Great Plains Book Club discussion
Coffee Klatch Annex
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Agency, Complexity, Memory
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One of the most interesting parts of this address is how Dr. Isern 'met' his hero of Walter Prescott Webb, learned his human qualities, and valued the measure of the man after all. I think it is special that historians can and must include the individual person's quirks and beliefs to properly evaluate their history. What I mean is this: in science, it matters not that the results of a G-force test was done in a Nazi Germany lab or an American Army lab. The results are the results. However, two histories of Scandinavian people written in 1935 Germany versus 1871 Germany would be quite different, most likely. Thus, Webb was a Texan, a white male, and so on and so on, which contributed to his "The Great Plains", just like how Glenda Riley pointed out his mistake on forgetting women.
Mod
Cool! I think I get the difference and why we esteem each one.
I got caught on the parts about memory and legacy and collective memory. It makes me think of my parents and their legacy. I don't want their legacy to be determined by the last years of their lives and how their memories are failing, so I influence what people see, hear, and know. They're both born and raised on the Great Plains with the polite Midwestern standards of holding doors and greeting everyone you see. My mother has lived in 1 town, so her memories are defined by that, whereas my father moved around until 6th grade. They have a collective memory from being together for almost 50 years and that has influenced myself and my siblings and our former and current lives. I wonder if there is a way to determine how much outside influence can effect someone's legacy and by how much? I know this is going slightly philosophical, but that is the direction my head went when I read your address.
Mod
Mod
Well said - "we esteem each one."
This was a very fun read. The moment that gave me pause, and a need to reread and reflect, was the declaration of failure of historians who assessed the plains by their own moment and less by the realities of the Long Duree. I have been trained to think about how an historian's analysis is shaped by the times that they live in, but I haven't truly grappled with the ways in which that can have negative consequences for future generations. It makes me more reflective in thinking about what informs my own analysis and what problems I may pass on in my own writing.
First off, I read the phrase "curricular relics" in relation to comprehensive exams as - either an artifact to retire and view from afar, or a vestige of a dying age in the same vein as the seven deadly words, "we have always done it this way". Also, I'll add the comprehensive exams to the pile of "other countries don't have it, why do we?"However, whining aside, I read this piece as one who hopes to have a fraction of the joy for the craft of history as Dr. Isern encapsulates here. I have wild and vivid ideas as to what a future professor could enjoy if one delves deeply into their field as Dr. Isern has, to literally feel the metaphorical and physical field of history under one's feet. Dr. Isern has breathed life into the dusty Great Plains history with this piece, and inspires me to also breathe life into my own acreage of history.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6hl...
Discuss these ideas in the comment line below.