Abroad Overload!

... but they will never forget how you made them feel .” Carl W. Buehner I'll be honest, I can't really think of much to base this blog post on, however, my October 18 was pretty fantastic, and I just really have to share that! I was planning on going to Eldon House in the morning to do some work and then going in again in the evening to help out with their program. Instead, I got the morning off! So being a good history student, I decided to head to campus and attend the lecture by Dr. Craig Simpson on the Gettysburg address. Now, the civil war is a topic incredibly ( as seen in a previous post ) close to my heart. I've been to several Northern battlefields as well as some Southern sites, I had the pleasure of giving an interpretive talk on the Gettysburg battlefield about artillery for an undergrad civil war class, and even the town of Shippensburg where I completed my undergrad was occupied by Confederate troops prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. The Civil War ...

then bring the museum to the people." Me, it was me, I said that. Museums like the Smithsonian have it easy. Well, for the most part. The museums are known worldwide and with a massive range of subjects and topics, it's pretty hard to not find something of interest even to the most stubborn of visitors. The entire concept of a target audience is something all museums should keep in mind. Speaking from experience, I might delve deep into a specific moment in U.S. history, but my dad might hang back. Same with vice-versa - my dad will spend all day in a museum about planes and their components while I stare glassy-eyed at the 60th engine of the day. Sometimes that's just the way people are. Not every person that walks into a museum is going to feel the same way as another, but at least they are setting foot in the door. Where we really have a problem are the people who just do not go to museums. In our theory class, we read an article by Marilyn Hood titled, "St...

...but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” D ouglas Adams, ' The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul' Yet again I find myself at the end of another smashing week of Grad School! Needless to say, I've survived my first official week of classes, which, I suppose I should mention, are the following: Understanding Archives: The Management of Primary Sources in the Digital Age Public History: Theory, History, and Practice Digital Public History I'm excited to really get into the nitty gritty of all the projects. Forthcoming rapidly is a presentation for my archives class based on an online exhibit that has been put together by an archive. I have an idea on what I want to do it on, (here's looking at you Mütter museum) but I want to get it approved before I really take a bite out of it.  My public history class is well underway and after the readings we had for this past week, I'm already making connections between my own experience at the Berk...