Week Two: Getting Started

 

Week Two: Getting Started

First meeting

This past Monday, August 29th, I was able to meet my fellow team members for this project and discuss a game plan for the semester. Much of it was new to me, but it seems there is a lot of work to be done. To start of, I'll be conducting interviews and researching topics regarding information I learn in the interviews I conduct. To do that, however, I must be equipped with the tools to effectively administer interviews and research for this project. After the meeting, I was given a plethora of instructional material to educate me  in such matters with encouragement from the team to push towards those goals. I truly feel equipped and prepared to tackle whatever this internship has to offer. 

Veterans Day 2022

One topics we discussed in our first meeting was the preparation of Veterans Day on Memory Mall. Friday, November 11 is significant not just as a remembrance to Veterans, but the day itself. November 11, 1918 marks the end of the first World War, calling for peace on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. Its significant details like this that leads my mind to wander throughout the week to understand the true importance of the Veterans History Project. In a book I previously read for a class with Dr. Gannon title "Carnage and Culture" by Victor Davis Hanson the idea of addressing war without an account of human life is discussed; How can we discuss the the interworks and outcomes of war without acknowledging the exchange of human life? Veterans Day does focus on survivors of wars and conflict, but this idea brought by Hanson emphasizes how we must approach the oral history of Veterans and those previously engaged in conflict. Once we prioritize dates and strategy over a living testimony to the culture of American service, we lose the point. This idea has been circulating in my head this week as I train to conduct interviews this semester. The approach to oral history is so important and every step has intention, no mater what you do. I hope to have the correct intention. 



Image from the University of Central Florida. Tiffany Rivera and Kevin Deo. November 4, 2014.
https://www.ucf.edu/news/veterans-week-ucf-honor-remebrance/



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