Colloquium: Re-imagining NERWHA

9 April 2011, Marsh Hall, Salem State University 

Agenda

9:30     Plenary Meeting: Re-imagining NERWHA
            Founders’ Reflections

What is NERWHA—a New England or Northeast Affiliate?

            What needs can NERWHA fill?
            How shall NERWHA prioritize these needs?
            How can NERWHA fill these needs most effectively and efficiently?
            Where do we go from here?

12: 00 Lunch (hosted by The College of Arts and Sciences, SSU)

1:00     Keynote: David Northrup, Boston College: “Teaching Cultural Globalization”

2:00     Discussion continued

4:00     Adjournment

Members gathered today to discuss the revitalization of an organization that has been connecting world history teachers and scholars in New England since 1993 to reflect upon our origins, history, and evolution.  The meeting, hosted by  Dr. Dane Morrison of Salem State , included over 30 university professors, regional Middle and High School educators, undergraduate and graduate students (focusing on education and world history), artists, reading specialists, world historians and independent scholars.  The conversation was lively and the energy in the room invigorating!

In addition to discussing the history of our organization, its various incarnations and plans for future projects (including a Fall seminar series and the creation of a World History Center at Salem State University), participants enjoyed a provocative lecture on "Teaching Cultural Globalization" by the renowned professor of World History, Dr. David Northrup of Boston College. (see next blog post for details).   

The presentation discussed trends in teaching about empire, and important themes in cultural globalization including science, language, education, Westernization and homogenization.  Northrup argued that expanded global networks and common trends that seemed to be unifying the world did not diminish the importance of diversity in our world.  For example, the trend towards greater unity in defining/defending Human Rights, as well as a trend towards greater communication and intelligibility, are both positive.  Northrup argued such trends should be and were being embraced by more and more, rapidly.  Dr. Northrup's talk was followed by an energetic discussion including such questions as, "Did the English language Win?" and what is the role of indigenous resistance (and recent fundamentalist backlash) in response to globalization.  All agreed we could have talked a great deal more about this fascinating topic!

Also at the meeting was the celebrated author and historian,  Professor Al Andrea  from University of Vermont, current President of the World History Association.  Al's experience and wisdom proved exceedingly helpful at the plenary session where members discussed revisions of the by-laws in the NERWHA Constitution and nominated temporary members to the Executive Council.  The affiliate will have its elections in the fall of 2011.


During this portion of the meeting subcommittees for the Web/Technology and Fall programs were created.  We are seeking a web master who can keep our site updated.  The WHA kindly hosts our current NERWHA website but we'd like to see if we might get support from Salem State University to host it on location.  Members discussed the potential for technology for future NERWHA workshops and conferences that might include record talks on podcasts (to be posted here or on our website) and also about simulcasting speakers with live-time interactive question-answering periods.  

NERWHA Secretary and Treasurer, Dr. Mary Jane Maxwell of Green Mountain College (Vermont) facilitated the second half of the meeting, including an enthusiastic discussion about technology and its potential to promote greater visibility, recruitment and transparency for our organization.  Members discussed the pro's and cons of creating a NERWHA facebook page and blog space.  






NERWHA member and AP world history specialist Angela Lee (who teaches at Weston, MA High School) took the minutes of the meeting, which we hope we can post to the blog soon.  Angela volunteered to create a Facebook page for NERWHA since she already manages such a page for WHA.  Stay tuned for that link on our WEB SITES WE LOVE list on this blog page (up above, to the right).

Dr. Whitney Howarth (yours truly) of Plymouth State University (N.H.) volunteered to put together a blog site to model what such a space might offer.  Viola!


Concerns about how a NERWHA BLOG tool could be used/abused were discussed by the group.  One member shared her concern about the privacy issues related to a blog.  Another asked whether or not we, as a group, were 'ready' for this step. Some members admitted to never having actually seen a blog page (or to knowing what a bog was, actually) so they were interested in viewing a model.  Others expressed that they'd rather not have their materials made public on a blog and expressed their desire not to be included in such a project.  


One member advocated that reaching out to a younger audience of world historians with innovative technology tools might be a goal for the newly revitalized group.  A few members remembered that the founder of Northeastern University's World History Center, Dr. Patrick Manning, began using cutting edge technology (Gopher) to inspire interactive scholarly dialogue back in 1993.  All agreed that certain types of technology are useful for promoting interactive debate and sharing 'best practices'.  Disagreement centered on what tools were best for what context.  Questions about whether or not resistance to new technologies might be generational were also raised in the discussion.


All agreed on the continued use of such spaces as H-WORLD for discussion (edited by Dr. David Kalivas, and sponsored on Humanities On Line, H-Net).  David also mentioned his use of technology to teach world history in the form of lecture podcasts, samples of which can be found here.  Future podcasts and videos might be made readily available in the blog.


It is Dr. Howarth's hope that this blog space will be endorsed by the membership of NERWHA in the near future so that we may all share videos, web links, images, presentation abstracts, lesson ideas, syllabi chats, and other interesting items here.  Blogs can also serve as an archives for materials and discussion pertaining to certain topics over-time.  As historians, we love repositories!  Blogs promote transparency, conversation, and an interactive space for educators who desire increased connection as we continue to think about and discuss pedagogy and scholarship in our field.


Next week: tune in again as four members of NERWHA will be attending the New England Historical Association's spring conference in Worcester, MA.   We'll be blogging!  Dr. Dane Morrison, Dr. Al Andrea, and Dr. Roland Higgins will be hosting a special teaching WORLD HISTORY panel at this meeting which should be fabulous.  


Check out the program here: http://www.newenglandhistorians.org/conferences/spr11-conf/


And, for more information on how to become a NERWHA member, please check out our NERWHA Web page!


Happy Spring!