Historical Interpretation is meant to expose us to multiple biases, interpretations and opinions leaving us with the task of formulating our own.  Our next paper is on the slave trade and whether we think it was "caused" by cultural or economic factors.  As of right now, I believe that slavery was definitely engrained into African cultures before the arrival of the first Europeans, but that economic factors coupled with ethnocentrism were the main causes of its westward expansion.  I'll have to wait and see where this paper takes me though...

 

AE

 

 

Pint-Size Inspiration

There's no question that Ambrose's book and the HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers, had a major impact on my interest in World War 2.  Saving Private Ryan also had an impact, but the men of Easy Company and their variety of experiences in WWII were what really sucked me in to the, obviously much broader, subject of history.

 

Dick Winters became commander of Easy on the morning of D-Day because of the unfortunate passing of Thomas Meehan.  Winters thrived in his role as team leader; both the book and the miniseries exemplify his skills.  Of course Hollywood adds flair to most true stories and has to leave out a considerable amount of information; Band of Brothers was no exception.  But hearing and reading interviews from Winters' men leave no doubt about the level of respect he earned from them.

 

Please read this letter below.  It's from an 11 year old boy who has taken it upon himself to help raise money for a monument and documentary in the Major's honor:

 

http://www.hangtough6644.org/images/stories/winters/Jordan%27s_%20Letter.pdf

 

Below is a link to the website where you can make contributions in a variety of ways - if you so desire:

 

http://www.hangtough6644.org/

 

But I'm not making this post to try and drum up donations, although that is how it seems.  It's more out of respect for this 11 year old boy, who has taken on such a selfless and daunting task.  The men of Easy, and all vets for that matter, provide inspiration for me to no end.  But Jordan's efforts most certainly serve us a refreshing boost of morale, and remind us of the level of respect we should have for this country, where it has been and where we all hope it can continue to go.  Thank you, Jordan.

 

AE

The Art of History - Grade

Well, I got my first grade today at University X.  I managed a "B" on a paper that I didn't feel that comfortable with.  I guess I can stomach it.  Here is the feedback from Historical Interpretation Professor:

 

"Dear Eric,

 

Your position is very clear here - admirably so - and you are vigorous in defending your view that history is dramatically different in method from the natural sciences.  Your emphasis on the historian's biases and subjectivity, and on the ultimate unknowability of the past, are well taken and support your view.  On the other hand, the scientific method isn't totally alien to historical scholarship.  "Testing" an historical "law" would involve observing unfolding events and seeing whether they conform to general hypotheses about how societies operate, hypotheses based on study of the past.  You might think there's little point to doing this kind of thing, but it could be done.

 

Overall this is a good brief effort to come to terms with a large question.  If you continue your good use of the assigned readings and stick pretty closely to them in future assignments, you'll be writing very good papers.

 

Grade: B"

 

A couple things jumped out to me in his response:

 

1) He talks about how the "scientific method isn't totally alien to historical scholarship," and provides an example.  The problem I have is that I agreed with that in my paper, which is why I stated early on that there are indeed many similarities between science and history, but it's the major differences that remove it from a scientific "scholarship."

 

2) In his example he talks about the study of societies by basing certain hypotheses on the study of the past.  He's right, this could be done (see my argument 1 above), but I would also consider that to be the work of a sociologist, not an historian.  The sociologist would just draw on an historian's work to generate their hypothesis.  Now does that make sociology a science?  I'm not about to open that can of worms...

 

I haven't received my actual paper back yet, but I'm hoping that he will provide insight as to what he was exactly looking for that I missed in order to have received an "A."  Trust me, I'm not complaining about a "B," but as John Arnold said, "historians pride themselves on their ability to question everything."  And that's what I do.

 

AE

Interpreting the Atlantic Slave Trade

Looks like this is the topic for module two of my Historical Interpretation class.  The book for this section is The Atlantic Slave Trade, edited by David Northrup.  Looks like I don't have a paper due for a few weeks either.  I'm kind of looking forward to the break.  I say break, but of course there's still work.  However, reading and then having good class discussions is hardly work.  Adios for now... Still recovering from my fantasy football draft last night...

AE

The Art of History - Essay

This is the first essay I've written at Bachelor University (see key at bottom of page).  I'm not to happy with this essay; it was tough for me to grasp this concept and condense it down into 3-4 pages.  Admittedly, my patience ran thin and so did time.  I hope Historical Interpretation Professor is a lenient grader!!

Click here to read The Art of History.

AE

Not a bad place to write a paper.

My First Post Via Email

Figured I'd test this out as I'm taking a break from work.  This could be a dangerous tool!  I'm currently in the process of filling out my performance review at work.  It'll be 1 year on September 14 that I've been back with my original company (roughly 11 years total).  I left my current job about 2 years ago for more opportunity and more money, unfortunately it was for a defense contractor that lost a major contract last summer.  That meant a 3 month vacation for me.  I was lucky enough to have maintained good relationships with my former employer and they graciously took me back.

I'm struggling on the all-too-familiar sections titled, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" and "What are your goals for the coming year?"

Here's how I would like to answer the former question:

"I see myself as a partner in the company.  If I gain a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, industrial technology or business, is that a possibility?  If not, I see myself as just another qualified social studies teaching candidate, painstakingly looking for work."

And the latter:

"I would like to be set up with a computer at home, because I can do my job without any issues from my home office.  I would also like to switch to a 20-30 hour work week, with health benefits intact of course, so that I can attend school on more of a full-time basis."

Time will tell if I have the courage to copy and paste this post into my performance review.... For now though, it's back to work.

AE