AHA Memories

I'm not at the AHA Conference this year - woot! Ur... not that going to the AHA conference is painful - but it usually is. I'm sort of at the meeting in spirit, however, since I had to write a report to be presented at the board meeting of one of my organizations. Hopefully, there won't be big questions about it.

I am glad that HNN does great little updates about what is going on at the meeting. It's nice to see what I am/not missing. Unfortunately, the news on day one sounds particularly painful with a horrible market awaiting those people who are job hunting. It does give me high hopes that we'll be successful in our search and maybe get someone so good that we can make a pitch to the administration to turn it into a tenure track job.

The other thing that not being at the AHA Conference allows me to do is reflect back on some of my (least) favorite conference memories:

1. Skipping sessions one day to try and get into the debates being held in about Clinton's impeachment. (I was unsuccessful.)
2. Being 15 minutes late to my first EVER job interview at the AHA. :(
3. Being on a panel with some great but oblivious guys while being 8.5 months pregnant.
4. Running into that jerk from grad school and having him admit that he was a jerk in grad school.
5. Hanging out at a bar with my advisor from grad school and another of her former students and gossiping about department politics while slowly getting drunk.
6. Hanging out with old grad school friends to watch our ph.d. institution get trounced in a bowl game.
7. Attending an anti-war sing-a-long hosted by the peace history society.

I'm still trying to decide whether to apply to present a paper at the conference in 2012. Chicago in the winter really isn't much fun, but it is close to my old stomping grounds so there is a chance of running into lots of former friends.

You Want Me to Chair the Search Committee - Seriously?!

For the first time in WAY TOO long, my department gets to conduct a search. I was very psyched about it at first. After all what better indication of my accomplishments as chair than attaining this 'plum' for the department. My joy, unfortunately, quickly faded. Just as I was getting ready to ask one of my senior colleagues to run the search, the Dean informed me that I should be the chair of the committee. *Sigh*

So, like any good academic, I started my preparations for this new task by doing research about what makes a good search and what pitfalls I should avoid. I talked to the Dean, talked to the last person in our department who chaired a search, talked to the Human Resources staff, and talked to the department secretary. That got me through writing and posting the ad. Now, however, I face a big list of deadlines that have to be set, schedules that have to be worked around, and a host of other details to take care of. Luckily, the Chronicle has a few articles that might help.

1. Attention Search Committees
2. The Slip Ups of Search Committees
3. How to Conduct a Successful Search
4. How to Conduct a Successful Search II

All this information has at least given some things to think about, including two things I never considered before. 1. Having some sort of committee-wide 'grading rubric' for candidates (3 points if you are from a top 20 institution, 2 if you are from a top 50, 1 if you are in the top 100). I'm not sure about this, but I'm at least going to look into it more. And 2. Wiki Jobs for History. Very cool for candidates and not so bad for me. I can at least see where in the process other institutions are and how our position/search stacks up against others being conducted this year.

Semester Goals

In an effort to live a more balanced and well-ordered life this semester I set some goals for myself. I'll try and do a update on Fridays to see how well I'm living up to these goals.

1. Get an hour of research done a day. I've set aside an hour a day to focus on my research/writing. I've also recruited a research buddy who is going to check in with me each day so that we can encourage each other to focus on our writing.
2. Work out for at least 30 minutes every day. I've recruited two work out partners. One for Tuesday/Thursday and one for Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
3. Leave the house by 7:40 each morning. If I can drop the kids off early enough, I can get to school by 8 and start gettign work done.
4. Get to bed by midnight each night. If I don't I won't be able to get up early enough to leave the house by 7:40.
5. Clean up the kitchen before I got to bed. Otherwise, I'll be depressed when I get up in the morning.
6. Put away lecture notes immediately after class finishes. Otherwise I'll have a pile to deal with later.
7. Update attendance same day that class is held. Otherwise, I'll have a pile to deal with later.
8. Answer or delete all email before leaving for the day.
9. Add any 'tasks' that come through email to TASK LIST then delete email by end of the day.
10. Immediately add meetings, etc. to calendar. So that if I 'forget' a meeting, it will be on purpose.
11. Devote at least one hour a day to grading whenever there is work to be graded. Maybe this way I won't always feel guilty and desperate. Besides most of my post-midnight evenings have occured because of trying to complete my grading.

How did I do this first week of school at meeting my goals??

1. Research: Mostly Fail. I only got in 1.5 of my 5 hours of research.
2. Work-out: WIN!
3. Leave House on Time: WIN!
4. In bed by midnight: Mostly win. I think one night it was about 12:30.
5. Clean Kitchen: FAIL - there is still a pan in the sink from dinner Monday.
6. Put away notes: WIN!
7. Attendance: Mostly win. Still have to enter two classes from today.
8. Email: Mostly win.
9. Task Lists: FAIL - I need to add a new tasks program to my iphone for this to work.
10. Meetings: WIN!
11. Grading: N/A :)

I'm giving myself 7 out of 10 for this week or a C-.

Circles Versus Rows

A new fall semester begins and so does the debate of whether circles or rows is the default position for desks in the classroom. The row adherents argue that rows are the standard position so if you want to use circles you must have your students move their desks back into rows before they leave the room.

The circle fans argue that circles provide a better educational environment. They also argue that no one sets the room up in circles for their students, so they shouldn't be forced to move them back to rows when they leave.

The row contingent has just now fired back with a NEW arguement for rows. They claim that it is easier for the cleaning staff to clean if the classroom is in rows. Therefore, circle faculty, even if they don't care about their fellow pro-row faculty, should put the classroom into rows when they finish class since it is more curteous toward the staff.

I'm in the middle of the row/circle debate - literally. The person who teaches before me is a circle fan. The person who teaches after me is a row fan. Being flexible, I can teach to a circle or a row. However, I'm going to get glared at by my row colleague for the circle even though I didn't have a hand in creating the circle. It also doesn't seem FAIR to require my students to re-establish the room into rows when we did not 'circle-ize it' to begin with.

It almost makes me long for the days when desks were bolted down to the floor.

History T-Shirts

I love clever people who come up with history inspired t-shirts.

1. Lincoln Shot First!



2. Ben Franklin and the Dead Presidents



3. History is Very Serious!



4. Historical Preenactment Society

Finals Done

Turned my grades in only 2 hours late today! Woot!! Some special angel must have been watching over me because the registrar's office didn't turn off the electronic grade entry portal the way they typically do if you are late. So I didn't even have to make the walk of shame from my office to the administrative building to submit them.

I do, however, already have my first grade email from a student. She was making an A in the class before the final and ended up with an A-. She got A's in all her other courses even her HARDEST course. How in the world did she end up with an A- in mine - she asks. I'm quite certain she'll turn up in January demanding to see her final... I wonder if I should write comments on it now to save myself the trouble next semester?? I probably won't because I don't want to touch anything resembling student papers until mid-January.

Paranoid?! Who me?

We are in our current dean's third year. For the last two years he has hosted a December event at his home the day grades are turned in. It's usually a pretty nice spread with decent food and nice wine, etc. There hasn't been anything said about it this year, however, so I asked him at the school meeting if there was going to be party this December.

He got a little flustered, explained that because of the economic situation, etc. there would be no party.

Okay, fine. Seems reasonable. I saw him in the hall about 5 minutes later with a group of people and gave a off-handed apology since I'd put him on the spot. He just kind of smiled, but didn't say anything.

So now I'm worried that I really DID offend him. And right before we find out about raises, too! Ugh. One of my colleagues, with whom I discussed my fear, said I should write an apology email making it clear that I only asked because I really LOVED his parties. That seems overly creepy to me. It's time like this that I wish there was a clip system for faculty members like there is at my son's school. His 'clip' gets moved every time he does something bad, until he eventually ends up in the Principal's office. A ton of probably unnecessary stress could be relieved if I could just go look and see if the dean has moved my clip.

Negotiations with the Dean

I'm finding my first year as department chair to be a mixed bag. Some things have been fun - like getting to meet all the new history majors. Other parts are not so fun, especially dealing with my Dean. He's a decent guy, but his first response to whatever I ask is to be contrary. I understand sometimes being contrary is necessary - but it is annoying to have it as the default position.

Of course now that I KNOW he likes to go against everything I ask for, I'm just going to reverse the way I ask for things.

Instead of asking: "Hey can so-and-so get a course off in the fall to finish his book?", I'll say: "So-and-so wants a course off in the fall to finish his book, but I don't think he deserves it. What do you think?"

Instead of asking: "Could so-and-so get some extra travel money to present a paper overseas?" I'll say: "I don't think so-and-so should get extra money for his overseas conference. What do you think?"

Instead of saying: "Hey, it's not fair that history has a smaller budget per faculty member than all other departments!" I'll ask: "Hey isn't it great that history has been able to prosper so well with just an inequitable budget? I bet if you cut it, we could ever do better next year!"

Okay... maybe the last one wouldn't work.

It is really only the end of week four?

My return from sabbatical has been both refreshing and draining. I am enjoying being back in front of the classroom. There is really nothing better for one's ego than having a class of 30 students writing down every word that comes out of your mouth. At the same time, however, I don't have the stamina I had before sabbatical. By the time my last class of the day is finished I am ready to crawl back to my office and collapse.

Of course it doesn't help that I've taken over as department chair this year AND am on the executive committee of our faculty governing system. I thought I would be flush with power inherent in my new positions, instead I'm just overworked.

I would be looking forward to the weekend if it didn't contain the first REAL batch of grading for me to accomplish.

You Can't Cover Everything

There is a story in Education Week about the committee that is determining the history standards to be taught in Texas over the next 10 years. A couple of the committee members have recommended that less time be devoted to discussing historical figures like Chavez and Marshall. They suggest that historically these men aren't as important as founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin.

My initial response is to jump on a soap box and talk about the relevance of Marshall and Chavez to not only African American and Latino history, but to more general political history of the 1960s and 1970s. But if I take a step back and look at my own syllabus, well I need to be a bit more forgiving. Because let's face it, you can't cover everything. I think I mention Marshall during one paragraph of one lecture when I talk about the Civil Rights Movement and Chavez never comes up at all. Is this because I don't think they are important? Absolutely not. I do think they are important - but I'd rather talk more about the movements they led/worked in - then about the individuals. Indeed, I think Ben Franklin only gets a paragraph or two, as well, in spite of the fact that I spend several days talking about the American Revolution.

In part, I think my approach is inspired by what I expect teaching history to demonstrate. What I want to show is NOT hey look at these great men and what they were able to do, but rather hey look at these fundamental changes that occurred in our political and social system and the role that activists played in accomplishing them.

Another Famous History Major

Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, was an undergraduate history major at Princeton.

A New York Times' story had this to say about Sotomayor's undergraduate education.

She was the history major and Puerto Rican student activist at Princeton who spent her first year at that bastion of the Ivy League “too intimidated to ask questions.”

…In 1976, she wrote her senior thesis at Princeton on Luis Muñoz Marín, the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, and dedicated it in part “to the people of my island — for the rich history that is mine.”

Ugliest Presidents in History

5. William McKinnley - jowls like a bulldog, eyebrows like shag rug from the 1970s.

















4. John Tyler – anorexic before it was fashionable.


















3. James Madison – if he HAD hair on top, he’d have a mullet. At least he had his height to fall back on… oh wait, no he didn’t.
















2. Lyndon Johnson – big nose, big ears, and deep set eyes - a hulking figure with no respect for other people’s personal space.
















1. Martin Van Buren – picture speaks for itself. What scares me though is that if THIS is how he looked on ‘picture day’ imagine what he must have looked like every other day of his life.

Student Rights

"The only right a student has as a student is the right to receive the best possible education that the college can give." - Dean Virginia Gildersleeve

Governor Blagojevich - Joins the History Major Wall of Shame

I like to keep track of the famous history majors - I figure it can be a recruiting tool for undergrads. It is a way of demonstrating that history majors can do more than teach. Someone with a major in history can go on to be a diplomat, business person, lawyer, sports star, or politician.

Of course, some history majors I'd rather not claim. Like the coach in my last post, who really misunderstood his professors' lectures on historical significance.

Even more shameful, however, is the fact that current Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was a history major. I think trying to 'auction' off a U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder is enough to earn him a spot of the 'History Major Wall of Shame', especially because his actions don't indicate that he learned much from his historical studies.

Some of you may want to quibble with me on this point. After all, Illinois and Chicago (in particular) has a long history of corrupt politicians and aldermen being bought by men like Al Capone. Many of these politicians, moreover, escaped justice. So it wouldn't be unimaginable for a student of history to assume that he too could get away with accepting and even soliciting bribes. But to demonstrate the importance continual revision of our historical knowledge and how paradigms shift in historiography, one of the more recent Governors of Illinois, George Ryan (who was a pharmacist - not a history major), was brought down by a corruption scandal.

So maybe, Blagojevich's problem was not that he didn't learn anything as a history major at Northwestern University, but rather that he stopped reading 20th century history after he got his B.A.

Basketball Coach blames his history major for his team's loss!

Jimmy Patsos the coach of Loyola, MD's men's basketball team lost to Davidson College yesterday because he had his players double team the leading scorer in the nation, Stephen Curry. While the strategy prevented Curry from scoring a single point, Loyola lost because the rest of the team had to play 3 on 4.

When asked why he stuck to a strategy that was obviously not going to win his team the game, coach Patsos replied: “We had to play against an NBA player tonight,” Patsos explained. “Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I’m a history major. They’re going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?”

I think Coach Patsos maybe didn't quite understand what his history profs were trying to teach him. I suspect that people will remember BOTH that Patsos held Curry to 0, but that Loyola STILL lost. There is a lesson to be learned here, and I doubt it's the one Patsos hoped it would be.

Curry gets 0, Davidson routs Loyola (Md.) 78-48 - College Basketball - Rivals.com