HIS 6942 ( November 14 - November 20)

 The classes before Thanksgiving break were about elevator speeches including my own. The last student’s elevator speech, while long, indicated that they had come a long way from where they started. It made me reflect on how the other students were all quiet during the beginning of the semester, yet their elevator speeches showed all of what they learned in Murphree’s class. In a way, I was proud that I had some level of influence regarding their elevator speech and tenure within the undergraduate degree. Still, some students required more time to fully blossom and I wished that the pandemic situation did not impact how the class was taught. The students also demanded that I give my own elevator speech which I will elaborate on at the end. These elevator speeches reinforce the importance of the class in training the students to understand the professionalization of the major.

Regarding the COVID collection, the students have all submitted their transcriptions and their interviews to me. I reviewed them and forwarded them to Dr. Murphree as well for further review. A mistake I made was not understanding if I was supposed to send these emails to the Special Collections and University Archives or if they did. Luckily, one of the students had asked and Mary Rubin clarifying it made me redirect the students to submit them. This lesson will help me in the future and allow for Dr. Murphree to outline how to submit these interviews in the future. These interviews will be a great contribution to the collection.

My elevator speech outlined a lot of what I had learned within my undergraduate study while incorporating elements about graduate school. While other students were unable to give me feedback, I understand that it was generally accepted as good. I voiced my experiences with the major and how I conducted my research and studies. My elevator speech originally revolved around being a teacher in the field, yet working on this internship and my archival experience with SCUA has shifted it towards interest in pursuing it as an occupation. Dr. Murphree also asked me a thought-provoking question of how many times I gave it, discussing how elevator speeches become more normal in conversations. The usage of elevator speeches could always be helpful in daily situations whether that be convincing a parent, a teacher, or your graduate application why you study history and its importance to you.

The internship allowed me to have a deeper understanding of a teaching environment courtesy of Dr. Murphree. He understood that graduate school was a daunting task and always offered to help as best as he could. In a way, I envy the position of being able to teach history students what the major entails and what opportunities are available to them. While one student did drop out, I am glad that student understood what the major gave them and judged it as conflicting with their own goal. It is my general belief that this course’s importance continues to be that education of students to learn the opportunities a history major gives them. Learning that teaching is not the only occupation will guide students to seek other paths in their career. I am glad that I was able to give some level of influence on them and act as somewhat of an advisor, passing along my advice to students in the future.

HIS 6942 (November 7 - November 13)

 This week saw the continuation of students’ elevator speeches as I and Dr. Murphree provided feedback for them. Two more students provided us with elevator speeches that stood out as unique. Both had some timing issues as they were opposite of the first elevator speech in length. They struggled to get to the required five minutes and only reached four minutes roughly. Still, we provided feedback and gave them some options to extend their speech to improve upon it. However, these speeches accentuated why they were apart of the history major and learned skills that could be applied for future employers. I was impressed by how students were already beginning to understand what the major’s benefits were. Some even spoke of going to graduate studies, though admittedly giving some hesitance on where. The elevator speech remains a vital assignment within the course as it is an amalgamation of what the class is about. It promotes the student and allows them to professionalize themselves for an audience, convincing them of their selection of majors.

Critique was provided as best as I can afford without being too meanspirited. Jokingly, I referred to Dr. Murphree and I as judges similar to American Idol or other popular shows with judges. Dr. Murphree was far more positive than I was, as I became more of a Simon Cowell. I only do this to strengthen the students instead of pampering them. It is good to focus on their weaknesses as their strengths will not change. Peer review is a vital part of the historian’s job and articulating it for the students is difficult.

The COVID project is going too slow for my tastes as we have not provided the SCUA any interviews from the students respectively. I have submitted my own interviews, but these were for my own interest versus the actual assignment of the students. I voiced that the students should have their assignments done by Monday and emailed to me so that I can send them to Mary Rubin. Hopefully, the students will finish up as I have heard they are nearing the end of their transcription.

I was informed on Thursday that a student had dropped the course due to reconsidering their choice in major. In a way, it is good that we clarified the major and that they knew that this was not their interest. I would hate to be going through a major and graduate while inwardly being dispassionate of my work. The student was very professional with their departure from the course and I wish them luck in their new major. This class allows for students to understand what the major entails and how to professionalize it. Dr. Murphree has always told me that students can understand what a history major can do and sometimes a student may not be able to historian for a variety of reasons. The course continues to be a requirement for history majors and clarify their purpose within the field. I’d rather have history majors that want to be here instead of those that are begrudgingly ones.

HIS 6159 (October 31-November 6)

 

              Dr. Murphree’s class transitioned towards discussing elevator speeches to prepare students for presenting themselves to future employers. The elevator speech introduces the student to the employer or the audience that is not a historian nor one from our field. It allows the student to present what they have learned within the major including their skills such as critical thinking, communication skills, and other soft skills. There is a time limit for the speech as it should stick to approximately five minutes. The elevator speech is critical in professionalizing a history major to advertise themselves towards those unfamiliar with our field. Dr. Murphree explained the process of one student giving a speech every class. During my undergraduate degree, I found these elevator speeches to be very useful in emphasizing the skills that the degree provides us.

The first, brave, student provided their elevator speech and received a positive reception from the class. Notably, they highlighted their skills mentioned earlier with an addendum on how they utilized it outside of their classes. However, their speech ran over the time limit of five minutes which was relayed to them. I advised that it is good to have more to discuss than too little. Dr. Murphree joined me on this regarding synthesizing their skills, but also pointed out the language of the speech. It is important for one to be cautious about words such as “bias” or “ignorant”. In our criticism, we reframed the argument for the student. I noticed some admiration for the student to educate the public as it is always something a historian wishes to do with their degree.

As the semester is beginning to close, I have been pushing for the COVID collection interviews to be submitted from the students. The students have begun finishing up their transcriptions and will be sending them to me to review. I have some concern with the proximity of the classes ending, but I am hoping that they will get them to me in a timely manner.

The elevator speeches are the most interesting and vital part of the class because of their nature with allowing the student to dedicate themselves to present their undergraduate degree. Some students wished for me to give my own elevator speech which I will be doing either next week or the week after. Dr. Murphree was interested because of the evolution in a post graduate setting so I’ll be sure to update it from the last time I gave it.

My elevator speech will hopefully provide a model for the students to understand what a succinct one can be. It will also be a learning experience for myself in how I have shifted from where I was in my undergraduate degree such as my interest in digital history. My elevator speech helped me prepare for graduate school and I wish to present students a good way of marketing yourself as a historian within the public sphere. Questions such as why does this matter or why should I care are frequent questions by those outside of our sphere. It is vital for us to articulate and answer these questions.

HIS 6942 (October 23-October 30)

 

Dr. Murphree informed students that this week was dedicated to conducting elevator speeches for a University of Central Florida professor and one of his chosen advisory board members. Time management is a crucial skill to obtain during college as students should be taking advantage of this opportunity. Some students have already conducted interviews with professors at the history department. When discussing potential professors, I attempted to push them towards professors who share similar research interests. If you wished to study medieval history, I would advise them to conduct an elevator pitch with Duncan Hardy who specializes in research within that period along with offering medieval courses. The elevator speeches are supposed to embody who the student is and why they want to aspire becoming a historian.

My father always imparted on me the advice of talking to your professors and getting to know them. I considered this only within the course, but within my undergraduate years, I realized this also meant forging some level of relationship with them. I would not be where I am today without having established myself in the department at UCF. Dr. Murphree would have selected another student or not even given the opportunity unless he trusted someone to aid his coursework. Students should use these opportunities that Dr. Murphree provided to draw closer towards the professors. They could shift how the student conducts their undergraduate degree and may influence their decision to embark on graduate studies.

Students seemed eager to try new subject areas as I have received emails expressing desire to conduct diverse means of study. One student inquired on an Honors in the Major thesis which I will have to research more into  before I get back to this student. Some students still have that limit of their graduation being too close which hinders some of the opportunity others will have. Having this class early on in an undergraduate’s career will shape how they conduct themselves and prepare them for the historical field.

Progress on the COVID-19 collection is still slow for my taste yet this week could also be used for students to knock them out. I expect an influx of emails with students’ interviews for me to check over. The collection still will be completed before the deadline as students concluded their interviews and are on the transcription phase. With technology, a student seemed to point it out to speed up the process which makes me hopeful.

Working on digital history, I noticed similarities within my studies that is shown in the class. Students are far more digitally savvy than I was during college even when I graduated last year. They find ways that I did not think of and look for different things. My thesis for this post is that COVID has shaped what future historians will have to understand as the longer implications of the pandemic are still yet to be seen. I share the belief that we may not be ready for what comes next within the field of history with the technological advances continuing to shape our society. Classes such as professionalizing the history major will better prepare students for what occurs in the future.

HIS 6942 (October 17-23)

 

Continuing the theme of professionalizing history majors, this week presented the university’s different programs that can benefit history majors. Over the last few classes, Dr. Murphree has focused on presenting different campus resources that could aid history majors. Experiential and Service-Learning offered Handshake to present internships and improve resumes for the students. Students seem hesitant to use these resources as they can be very broad in their intended audience. As stated last week, internships for history majors are repetitive and lack any new internships especially with the COVID situation plaguing the job market. Knowing these resources can aid in the professionalizing of a history major, yet it is up to the student to determine its usefulness. The only way of finding out is to participate in these programs to judge them.

On Tuesday, a guest speaker discussed the Knights of Distinction program which is offered under the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success. This program offered students a path to reach their goals, engaging in experiences, and articulate how these experiences aid in their future careers at UCF. The program focuses on improving the student by offering them internships, participation in campus events, and other community-based events. The program, upon completion, would see the student improve themselves and have a formal designation on their transcripts that they were a part of it.

These opportunities are useful, and I appreciate Dr. Murphree offering them, yet I still voice some concern regarding their specification for history majors. The presentation lacked any direct discussion for history majors, and I am likely to believe that it is, again, intended for a broader audience with different majors. It would be useful to include examples of history students’ participation. For internships, I encourage using Dr. French’s multiple students who have participated in internships and see what they were doing to provide examples. With that said, knowing these opportunities can be efficient and know what is available at the student’s disposal is invaluable.

I am voicing my concerns about students’ COVID-19 submissions to the collection as I have not received any emails regarding it. I plan on inquiring more about the process as I understood that transcribing was becoming an issue. It is the end of October and I cannot help but feel that November will be a busy month for the students. I will be making sure that the students are having an easy time with it.

Conducting a class in the COVID pandemic notably saw a student email Dr. Murphree about their potential of having the virus. This student was very prudent to email ahead of time to inform the professor about their condition. I am grateful that the student was taking the upmost care to not infect any other students and would be getting tested. While they have not shown symptoms, it exemplifies the cautiousness that students have when they experience minor cold or flu symptoms. Overall, this week exemplifies the professionalism that students are continuously learning about, whether that be understanding campus’ resources to enhance their major or professionally emailing a professor about their sickness.

HIS 6942 (October 10-October 16)

 The career of a history major often subscribes towards the teaching occupation. The common history job for most undergraduates is teaching or education. I admit that during my tenure as an undergraduate student, a teaching job seemed to be the only occupation that was for a history major. It reminds me of the significance in attending Murphree’s Professionalization the History Major course as that teaching mythos breaks. Students were provided information on how to properly convey their resume and CV’s for job application. This was especially important with most of them being seniors who could be entering the job market in a pandemic.  This week illuminated students to marketing themselves as history majors and that the job market does not have to be limited to education.

Careers in archiving, museum curation, and others exist for future historians which I can support. My own experience in volunteering on the archiving saw the use of skills I learned in my undergraduate studies. Critical thinking, reasoning, leadership, and research are underappreciated by history students that separates them from their STEM major peers. These skills highlight history students’ capabilities and attract future employers towards their resume and CV’s.

My own personal experience was provided for Thursday when the guest speaker discussed the use of Handshake for marketing yourself. During the Spring semester, I was not admitted to the program and was unsure if I was going to be accepted into the History Master Program. After two more courses as a non-degree seeking student, being accepted was my option for continuing my education. Planning, I scoured for history jobs that could provide economic stability during a pandemic. Relaying these experiences allowed students to expand their criteria in what employers want and how to advertise their skills.

Handshake does have some limitations as I have seen due to the repetition of job opportunities. The Orange County Regional History center had a job for curation that lasted several weeks within the history category. The guest speaker advised branching out into different sites such as LinkedIn to aid in their search for jobs and internships. Dr. Murphree was interested in how to market students’ resumes and I support his designation of the subject for this week.

In terms of the COVID collection, students voiced the difficulty in transcribing oral histories last week. Students noticed that it took too long to write them out fully and accurately. I inquired on the progress for students if they continued to experience problems. On Thursday, they voiced less stress over it and one student used a feature of Zoom to provide a loose transcription. The difficulty in transcribing relates to my own experience in researching oral histories and appreciate the work in providing a readable copy of the interview. An occupation for historians could even be a transcriber who focuses on it which I jokingly stated to a peer. This week showed the strength of the course to embolden students to analyze and improve on their research. A wide range of occupations exist for history majors to take if they choose.

HIS 6942 Week 7 (October 3 - October 9)

 The theme for this week in Dr. Murphree was experiential learning and internships for undergraduate students to seek. The students seemed to enjoy the speaker, a University of Central Florida faculty who was a part of UCF’s experiential learning. The guest speaker, on Tuesday, discussed the use of handshake and the ability to market yourself on this website. Internships were the highlight of the website with students able to try and ascertain one from Handshake. I was very nervous about outright stating the utility of the website in regard to history majors. Upon searching through the site, I found listings for more museum curation such as Orange County Regional History Center which had been there for roughly a year. My internship spawned from my interest with teaching the course and it’s importance for new undergraduate history students. I believed my insight, given on Thursday, was more applicable for the students in Dr. Murphree’s, though Handshake and Experiential Learning should not be dismissed.

Discussions held on Thursday had students discuss the events of previous classes as little time were allocated to students previously. Students voiced their opinions on internships as they debated the utility of the lecture. Some students voiced that because they were seniors, it would be difficult to find an internship so late into the semester. Others seemed to admit interest in starting an internship which I voiced my suggestion to discuss with Dr. French who is the director for internships in the History Department. Another suggestion for websites that would benefit history majors was H-Net which had multiple job offerings at universities. Overall, students agreed that the lecture was useful, yet broad in its audience in comparison to history majors.

One point of discussion occurred on Thursday regarding a professionalization opportunity a student attended. Dr. Murphree tasks students with attending two professionalization opportunities which are lectures that can be applied to our field of history. One of these opportunities was a graduate workshop hosted by the American Historical Association. The student heard one of the speakers discussing the role of politics on the historical discourse. This graduate speaker spoke that politics always applies to our work and continues to influence future endeavors within the field. The student politely voiced their disapproval of this and further indulged the speaker to elaborate more on what they had meant.

After a long discussion, Dr. Murphree and this student brought this discussion to the class regarding politics and the field of history. Some students maintained the thesis that politics continued to shape how history is formed. For myself, I was conflicted as I immediately believed that politics, while regulating our work, does not influence it as we believe it does. The conversation shifted towards historians’ role as proactive or reactive. Should historians be writing for social changes or should historians be observers? An African American historian would seem to be more likely to advocate for social changes while a Roman historian may seem less inclined to advocate for political change. These questions are vital to how historians conduct themselves and their perception of their work. The message historians send could be interpreted as political advocacy or scholarly literature.

HIS 6942 Week 6 (September 26 - October 2)

 The theme for this week was history majors within civic life that tied into last week’s discussion on public history. Students were provided with examples of history majors utilizing their degree that did not resemble traditional academic occupations such as teaching. Instead, they were provided with different occupations along with engaging in the public in new ways. This was shown with the talks with Kevin Mercer, a professor at UCF, who discussed the importance of social media and how historians can use it to both network and provide historical knowledge. Mercer and his lecture were very beneficial to both the students in class and myself due to the nature of the subject. Dr. Murphree seemed to enjoy that Mercer represented a new form of methodology that historians actively engage with and rooted within a forum that is familiar to the students. Historians actively using social media allow for a wide range of audiences to address while balancing some dangers that come from it as well.

Mercer’s talk was beneficial as it aligned with my thesis on how social media influences historical work and how historians can engage with it. I vaguely recall Mercer’s own lecture when I was still an undergraduate and was inspired by it. At the time, Twitter was not my first thought when it came to historical discourse due to the nature of its posts. Posts are limited to 250 characters which only allow for short blurbs of information. Yet Mercer presented evidence that, even with that limitation, you can network with other historians and tweet research pertaining to your topic. The lecture showed students a different sphere of academia and public history as both professors and teachers engage with each other on Twitter.

Regarding my own thesis, I propose that other sites such as YouTube and Reddit hold a larger presence than Twitter. While Mercer does discuss the importance of the site, I emphasize that these other sites provide for more durable and knowledgeable historical discourse. YouTube allows for videos to be posted that can allow users to share historical presentations on certain aspects of history. Reddit, broadly, can allow historians to engage with the public and promote themselves and their research. Social media is one form of how history majors engage in civic life.

The class continues to be going well within the COVID-19 environment. I was happy to see that one student was going to be finishing an interview and contributing to the COVID collection as they had informed me of this during Tuesday’s class. They did express some concern about privacy with the interviewee, but I believe that was due to their cautious nature. Office hours have been sparse as graduate work pulls my attention away. However, I have been freed of a busy week and can continue to perform my duties. Dr. Murphree has been a wonderful professor that is there for me. When dealing with a stressful situation, he graciously allowed me to vent about the situation which I am thankful for.

HIS 6942 Week 5 (September 19 - September 25)

 This week’s internship covered aspects of public history as discussed in the class. Dr. Murphree assigned readings covering public history which can be an ambiguous genre to approach within the field. A large portion of undergraduate classes at the University of Central Florida lack the distinction between a public and academic historian. As a current graduate student, it seems easier to identify what can be considered a public history project and an academic work. The students in the class seemed to reflect my own experiences within the undergraduate history program regarding identification of these two classifications. Some students were shaky on what the definition of public history meant. A student even reached out to me in my own office hours to inquire about it.

Dr. Murphree inquired students to discover core principles of public history in an attempt to engage students with the topic. Students identified components to public history such as audience, methodology, and other aspects of the division. I noticed that the students began to understand what the subdivision is and the manner at which professional public historians differ from academics. Both divisions are trained in the same way, yet their audiences and methodologies, for example, differ. Public history can reach a greater audience than academic works due to the nature of them.

When I provided my own thoughts on public history, I discuss my own thesis which researches public history projects such as Reddit and YouTube. These sites allow for historians and non-academics to provide a new methodology for providing historical knowledge. Computers, Visualization, and History by David Staley reflected the message that writing prose does not have to be historians’ primary methods for broadcasting their findings. While Staley was mostly concentrating on visualization such as pictures, statistics and graphs, sites such as YouTube or Reddit embody these new methodologies that Staley discusses.

One lesson I’ve learned is that this internship and the graduate program has instilled a refined technique of time management. Time management is crucial when conducting an internship or attending graduate class. The technique is allocating time frames for you to work on several things at a time which is helpful for graduate work. Sometimes, you cannot dedicate enough time to a particular book or article. The internship, in particular, has helped me ascertain that it is crucial to know how to spend your time efficiently and not waste it.

Overall, the internship has been going well. One particular student continues to show up to office hours and has begun inquiring my thoughts on subjects such as public history. I will share my lamentations with Dr. Murphree that the class has to adapt with such a small number of students. These lessons which I’ve discussed in previous blog posts remain valuable, but the methodology of how we teach these classes could be tweaked. Much like Staley advocacy for new techniques, historians and educators can find innovative means of providing historical knowledge. Public history was, at one point, a new technique that historians utilize for their findings.

Onward to Normalcy Week 4 Covid 19 Update

Much of this week saw no distinct news about COVID from me. So I'll keep this blog post short since there is not much to say. I did notice that there was some information regarding the COVID vaccine in processing and the CDC offering to orchestrate plans to distribute the vaccine. 

In UCF's case, I've seen a small increase in population during the afternoon parts of the time. I've taken a few times to eat in the cafeteria of the Student Union, noticing that there are a great number of students that wish to use the facility to eat. 

The Union will always blare this announcement reminding of social distancing every five to ten minutes. This week did not see much change in the pandemic. 

Perhaps this is a sign that the pandemic will fade and we could return to normalcy in the upcoming months. 

HIS 6942 Week 4 (September 12 - September 18)

 

This week was a rollercoaster of emotions for me as I experienced some difficulties that could have set me back. Tuesday saw my computer crash and jeopardize my documents and attendance in classes. Thankfully, this issue was rectified when I both recovered my computer and saved the documents. The whole process instilled how vital a computer is and showed how to recover documents saved on a drive that was dying. My computer is fully operational as it was reset to factory settings. For the internship, the computer fiasco only affected my emails which I may have lost some students emailing me on Tuesday.

The students seem to be growing out of their shell this week in classes as they discussed several historical debates that historians continue to grapple with. Dr. Murphree and I facilitated a discussion regarding apologies for historical events which propelled students to communicate more on their opinions on the matter. Some students believed that apologies did not matter as they were ineffective in addressing current day issues and only distracting from solving injustices. Others insisted that apologies may be useful in returning lost property or money. A common example was reparations for the effects of slavery and Jim Crow/segregation on African Americans. In addition, other debates such as history’s link to religion and how we approach history was prevalent in Tuesday’s class.

I am glad to see students beginning to discuss more of these historical debates as other history classes refrain from addressing them. History courses at the University of Central Florida stick to the content of the class’s topic except for History and Historians. These discussions are vital in how we conduct research and present historical knowledge. The internship reminds me of these important questions concerning our field and it will help me develop my thesis further.

Office hours have been effective in reaching out to students. Some students have come in to ask me about certain discussions in class and checking on what they are supposed to be doing. One question was directed towards the interview process for the COVID collection. Regarding the COVID collection, students seem to be procrastinating the interviews. I believe that this is due to how fast these interviews can be. My interview experience seemed to spend a great deal on the transcription process versus the real interviews. Practice makes perfect which I try and encourage students to interview more than just one even if it is not a requirement.

The class debates really affected how I look at the graduate discussions we have which are similar in nature. The internship encourages me to bring my own perspective on topics such as the ones we discuss in class through the graduate eye. I believe in the upcoming weeks; more student activity will foster due to them breaking the ice with these debates. Some students seem to have insightful commentary that mirrors my graduate classmates. Next week, students will be discussing Public History and its importance in the field. I will be adding my own perspective as someone interested in the track of Public History.

Continuing through COVID-19 (September 5-September 11, 2020)

 My experience with COVID-19 in class seemed to be rather slow which warranted skipping the second week of classes. 

Parking continues to be very open during the morning, though I have noticed an increasing amount as we continue into the semester. The Student Union's cafeteria seems to be growing in participants as it was difficult to grab a seat to talk to a graduate classmate about readings. 

Dr. Murphree informed me that there was an incident with faculty having conducted class without facial masks and even ate lunch with the students of their class. This was rather alarming as this could spread the infection of COVID within the University of Central Florida. It was surprising that the faculty were the source of the problem. I initially assumed that students would have an issue with the masks, yet I was proven wrong this week. There was some discussions on the UCF reddit that speculated on who. I remember reading that it could be from the Education Department which I was skeptical. It is important to continue adhering to the university's response to COVID-19. 

Another instance this week saw UCF students protesting over a political speaker coming to campus. The speaker was a Kent State graduate, Kaitlin Bennett attending campus to "ask students who would be a better president for black Americans, Trump or Biden?"(1) Students were quick to protest her attendance due to her lack of a mask. Much like the faculty not following regulations, UCF students are very adamant, rightfully so, to protect their community from the virus being spread. I do believe that her attendance was going to be negatively received as she has multiple different controversial ideologies. My worry with the protests against Bennett is the high amount of people within a section of campus. Videos from Twitter show groups of people not social distancing and being next to one another. UCF police were quick to try and calm the situation, yet it seemed that Ms. Bennett was more concerned about her rights than the potential spread of COVID-19. It is important that the University's statement identified her as not adhering to the policies for COVID-19, not her right to speak. 

This week's theme seems to be optimism for students to be very strict on following proper procedures. The faculty and outsiders are not limited in students advocating for wearing masks and following the rules set by the university.

It is my opinion that we can count on students to report instances of people not practicing hygienic practices within the pandemic.

1. https://twitter.com/KaitMarieox/status/1304145390724419591 

HHIS 6942 Week 3 (9/5-9/11/2020)

 Going into the third week, I was ecstatic to see students already beginning to involve themselves with the COVID-19 Collection project in class. I assigned students to select people who they’d like to interview to push them to start thinking on it early. The assignment saw half the student email me with assigned interviewees while the other half did not provide me anything. This was concerning to me with such a small group of students unable to provide me with the email, yet I realized that I was overly ambitious. Dr. Murphree corrected me that students were only required to do one interview for the collection, yet I was under the impression that it would be multiple. This pushed me to conduct above what was expected of students by interviewing more than one student for the collection.

The third week’s classes consisted of discussions regarding historical discourse such as what it means to be a historian and the relationship with the public. Students seem to be breaking the ice with these discussions as some began to speak up. Dr. Murphree conducted this discussion as he tried to provide thoughtful discussion on who is a historian and the classifications in the field. I was able to provide some insight on this from a graduate perspective, discussing the authority of historians and interaction within the public domain. The Thursday class saw a guest speaker from the American Historical Association, Megan Connor, discussing the importance of internships and professionalization. Students seem to be very interested in internships due to both Connor’s talk and my participation in the class. It reminds me how blessed I am to be able to participate in an internship.

The internship with Dr. Murphree has propelled me towards contributing to the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Central Florida. I worked with Mary Rubin, head archivist, prior with volunteering work at the archives and I felt indebted from the volunteering opportunity. On Thursday, I conducted three interviews with students that had diverse perspectives on the pandemic. These interviews were conducted as oral histories and were recorded over Zoom. Two students were off-campus while another student was out of the country on an oversees internship. The internship helped me conduct these interviews and provided practice with oral history. On Sunday, September 13, I will be conducting two interviews with students that graduated in Spring 2020 as they were denied a physical graduation ceremony.

Mary Rubin discussed some semblance of a paid position as a lead on this collection. She was careful not to say it was confirmed, which is understandable with the budget cuts, yet I still am eager to contribute to this collection. Still, I am focusing on my graduate studies and Dr. Murphree’s class.

I held office hours this week which have been a little slow with student participation. One particular student was very eager to meet me in office hours. However, I must confess that Labor Day forced me to have only one office hour meeting. Though, it is my hope that students will continue to open themselves up and talk to me. Interacting with the students has strengthened my teaching abilities within the internship.

HIS 6942 Week 2 Blog (August 31-September 4)

 Entering the second week, the COVID-19 memory project was the priority as the Special Collections and University Archives introduced it to the students. Mary Rubin provided a presentation for the students to present and I participated in the presentation as a speaker. This participation was due to my experience working in archives at SCUA and I relayed my experience to the students. Most students seemed very eager to participate in the project, especially in the creation of questions such as how COVID-19 has affected students in a wide variety of areas. Students began to ask questions and participate actively as they are responsible for collecting oral history for the project. Dr. Murphree has tasked me to be the project coordinator over the students, managing their contribution to the project and guide them properly. I tried to push students to begin thinking on who they would like to interview by next Tuesday as a means of encouraging them. I am expecting them to email me by Monday to state who they are interviewing and why so that they have a foundation to begin the project. Procrastination was always a characteristic of my undergraduate degree which lead me to this assignment.

Dr. Murphree and I spoke about student interaction in the class as I voiced my concerns about it due to the presentations this week. This class lacked any discussion about historical discourse, yet I concede that the importance of these presentations was significant.  Students seem to be a little nervous or anxious talking as it is the second week. Mary did ask for them to pair up and formulate questions for the project which did get them talking for a brief amount of time. Going into week 3, I would like to see more active participation from the students in the class.

While students have been passive with participation in the physical class, their online participation is very well done. Dr. Murphree assigns weekly discussion posts for students to write on the assigned readings of the class. The students are able to voice their own reflection of the readings which asserts that they have potential of leading and participating in discussions in class. Week 3 will see discussions between students which I will try to observe their discussion and provide my own experiences with the class and in graduate school. Discussing historical discourse is vital to the major and practicing public speaking.

Student interaction with me seems to be improving as students have been emailing me about questions regarding the class. I am honored that the students have, in this aspect, approached me. Most of the emails are mundane questions that can be answered fairly quickly. There is one particular email that has an extensive amount of detail that requires me to carefully guide their career opportunities. It is critical that I provide the best and clear answer for this student’s email as it will impact how they proceed in the history major. While there exists pressure of providing the student with answers, the satisfaction of guiding them has taken priority. This aspect of the internship was my main passion when Dr. Murphree presented this opportunity to me and I am glad to be doing it.

"Armor Up, Knights!" Week 1 (8/24-8/28)

 "Armor Up, Knights" 

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to drastically affect the world and the United States with the fear of catching the virus. It has thrown many students off balance and leaves them with numerous different experiences that hopefully this internship can present to future students and professors. I've noticed a few things upon my return to the University of Central Florida on the first week. 

"Armor Up, Knights" is a phrase that the university uses to remind students to wear masks on campus. Sometimes I forget that I need a mask, but I have always wore it on campus. 

The first thing that one will notice if they are a previous faculty or student is the parking situation. Previously, the university struggled with providing apt parking spots for visitors. For example, Garage B was at full capacity roughly around noon. However, this is not the case in the Fall Semester of 2020. Upon my entry to attend Dr. Murphree's class, I was struck with the lack of cars parked in the garages. 

I parked in Garage D on the second floor which was completely empty that Tuesday morning. For three years as an undergraduate, I had never experienced a stress free parking experience. On Thursday, it was the same situation.

Another experience at the college is the empty space when walking around. Normally, the first week of class would see an abundance of clubs, organizations, and gatherings of students trying to recruit new people into their social circles. When I arrived and walked around on both Tuesday and Thursday, I saw empty spaces and dispersed students attending their classes. The first week, normally a parade on campus, was essentially a ghost town. 

Zoom and digital technology has challenged professors to become more educated in this aspect. Both my undergraduate and graduate experiences this week has shown me that the need to properly utilize these things is critical for a historian in a post-COVID world. How can we properly convey history to students if we cannot organize a Zoom meeting for students?

I have not yet seen any signs of an outbreak of the virus at the University of Central Florida as of writing this on Thursday (8/27/2020). 

The pandemic has drastically affected our first semester at UCF, yet we, as both students and faculty, continue to not let this hurdle trip up our journey.

HIS 6942 Week 1 Blog (8/24-8/28)

Hello to everyone who is viewing this blog.

My name is Scott Galloway and I am a graduate student at the University of Central Florida pursuing my Master’s Degree in Public History. Dr. Daniel Murphree provided me with the opportunity to serve as an intern within his Professionalizing History Majors course in the Fall of 2020. Previously, I had undertaken the course in my last year of undergraduate work. The course was useful in understanding my history degree and providing me with a number of opportunities including graduate studies. This introductory blog post should outline my goals in the class, the assigned project, and serve as a perspective of a graduate engaging with undergraduates.

Within Dr. Murphree’s course as an undergraduate, I lacked understanding on what I would be doing with my bachelor’s degree. My coursework only seemed to point me towards going to graduate school or pursuing a career teaching. The class taught me that the history profession is diverse across the job market. It instilled in me what being a history major entails and how to properly articulate that to employers. I voiced my praise of the course to Dr. Murphree during the few weeks left of the Spring 2019 semester and wanted to be involved in aiding future undergraduates in their endeavors. All history majors, at one point, question their major and express doubts of their choice, but I wanted to assuage their fears.

My goal for taking this course is to properly give a perspective of a previous undergraduate and graduate student to the class. The internship project allows me to further aid students in knowing what a history degree can do for them along with personally providing them opportunities to enhance their education at the University of Central Florida. In addition, I shall be assisting Dr. Murphree in teaching and providing discussion regarding complex historical debates. My identification as a student liaison can be useful from students being more comfortable confiding in me as a former classmate.

 The internship project also involves being a project coordinator working with the Special Collections and University Archives within UCF’s library. Dr. Murphree was aware that I had volunteered at the SCUA with Mary Rubin and I (along with others) attempted to work on a collaboration between his class and SCUA. Dr. Murphree had organized a COVID-19 Memory Project where students would work with the SCUA department to document the perception of UCF students on the COVID-19 pandemic. This week I had already provided an example of an Oral Interview for the class to understand what an oral history is. I will be organizing the students and being a manager in their work towards contributing to the collection to the library for future students that are interested in UCF students’ experiences.

The skills I hope to gain from this interview include advancing my leadership and teaching abilities. My leadership role seems to be relegated to small undergraduate projects instead of leading a classroom discussion. This internship can provide me with familiarizing the role of a teacher by observing Dr. Murphree’s teaching and interacting with students both in and out of class. The COVID-19 project will strengthen my leadership abilities and teach me how to properly give oral interviews. Another skill is teaching in a post-COVID college course as restrictions may provide both hindrances and opportunities that past history courses never experienced. After my initial report, I will provide some insights on the university's response and details regarding the course in a secondary blog post from this one. 

This internship means a great deal to me as a previous student in this course. This course continues to show prowess when providing students the ability to professionalize themselves and orientate themselves towards success post-graduation.

 I look forward to this internship.

Scott Galloway

Individual VLP Project Blog Entry 2 (2/26/2020)

This week covered the VLP Project on Clifford Wayne Smith including meeting with classmates assigned to the group. The group established that the theme that could be the center of the video pertained to the negative stigma surrounding Vietnam and its veterans. Veterans such as Clifford Wayne Smith not receiving much praise for his actions despite the large sum of medals he acquired during his service. The group cautioned about coverage of Mr. Smith due to his recent death in December and wanted to reach out to the family about his service. In light of his death, the video may transition from the negative stigma of Vietnam towards a positive message about supporting U.S. veterans and respect their service unlike how Mr. Smith was treated upon returning home. Mr. Smith, a veteran that saved multiple American soldiers’ lives, should not be treated as a joke where young men slam books behind him to make him jump. The video should seek to improve and further dissuade people from acting like that towards our veterans. Noticeably, a large authority was held by the family of Mr. Smith as they could have documentation of his correspondence, pictures of him, and other memorabilia. However, due to his recent death, these materials may be inaccessible. Overall, the group’s discussion was beneficial in beginning to plan the video for the VLP project.

Reviewing Clifford Wayne Smith’s oral history conducted by the university drew much of my interest. His background was very average such as only acquiring a high school diploma.  Noticeably Mr. Smith drew the most emotion during the portions of the interview that brought him back into combat. He staggered with statements and vividly remembered such memories that made me feel empathy towards the veteran. Smith’s oral history provides perspective of the soldiers serving in Vietnam such as dealing with rain for twelve hours a day, lugging a forty to sixty-pound rucksack, and some interaction with the local Vietnamese. While the group discussed his service, an aspect that may be prioritized is how these soldiers lived on a daily basis. Smith provides insight on a typical day of guard duty in the night and then active patrols throughout the day to find enemy contact. Even when discussing his role in saving his and two other platoons from the North Vietnamese solder, the other soldiers were relaxing and not paying much attention to the road they were guarding. Veterans’ daily lives should be included as every day is not some packaged action-packed adventure that the media portrays active service as.

In addition, the oral history signified how emotional Mr. Smith was about his service and his reception upon returning home. Initially, Mr. Smith was very calm and made a few jokes in the beginning such as discussion of being drafted, NCO school, and first impressions of Vietnam. As the interview delved deeper into Vietnam, he was becoming more emotional regarding his injury and return home. It was morbid to hear a veteran discuss how people treated him as a joke, using books to trigger him. Mr. Smith also stayed in touch and remained in contact with veterans providing evidence that veterans enjoy at least some contact with one another. Mr. Smith finished the interview by stating that serving in the military should be required as according to him it makes people responsible. Mr. Smith’s contribution to the United States as a Vietnam veteran remains a key aspect of honoring him through this project.

The aspects of the project I desire to cover includes his day to day life in Vietnam and the sense of how an average man can be a hero. Clifford Smith graduated with only a high school degree which was a normal occurrence within the time. While being accepted into the NCO school and being trained as an infantry mortar man, his service in Vietnam only saw his role as an infantry company. His first experience in combat involved saving three platoons from being discovered by eliminating an enemy combatant. A simple task of eliminating an enemy that had massive consequences if left alone that propelled Mr. Smith to be nominated for the Bronze Star. While not receiving said medal, Mr. Smith clearly deserved praise for his actions yet was denied. My goal at the end of the VLP project is to have hopefully honored Clifford Wayne Smith than how he was treated when he returned home.

Works Cited:

Central Florida, RICHES of, "Smith, Clifford Wayne interview" (2014). Veterans Oral Histories. 244. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/veteransoralhistories/244 

Individual VLP Project Blog Entry 1 (2/19/2020)

This week of 2/12-2/19 included the first individual VLP Project Blog Entry after sampling Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and PBS's documentary of the Vietnam War with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

The topic of the VLP Project has shifted to the Vietnam War, specifically battles that have not yet been assigned. However, these works by O'Brien and Burns present aspects and themes that can be useful in the production of the VLP Project assigned.

Documenting the Vietnam War enables the author to enhance the historical context and evidence to provide a powerful message to the viewers. With the participation in the Veteran’s Legacy Project in the University of Central Florida, some examples of works done were provided for inspiration, information, and the aspects these works discuss. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried was a collection of short stories within the novel that humanized the characters and made them more relatable or believable. Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War uses oral history with interviews, photographs of the war, and a narration to provide information to the viewer. These works provide some foundation in what aspects and themes that can be covered within the VLP such as humanity, morality, and perspective of the war.

The sense of presenting historical content with the raw emotion of the veterans exhibited by both O’Brien’s novel and the documentary connects with the viewers. Seeing a Vietnam veteran speaking to the camera with his face clearly distraught about remembering his fallen comrade can not be accurately put into words. Ken Burns’ documentary provides the viewer with ample interviews of veterans and those involved in South Korea. He utilizes stories of people to help the narrative flow fluidly. For example, in the episode “Resolve” Burns presents a man named Denton Crocker Jr. with a picture of him that desired to serve his country at an early age. While Crocker was accepted into the prestigious 101^st Airborne, he finds the role of running logistics to be “boring” and disappointing.[1] Burns utilizes Crocker to accentuate how some Americans viewed Vietnam as a war to emulate World War II. This example provides for a smooth transition to the main thesis of Burns’ documentary. In addition, the viewer identifies with Crocker after knowing his name, a family member talking about worrying of his return, and establishes a connection. Having the support of these human examples, the thesis that Burns presents is strengthened and made more believable.

O’Brien’s work tends to accentuate the soldier’s perspective as a veteran himself. Characters within the short stories react more emotionally such as O’Brien’s reaction to his first kill or Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ anguish over a soldier’s death. In the short story, “The Man I Killed”, O’Brien fabricates this false narrative of what the person he killed had done in their life, giving himself guilt over the act. Other characters present different ways of coping with the immense trauma of serving in the Vietnam War. Some instances of coping remain harmless such as Cross’ infatuation with a woman in the United States or Henry Dobbin’s identification of his ex-girlfriend’s pantyhose as a good luck charm.[2] Other means of coping act as a danger to those around them as seen by Azar’s acts of cruelty or Kiley’s cruel treatment of an animal after a traumatic death. These instances provide the reader with a sense of how American soldiers were coping and O’Brien presents several different ways as a means to not hold it to one coping mechanism. In addition, the short stories, while not chronological, aid in depicting development with the characters and a sense of understanding how these characters act. Building this connection with the characters serves to sympathize and understand how they react to certain incidents. This work humanizes the characters or the interviewers to attract their readers or viewers to understand the Vietnam War accurately.

These works aid in the process of selecting the threads or aspects of the Vietnam War covered with the VLP which include the human aspects of the war while sticking to a larger narrative. Brien’s work lacks narrative information on the Vietnam War, yet provides for ample evidence on how soldiers react and cope with their service. Burns’ remarks that writing stories regarding these characters can “revive, at least briefly, that which is absolute and unchanging.[3] The Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War blends the oral history of interviews with the larger narrative, allowing for that connection with the human side while providing the narrative. The VLP project short video that I will work on should connect with the viewer with inspiration of finding the balance between the larger narrative and the subtle smaller human side of the conflict.

Works Cited:

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Mariner Books, 2009.

Ward, Geoffrey, writer. The Vietnam War. Season 1, episode 2, “Riding the Tiger (1961-1963).” Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Aired September 18, 2017. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770

Ward, Geoffrey, writer. The Vietnam War. Season 1, episode 4, “Resolve (January 1966 – June 1967).” Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Aired September 20, 2017. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770

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[1] The Vietnam War, season 1 episode 4, “Resolve (January 1966- June 1967), directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. PBS, 2017. https://www.netflix.com/title/80997770

[2] Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (Boston: Mariner Books, 2009), 111.

[3] O Brien, The Things They Carried, 224.

HIS 5067 First Posting

This is an initial test of blogger to show that I have created a blog for my academic engagement assignment for HIS 5067. Thank you.