Jon Agnew Reflection

November 26, 2012 by

History 381: Digital History

Fall 2012

Jon Agnew

25-November-2012

 

I really enjoyed this assignment. At first I was nervous – like always – because I was not quite sure about how to write “good” wiki contributions. The largest concern was the language. I have lost myself quite a few times in the depths of Wikipedia, jumping from hyperlink to hyperlink. One thing I have noticed is that the pages that are trafficked the most, share common characteristics in how they are written. Some example characteristics in the writing are neutrality in tone, being written in the third person, and lacking a bias. These were hard characteristics to exemplify when writing my own contribution – as I will explain later.

I am now going to take up the issue of topic choice. After Philip Browning talked to our class about the project, I immediately wanted to choose a topic that was something food related. Food related contributions seemed quite prevalent when first looking through the wiki. I felt that the utility of the wiki – as it is not very large – was specific in nature. It appeared to me that food was that nature. There are numerous food related wiki contributions and I wanted to create a new food related page so that it would be useful to the current and future users of the wiki. I then started thinking about my favorite restaurants. I even wrote a list. When looking through the wiki, I noticed that most of my favorite places to eat had preexisting wiki contributions. With the exception of Tango’s Empanadas – which is an Argentine restaurant with great food and great service.

A couple of days later I was wandering the depths of Wikipedia. On my expedition I stumbled across the University of Oregon’s page. Something I found surprising on Oregon’s Wikipedia page was a contribution about their speech and debate team. Immediately I knew that I should write about the Talkin’ Broncos. This is something I am a part of and I feel needs to be recognized by my fellow Boiseans. Forensics is such a great activity and anything to increase its visibility is splendid in my book. So, I asked my coach if I could write on this topic. She gave me the go ahead. And alas, I wrote the article.  Afterwards, I asked her to read it over. I wanted to make sure the information was accurate and that the content was ok to publish. She gave me the second go ahead. And alas, I published the article. This brought me great pleasure. I had never posted anything to any wiki. I have surfed many wikis and forums, yet never – not even once – posted. I was so excited about my contribution. I still am. Like honestly, this assignment was awesome. The main reason why, reminds me of something that I heard at a strip club once. “You can look but you can’t touch”. This statement used to describe, quite intimately, my relationship with the numerous wikis and forums I surf. But after this assignment I finally got to touch. Being forced to sign up, read the rules, and educate oneself on the etiquette and ways of wiki contributions is something every college student should be forced to do. I finally made an account for a college debate wikicaselist, reddit, and Wikipedia. My future with wiki contributions looks bright. I have already decided two topics for the extra credit contributions – Tango’s Empanadas & Peter Cennarussa.

One last thing I would like to reflect on is adapting my writing and language to wiki style contributions. As mentioned prior, neutrality and bias are important characteristics of said wiki style contributions. I wanted to make sure that my close affiliation with the speech and debate team did not compromise my wiki contribution. When writing the Talkin’ Broncos blurb I tried to maintain neutrality throughout the whole article. This was difficult to do. I continually wanted to use the words “we”, “I”, “our” or “us”. One way I minimized these words was to edit my blurb multiple times. I not only had my coach read it over, but also my debate partner, and myself – multiple times. When they read it through, I mentioned neutrality and third person as important things to look for; both my peers and I had third person language in mind when reading through the article.

However, I did notice the difficulty in not sounding biased when I was writing about something I was a part of. Not just the word choice, but the tone and content. For example, the earliest draft of my contribution had the clause “The BSU speech and debate team is competitive at a national caliber”. This was a statement I felt was contingent on the reader’s opinion or background knowledge of national forensics competition. I then recollected back to my logic class where the argument was made, that contingent statements require implicit assumptions. And those implicit assumptions were made because of my bias. So, I edited out statements that appeared to be contingently true in nature. Another example of bias, which I did not edit out – whereas the statement did not appear contingent – was the sentence “The last two years BSU has placed in the top five, without even attending the tournament”. After writing and then reflecting on this statement I felt it appeared pompous and somewhat pretentious. But after recollecting back to logic class, I asked myself is their qualitative and quantitative evidence that explicitly makes the case that “The last two years BSU has placed in the top five, without even attending the tournament”? My answer was a definite yes. This meant the statement was not contingent. And thus it did not have implicit assumptions. So I kept this sentence in my final write up.

Essentially, I found it difficult to write wiki style contributions. I felt that if wikis are supposed to resemble encyclopedias. And encyclopedias do not write about themselves. Then writing about the speech and debate team would be difficult to do if I was trying to replicate encyclopedia style writing. Nonetheless, I felt I did a good job in exemplifying these difficult characteristics and I’m very proud of my work.

Filed Under: Wikis

Jon Agnew History Project Plan

October 8, 2012 by

On September 27th the Prime Minister of Israel gave a poignant speech to the UN General Assembly regarding the history of Iran and its recent pursuit of nuclear technology. Benjamin Netanyahu – the PM of Israel – asked some rhetorical questions that shed light into the Israeli lens of foreign policy. Netanyahu enquires: “so I ask you: given this record of Iranian aggression without nuclear weapons, just imagine Iranian aggression with nuclear weapons. Imagine their long ranged missiles tipped with nuclear warheads, their terror networks armed with atomic bonds. Who among you with feel safe in the Middle East? Who would be safe in Europe? Who would be safe in America?” (Netanyahu, Sept 27 2012). These questions articulate that the pursuits of Iranian nuclear technology have major geopolitical consequences that individuals should be cognizant about. Thus, given such an intimate insight with Israeli political calculus and foreign policy one can ask the question: does the historical experience of Israel regarding nuclear technology in the Middle East determine future action? In this paper I will survey the local, regional, and global historical experiences regarding the foreign policy of the state of Israel and argue that the future of Israeli action can be understood best by a background of its history. More specifically, the precarious position the state of Israel is in, can be understood best by first, examining the birth of the nation, second, historical regional relationships, and lastly, looking at the global institutions the state of Israel depends upon.

KEY: Motivational Link

            Research Question

            Argument

Preview

Section 1. Local [Israel was born into a foreign policy emergency room which has made it hypersensitive and a realist]

BIRTH

  • UNGA Resolution 181 opened up the international political space for the state of Israel. This international accord required Britain to evacuate the area we now know as Israel. Additionally, this required the formation of two states – Jewish and Arab. The commission formed by the resolution was to be used to create these two states as quickly as possible. The Israeli state was the quickest to petition for statehood. The US also recognized the state of Israel under the premises of the UNGA Resolution 181. Due to the lack of an Arab state and the quick formation of the state of Israel, this resolution became an international political hot potato. Which caused the state of Israel to reflect on its birth.

à Knesset, “UN General Assembly Resolution 181.” Last modified 1947. Accessed October 6, 2012. http://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/un181_eng.htm.

  • Israel starts an army. This picture shows a man joining the conscripted Israeli military. Two main arguments would be made from this artifact. First, an acknowledgement that the previous Israeli military was fractured into insurgent groups. Second, that the nation of Israel now has one of the most powerful and capable militaries in the region. First, the previous military the Israelis had was made up of different insurgent groups from various geographical regions. Because the state of Israel did not exists, paramilitary organizations formed with common characteristics – Jewish, under threat, and the Hebrew Language. After the formulation of the state, the forces united. Second, the Israeli military is now one of the most capable. It has mandatory conscription – which means all citizens are eligible for military service. It poses a threat to other regional militaries which has had major effects on the history of Israel.

à Ilani, Efrayim. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “In the regular army of Israel now.” Last modified 1948. Accessed October 5, 2012. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.09155 .

  • Formation of the state of Israel was problematic. This primary source comes from Iran’s president’s words on December 8, 2005. This quotation would be made sense of by Slavoj Zizek’s book Violence. The argument I would make is: the formation of the state of Israel can be examined from multiple viewpoints. Many of those opposed to the nation of Israel regard its formulation as illegal. That the UNGA resolution 181 was not followed. Additionally, the idea that because the holocaust happened the state of Israel was justified. The guilt of European policymakers made the formation of this state that much easier. This argument would be used to reaffirm the idea that the Israel was born into a foreign policy emergency room from the eyes of onlookers.

à Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud. Anti-Defamation League, “Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his Own Words.” Last modified 2005. Accessed October 4, 2012. http://www.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/ahmadinejad_words.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_9

  • Arab-Israeli War. These four pictures would be used to tease out the link between a foreign policy emergency room and hypersensitivity and realism. The war occurred after Arab allies – Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria – united against the state of Israel. The Israeli government viewed the conflict as imminent and struck first… preemptively. This conflict has tainted relationships in the region. Israel has repeatedly pre-emptively struck its Arab neighbors provoking escalation in conflict. Moreover, the Jordanian artillery shelling Jerusalem has changed Israel’s views of defense to this day. For example, the three occupied territories – Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip – have been occupied to thwart the ability to shell artillery into Jerusalem.

à Wikipedia, “Egyptian Plane TA 1948.” Last modified 1948. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_Plane_TA_1948.jpg

à Wikipedia, “1948-Jordanian artillery shelling Jerusalem.” Last modified 1948. Accessed October 3, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1948-Jordanian_artillery_shelling_Jerusalem.jpg

à Wikipedia, “Ramla prisoners of war, July 12-13, 1948.” Last modified 1948. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ramla_prisoners_of_war,_July_12-13,_1948.png

à The State of Israel Government Press Office, . Encyclopedia Britannica, “Six-Day War .” Last modified June 10, 1967. Accessed October 2, 2012. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/99868/Israeli-tanks-advancing-on-the-Golan-Heights-during-the-Six

 

PALESTINE

  • Israel builds homes for immigrants in Palestine lands. As noted earlier regarding the UNGA Resolution 181 the specifics of an Arab and Jewish state never occurred. In being such, the Israelis have begun colonizing settlements in private and Palestinian land. This has been a very controversial decision for Israeli politics especially when juxtaposing the policy against Arab attitudes. For example, the nation of Iran is supposedly investing and financing terrorist organization such as Hamas, and Hezbollah against the state of Israel. Hamas which can be literally translated into the “Islamic Resistance Movement” governs the politics of the Gaza strip. This controversial settlement policy into Palestinian land has had major negative repercussions about the perceived legitimacy of the state of Israel.

à Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “Israel builds homes for immigrants.” Last modified [195-?]. Accessed October 5, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91783888/

  • Israel terrorizes refugee camps. This artifact, a poster, declaring a stop to Israeli terror against Palestine would be used to further my argument regarding settlements and the international attitudes of observers. Many outside nations have seen belligerence and militancy by Israel against the Palestinian refugee camps. This has caused countries to call Israel human rights abusers. These claims and the documented belligerence against the Palestinian refugee camps would be used to argue that Israel is not popular internationally now, and has very few allies.

à Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “Stop Israeli terror against our refugee camps and villages.” Last modified [between 1967 and 1980]. Accessed October 6, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/yan1996003026/PP/

  • CIA and Israeli government know of illegal settlement or construction build on private lands. This document from Wikileaks, show that Israeli and American governments acknowledge the illegality of the settlements yet still no action has been taken to stop the illegality. The document shows Harut and Adora settlements being illegal. The infrastructure from the settlements being on private land. This document shows the incriminating history of Israel in the region of Palestine. This acknowledge illegality has shown that Israel is a realist, and that the state is a state of hypersensitivity.

à Wikileaks, “CIA OSC: Secret Israeli database shows full extent of illegal settlements.” Last modified 2009. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CIA_OSC:_Secret_Israeli_database_shows_full_extent_of_illegal_settlements,_Apr_2009

 

Section 2. Regional [Israel history with regional threats has been marked by preemption and US led mediation]

6 days war – 1967 conflict

  • Israel occupied territories after 1967 skirmish. In 1967 the surrounding Arab states unified against Israel. These states gave authority of their militaries to Egypt who then moved armored columns into the Sinai Peninsula. This conflict would be made sense of by the secondary source Just and Unjust Wars by Michael Walzer. The conflict resulted in a unilateral preemptive strike against these Arab states. This preemptive strike resulted in a successful military campaign and a defeat of the Arab neighbors. However, by winning this conflict the Israeli’s occupied three disputed regions – denoted by the map. The Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip would become a source of contention even up to present day.

à Central Intelligence Agency, . Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division, “Israel..” Last modified 2001. Accessed October 4, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/resource/g7500.ct002039/

  • Egypt and Israel resolve problems. The US led mediation of Israel and her enemies would be carried out by the Americans. The US realized that Israel is America’s best ally in the region. After the 6 day war, the US has supported Israel with military expenditures, financing, and diplomacy. This conflict solidified the relationship between these two states. Moreover, this also led to the US becoming the sole mediator for the state of Israel. The 6 day war ended with Arab states angry at the existence of the state of Israel, and now shared anger on the US for maintaining Israel’s legitimacy.

à Warren, Leffler. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “Egypt Israel peace treaty.” Last modified 1979. Accessed October 4, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003673991/

Iran

  • US military fears a unilateral strike on Iran from Israel. Due to the historical significance of the Israel preemptively striking targets the US is afraid of the future of Iran. Additionally I would draw upon the secondary source The Global Future to examine two other preemptive strikes. One carried out against Iraq in the late 1980’s preemptively striking a nuclear enrichment facility. The second carried out against Syria in the early 1990’s. The Israeli use of preemptive strike is known to the whole world. When looking to this document I would make the argument that US knows and fears the use of a preemptive strike against Iran. On page 70, we list Israel as a potential wildcard.

à Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, . Wikileaks, “US Marines Midrange Threat Estimate 2005-2015.” Last modified 2005. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://wikileaks.org/wiki/US_Marines_Midrange_Threat_Estimate_2005-2015

  • US Aid to Iran. This film was rather intriguing to me. It shows the US giving aid to the Shah. We instituted the Shah and helped to bolster the regime. I would make the argument here that the US has mollified the chance of an Israeli first strike by providing aide to Israeli enemies/aggressors. For example, the bolstering of the Mubarak regime by the US was done to check back regional strife from Egypt against Israel. We maintained the same policy in Iran where we pumped aid into the nation hoping for its support. However, after the Iranian revolution the anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment leaked out. This leaking has put Israel in a troublesome place because now its greatest ally – the US – is almost hated and perceived as illegitimate as the Israeli state.

à Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center.. “US aid to Iran.” Motion Picture Films from the Army Library Copy Collection. Recorded 1960?. 05 15 1984. Web, http://research.archives.gov/description/28507

  • Israel has nukes. This argument is a necessary one to make in order to understand the attitudes of regional states. Israel gained nuclear weapons to check back conflicts in the region. However, just like nuclear proliferation trends historically, when one neighbor gets a nuclear weapon it increases the intention of other competing nations to acquire a nuclear weapon. And this is exactly what has happened. Iran – as Netanyahu explained – is attempting to gain a nuclear weapon. But, the way in which Iran is attempting to gain a nuclear weapon and sell its ability to gain a nuclear weapon to the international community parallels the way Israel went about it. Iran says it has access to nuclear technology because it signed the NPT or Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Moreover, it also says it wants a reciprocal right to nuclear technology because Israel has a nuclear weapon but denies it. This primary source comes directly from Israeli intellectuals, politicians, civil society members, and educators arguing that Israel possesses nuclear technology.

à Xrmagedon, “About us.” Accessed October 4, 2012. http://www.armagedon.org.il/about_us_english.htm

 

Section 3. Global [Israel has long been a US ally but recent events have changed the relationship between Israel and the US making predictions of Israeli activity difficult]

US

  • American Legislation. The United States Congress. I found these four pieces of legislation that are all strongly worded for Israel and against Iran. These legislators and the legislation they produce embolden the nation of Israel. In analyzing these four pieces of legislation I would hope to make the argument that the relationship between our congress and Israeli foreign policy are intertwined. Additionally, these House Resolutions – such as the Gohmert Resolution – affirm Israel’s use of force against the Republic of Iran. These affirmations coming from a foreign congress from a world superpower send mixed signals to that nation of Israel.

à Gohmert, Louie. Library of Congress Bill Summary & Status, “Bill Summary & Status – 111th Congress (2009-2010) H.RES.1553.” Last modified 2010. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:H.Res1553:.

à Garrett, Scott. Library of Congress Bill Summary & Status, “Bill Summary & Status – 109th Congress (2005-2006) H.RES.707.” Last modified 2006. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.Res707:

à Hyde, Henry. Library of Congress Bill Summary & Status, “Bill Summary & Status – 109th Congress (2005-2006) H.RES.523.” Last modified 2005. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.Res523:

à Cole, Tom. Library of Congress Bill Summary & Status, “Bill Summary & Status – 109th Congress (2005-2006) H.RES.601.” Last modified 2005. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.Res601:

  • Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and Henry Kissinger. American presidential leadership has had a special relationship with Israel for quite some time. The five sources here are four American presidents, former Secretary of State, and one presidential candidate. The argument I would make is that historically the US has always had a good relationship with the leadership of Israel. Carter, Ford, Nixon, even Clinton extended and furthered are relationship with Israel. However, Barak Obama has been percieved as soft. Even Mitt Romney has been endorsed by Netanyahu – showing the perceived ‘softness’ of Obama. Lastly, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has had a major impact on the relationship with the nation of Israel. Kissinger has persuaded/been persuaded with tenets of Israeli realism.

à Marion, Trikosko. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House, Washington, D.C..” Last modified 1977. Accessed October 3, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005696406/

à Thomas, O’Halloran. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “President Gerald Ford (center) sitting in chair in front of fireplace, with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and others including Henry Kissinger (right), at the White House.” Last modified 1976. Accessed October 6, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012646607/

à Marion, Trikosko. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, “Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir standing with president Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, outside the White House.” Last modified 1973. Accessed October 2, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012645921/

à White House Photograph Office, . Flickr, “Photograph of President William J. Clinton and Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin Walking Along the Colonnade of the White House, 11/12/1993.” Last modified 1993. Accessed October 5, 2012. http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/6175659631/

à Ohayun, Avi. Flickr, “PM Netanyahu meets President Obama at the White House, 20.5.11.” Last modified 2011. Accessed October 8, 2012. http://www.flickr.com/photos/israelipm/5744982879/

à McZyrba, . Flickr, “romney looking longingly at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Last modified 2012. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30054567@N08/7665843140/in/photostream/

UN

  • UNSC Resolution 242. This resolution put Israel in a precarious position. This resolution has been a thorny issue for Israeli foreign policy. It calls for certain actions from multiple states in the region, none of which has occurred. The first clause of the resolution expresses “concern with the grave situation in the Middle East”. This resolution calls for withdrawal of “Israeli armed forced from territories occupied in the recent conflict”. These territories are the three occupied territories mentioned prior – Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, West Bank. It lastly “affirms further the necessity” of “navigation through international waterways in the areas”, and “ just settlement of the refugee problem”. These two issues have not and likely will not be solved in the near future. This makes Israel look like a international relations agitator.

à Knesset,. “U.N. Security Council Resolution 242.” Last modified November 22, 1967. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/un242_eng.htm

à Knesset, “The Camp David Accords.” Last modified 1978. Accessed October 7, 2012. http://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/camp_david_eng.htm

 

In conclusion, foreign policy experts have articulated a definition of rational choice. A rational choice is the decision making procedures guided by careful definition of problems, specification of goals, weighing the costs, risks, and benefits of all alternatives, and selection of the optimal alternative. Israeli leaders must navigate in the near future the costs and benefits of acting against the nation of Iran. The  implications of such unilateral action is suspended against a historical background of previous action. Today we examined the hypersensitive and realist state Israel has been in since its conception. We examined the regional conflicts and the anti-American/anti-Israeli sentiments plaguing the region that make decision making even more difficult. Lastly, we looked at the historical relationship between the U.S. and Israel and noted the recent changes between Netanyahu and Obama. One can only hope, that world leaders choose a path that prefers peace in the region and removes the threat of preemptive military strikes and nuclear war.

  • Kegley, Charles, and Gregory Raymond. The Global Future: A Brief Introduction to World Politics. Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.

à This secondary source is my International Relations textbook. I use it in two ways. First, it is where I get my definition for rational choice. I acquired this on page 59. This is a term used by foreign policy experts to articulate the difficult choices nation-states pursue when it comes to international relations. I also use the textbooks look at the Israeli preemptive strikes on Iraq and Syria.

à  This is I believe a primary source I used in my introduction. I use the part starting at around 26:00 minutes. This is a primary source because it comes directly from Israeli foreign policy leadership. This source and the Nina Paley source inspired me to pursue this topic.

à I found this on the Internet when looking for a topic. I’m not sure if this qualifies as a source. I don’t use it specifically in my project plan, though it is the inspiration and helps illuminate the problem. I really enjoyed this cartoon/clip. It shows the history of these disputed lands, in the context of who has or is claiming ownership of them. Some would say its probably distasteful, but I think it does a great job noting the problem.

  • Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

à  This is another secondary source I read for a class. Michael Walzer’s book is great for this research project plan. The first great reason, is its use of historical illustrations to tackle difficult international relations topics – such as preemptive military strikes. It also was used to help make sense of the 6 day war and Arab-Israel War. As many parallels run through both conflicts. I also used this source to discuss the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

  • Zizek, Slavoj. Violence: six sideways reflections. New York: Picador, 2008.

à I used this secondary source for two reasons. One I enjoy reading  Zizek. Two, Zizek – on Pg. 111 – looks at the conception of the state of Israel from the view of the Ahmadinejad. Zizek notes first the disgusting idea of holocaust denial. Then notes the problem with European hypocrisy, by viewing the conception of the state from a different viewpoint.

 

 

The first thing I would like to reflect on is the difficulty of doing primary source research in another language. One topic I was interested in is the Senkaku/Diayou island disputes. A lot of the primary source research I found I could not read. Or, if I found the location to do primary source research, I could not navigate the website due to the language barrier. Even the topic I settled on – Israel – had a lot of information in Hebrew. One of the primary sources I used in this essay was the Armageddon group. It originally was in Hebrew until I found the English translation link. Doing primary resource research in another language is troublesome. A question that I thought of regarding primary sources in another language is: does a translated primary source qualify as a primary source? This question may seem superficial, but I wonder if a translation still qualifies as a primary source. Especially with all of the troubles of translation disputes and words not translating directly to English.

Another thing I found intriguing about this assignment was the number of primary sources that have been digitized. I found it difficult to settle on a topic I could feel comfortable about finding enough primary sources. I was surprised at all of the information digitized on archives.gov and the Library of Congress. For example, most of the Grateful Dead’s performances are online, old foreign policy cables, and pictures from multiple world organizations. The problem I found was navigating the research. The Library of Congress would explain they have “x amount of articles in their digital collections”. When first seeing the size of the digital archives I felt I could find anything. However, once I began searching for information I either found it to be non-existent or of poor quality. Some pictures, photographs, and posters I stumbled upon were of poor quality. I also was not certain of which words to use to search for primary sources. If I should only rely on key word searches or if I should pursue a collection. Nonetheless, this was a great activity to get accustomed to primary sources online.

I also found this assignment nerve-racking. I have never annotated a bibliography let alone a whole research paper. I was not sure of the best way to start this project because I could not conceive of its end result. I’m still nervous finishing this and turning it in. A reason I found this assignment difficult was trying to implicate an argument from historical artifacts. I found this troublesome or unauthentic. I wasn’t sure of the best way to construct an argument from the outside and force/lay it upon real historical experience. I also found this difficult because I could not envision what I assumed the end goal ought look like. The lack of a finished project to use as a reference was nerve-racking. Although, if anything the freedom and lack of a concrete “this is what you’ll turn in” opened up a space to be creative and attempt to meet the requirements of the assignment in a different ways. The last reason I found this difficult is my exposure to Chicago citations. Citations were nuisance for two reasons. First, Chicago style lacked specific citation guides for unique sources. MLA for example, has a specific way to cite diverse sources. Whereas, Chicago seemed to only have five ways to source things. Which becomes difficult and open to interpretation when you only have a few options to select from. I source cited a lot of my information as nonprint – web page or other online posting.

The last thing I would like to reflect on is the idea of a thesis for different types of research essays. A good thesis for a philosophy or political science paper is not necessarily a good thesis for a history paper. This may seem obvious, but in thinking about it and writing down my thoughts, it was not as obvious as I thought. I assumed that because philosophy, political science, and history seem intertwined and inter-sectional that the content and thesis are also interchangeable. This is not true. The purpose or intention of the paper are different and thus the intricacies like a thesis and content are different. However, I noticed how engaging and rich a political science or philosophy essay would be with primary sources. It seems like examining the historical background via primary sources would give a philosophy or political science paper an authentic background from which to build an argument.

 

 

Filed Under: Research project plans

Jon Agnew History Project Plan

October 8, 2012 by
Filed Under: Uncategorized

Interview with Melanie Schlosser

September 19, 2012 by

When first assigned the task to interview someone in the Digital Humanities segment of academia, I felt a bit overwhelmed. Not knowing where to start, fear of barraging the same person with interview requests, and a sense of ignorance of who does or does not qualify – left me hesitant. However, I was so lucky in contacting Melanie Schlosser a Digital Publishing Librarian/Scholarly Resources Integrator from Ohio State University. I had a great opportunity – and time – conversing with another human being passionate about digital humanities and scholarship as a whole. I would like to take this time to thank Melanie for her time and her thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised about how much fun it was to get my questions answered by a compassionate professional willing to share intriguing insights about the digital humanities discipline.

Nonetheless, let me tell you about Melanie. Melanie is a librarian. Being such, Melanie “stressed that she is not engaged in digital humanities research or teaching, but does collaborate with digital humanists in her service and librarianship”. This disclaimer made me recollect the assigned reading – of August 29th – about the digital humanities. More specifically, the “I’m Chris. Where am I wrong?” article. This article made compelling arguments about the nebulous definition of the Digital Humanities field. Chris Forester begs the question about the cogency of the digital humanities definition when he states – “So rather than introducing myself, let me try introducing you.” Forester attempts to define the Digital Humanities field – a daunting task. Melanie also fleshes out what is or is not the digital Humanities which I will explore later in this blog post.

I asked Melanie three questions that I was interested in. These questions were: (1.) The definition of Digital Humanities. (2.) Advice for someone interested in pursuing a career in the Digital Humanities. (3.) Melanie’s thought’s on the statement “the Digital Humanities is intersectional”. I will be exploring the career question first, followed by the definition and the intersectionality blurb – if word count allotment allows.

Schlosser’s advice to someone interested in a digital humanities career can be broken down into three arguments. First, get some experience, second, create your own project, and third, learn a desired skillset. But first, Melanie articulated that experience is key when it comes to the digital humanities. She suggested doing whatever you can to get involved. Such as finding a digital humanities project and offering whatever assistance possible. Schlosser did note that sometimes one must overcome cliquey attitudes. And that digital humanities projects require an orientation to openness regarding hands on work. As a quick aside, the hands on work of the digital humanities seems appealing to me. I personally like to see the results of my work, and be able to physically acknowledge contributions and progress. After talking with Melanie – the digital humanities seems right up my alley. The ability to see a hard drive fill up with data, or reworking a research question, or even collecting data about a topic that interests me – seems splendid. Second, Melanie suggested starting your own digital humanities project. When I first entertained the idea of starting my own digital humanities project, I again felt a bit overwhelmed. However, Schlosser denoted some possible resources that reduce the “dauntingness” of publishing scholarly digital humanities work. Outside possible resources include: scholars, fellow digital humanists, librarians, and programmers. Take librarianship for example, librarians use specific scholarly knowledge on how to go about completing or starting a digital humanities project. Librarians’ order books and journals and can even assist with tricky research questions. Outside resources are a necessary component of scholarly digital humanities work. Making librarianship a key component to digital humanities. Moreover, Schlosser recommended an online tool named Omeka. Omeka is a web based, web publishing platform, for all types of collection based research. It bridges the realm of scholarship, librarianship, and museum curatorship through common standards. The program’s dashboard seems easy to deal with. It utilizes keyword functions, collections, and even Youtube integration. Someone relatively new can even use the “Documentation” section or the forum to unmask difficult “how to’s”. One phrase I found compelling in talking with Melanie was “there’s no shortcut for scholarship”. Schlosser noted that slapping together a digital humanities project for the sole purpose of adding it to a resume or feeling like a digital humanist is inadequate. Authentic scholarly activity requires diligent, collaborative, efforts. Lastly, Melanie suggested developing skills necessary to the Digital Humanities. For example, learning computer programming and being able to “speak code” is a great resource for someone interested in collaborating with the digital humanities. The IT – Internet & Technology – knowledge required to complete certain digital humanities projects means there is always a need for IT skills. Learning how to code the “back door” of a given digital humanities project would appear to make oneself more employable. Schlosser also recommended the alternative academic community – something I had never heard of before. Here is the link: (http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/alt-ac/). The alternative academic community made me optimistic about employment post-graduation. The job market has always appeared dismal to me. Especially the lack of tenure track positions, slashed school budgets, and the overwhelming phenomena of the “publish or perish” attitude. This has always been discouraging. The humanities are such an intriguing and intersectional field. Hopefully the rise of Digital Humanities opens more doors then it closes.

 

Filed Under: Digital Humanist Interview