My Fiance pointed out, upon reading yesterday's entry that I am using my name. She also said I was brave for using my name which made me think more about what this blog will be and my intentions with it.
I started this blog with the intention of using my name. I started the blog as a means to reflect during this Comps process and as a way for me to look back later in life on this process. I want my genuine thoughts and think it appropriate to attach my name to them.
That being said I know the digital world that 2015 is and that using ones own name can be detrimental in its permanence. Anything I say here will be here forever. However, I am kind of snobbish when it comes to the internet and my digital legacy. As historians rely on the record of the past I feel it a disservice to my future colleagues to delete my digital record. I do not untag myself from pictures, I do not delete posts, I preserve what I do. Those interested can find a sports blog I attempted to maintain in my early 20s named Pittsburgh's Native Son. In it I discuss how Raiders did not need RB Darren McFadden (a good decision) and that the Panthers needed to draft Jimmy Clausen (a bad decision). I am proud of the blog and it was a very nice part of a hectic time in my life. I will not delete it. I will not delete this blog either. It is part of my historical record and it shall remain so.
Now, the point my Fiance was trying to make was that a reflective blog should involve genuine thought and if my name is attached I will be censoring myself. True, but this is not meant to be a post of ranting and venting. Such actions will be expressed in confidence with those close to me, not in the internet. I will be making calm reflective posts here. I want this blog to carry my calm thoughts on this process, not my angry momentary flashes of frustration. Frustrations will certainly come out in the blog, but they will be durable frustrations, not minimal ones. Frustrations are valuable to this process so I want to catalog them along with many of the other emotions I experience. I will not be sharing anger here though and therefore I am unafraid to attach my name.
As far as my comps work today I finished The War Has Brought Peace to Mexico (2014) and wrote a review of The Fire (2006). I also reorganized my World War I & II syllabus. In reading books on Africa and Latin America in the Second World War their roles in the war escalate once Japan seizes important pacific and Asian imperial holdings cutting off vital resources to the Allied war effort. Africa and Latin America then contributed by providing many of these resources. I think that this is an important aspect to emphasize in a Global World War 1 & II course therefore Japan's war effort has to be explained before getting into the war in Africa and Latin America. So I shifted the course weeks around. Japan immediately follows my European War section. Asia and the Pacific follow Japan. Then a my Global War section happens. Solid work considering I also had to go to work today.
For those obviously confused about the above paragraph I may explain in the next post. For now, take pleasure in knowing today was a successful day.
Until Next Time,
Derrick Angermeier, A Not Anonymous PhD Student
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Initial Reflection: Why Reflection?
I am starting this blog now as I am presently about 75% through my first reading list. I should state up front that this is merely a reflection blog. I am uninterested in typos, clear expression, and skillful writing. I am finding myself with a need to reflect on what I am doing. This process is very bizarre and if I do not sit and force myself to reflect on what is happening then I may fail to truly make this process useful. Run-on sentences will also figure prominently as well as the occasional "Stuffed-Shirt" writing.
I suppose I should mention what exactly Comps is for me, Derrick Angermeier PhD Student of European History at the University of Georgia. Comps involves being examined in four different Historical Fields. These fields can vary considerably depending on the student. For each field students read a varying number of professional historical works related to each field. My fields are as follows:
1. Military History- Supervised by Dr. John Morrow
2. Modern Europe- Supervised by Professor John Short
3. Early-Modern Europe- Supervised by Dr. Jennifer Palmer
4. World History- Supervised by Dr. Ben Ehlers
The above order is the order in which I will be reading the comps. I am presently, as said earlier, 75% of the way through my Military History list. I had not initially thought of myself as a Military Historian, but in a new age of Military History I think I fit in quite nicely. Through this reading list I have been fascinated and perplexed with the complexities of Memory and Geopolitics. These two topics dominate my thinking and inform how I interpret the books I am reading. As a matter of fact the books I find most valuable are books that blend these two aspects very well. Increasingly I am becoming less of a European scholar and drifting towards a more Global classification for myself. Europe is fascinating, but the way Europe interacts with the world since 1500 is utterly fascinating to me. It is my hope that this Comps process will turn me into a more global scholar.
This blog will be very stream of thought as well....
Anyhow, each Comp involved being examined on what you read. Typically this is done via a Comp Exam that features a Professor giving their PhD student a set of questions which the student is supposed to answer that day using the books they have just accomplished. Many throw around the phrase Academic hazing which has some merit, but I am determined to satisfy this important process. I want to be deemed deserving of a position in Academia and so devote as much effort as I can afford towards this process.
I think part of my determination comes from the ways I am attempting to make this process as productive for myself as possible. Knowing myself, if I read these books with just an exam in mind, many of their subtle points may fall to the cutting room floor so to speak. I am reading fascinating and vastly informative works many of which cover topics that I have had cursory experience with. I think it would be a travesty to either 1)Take this process too lightly and read books with the intention of gutting them for an index card version of the book or 2) To blow through these books and not learn what they have to offer. We as historians come across so much minutia that people just glance over. I can't bring myself to gut my comps book which is a problem that will likely feature a few times in this blog. I have been actually reading these books. Certainly not every page and every word, but I have spent considerable time with these books not only because they are fascinating, but because I feel a responsibility to learn everything I can from them.
Along these lines I am trying to alter how I complete the written portions of these exams. I am trying to put together Annotated Syllabi to do en lieu of a Written Comp exam. Three of my fields will result in the development of 6 courses with notes on how the books I have read will help build said courses. I will talk more about these courses in later posts, but I feel that while this method will be a lot of work (particularly for an overachiever like myself) I will end my comps process with at least 6 mostly ready to go courses I can teach which excites me tremendously.
Anyhow, I am tiring so I will bring this initial reflection to a close with one final thought. This is a long process that involves a great deal of thought, attention, and focus. It is my hope that this blog, if it does nothing else, will help give me a place where I can engage in those three activities separate from the actual work I am doing.
Until Next Time,
Derrick Angermeier, A Tired PhD Student
I suppose I should mention what exactly Comps is for me, Derrick Angermeier PhD Student of European History at the University of Georgia. Comps involves being examined in four different Historical Fields. These fields can vary considerably depending on the student. For each field students read a varying number of professional historical works related to each field. My fields are as follows:
1. Military History- Supervised by Dr. John Morrow
2. Modern Europe- Supervised by Professor John Short
3. Early-Modern Europe- Supervised by Dr. Jennifer Palmer
4. World History- Supervised by Dr. Ben Ehlers
The above order is the order in which I will be reading the comps. I am presently, as said earlier, 75% of the way through my Military History list. I had not initially thought of myself as a Military Historian, but in a new age of Military History I think I fit in quite nicely. Through this reading list I have been fascinated and perplexed with the complexities of Memory and Geopolitics. These two topics dominate my thinking and inform how I interpret the books I am reading. As a matter of fact the books I find most valuable are books that blend these two aspects very well. Increasingly I am becoming less of a European scholar and drifting towards a more Global classification for myself. Europe is fascinating, but the way Europe interacts with the world since 1500 is utterly fascinating to me. It is my hope that this Comps process will turn me into a more global scholar.
This blog will be very stream of thought as well....
Anyhow, each Comp involved being examined on what you read. Typically this is done via a Comp Exam that features a Professor giving their PhD student a set of questions which the student is supposed to answer that day using the books they have just accomplished. Many throw around the phrase Academic hazing which has some merit, but I am determined to satisfy this important process. I want to be deemed deserving of a position in Academia and so devote as much effort as I can afford towards this process.
I think part of my determination comes from the ways I am attempting to make this process as productive for myself as possible. Knowing myself, if I read these books with just an exam in mind, many of their subtle points may fall to the cutting room floor so to speak. I am reading fascinating and vastly informative works many of which cover topics that I have had cursory experience with. I think it would be a travesty to either 1)Take this process too lightly and read books with the intention of gutting them for an index card version of the book or 2) To blow through these books and not learn what they have to offer. We as historians come across so much minutia that people just glance over. I can't bring myself to gut my comps book which is a problem that will likely feature a few times in this blog. I have been actually reading these books. Certainly not every page and every word, but I have spent considerable time with these books not only because they are fascinating, but because I feel a responsibility to learn everything I can from them.
Along these lines I am trying to alter how I complete the written portions of these exams. I am trying to put together Annotated Syllabi to do en lieu of a Written Comp exam. Three of my fields will result in the development of 6 courses with notes on how the books I have read will help build said courses. I will talk more about these courses in later posts, but I feel that while this method will be a lot of work (particularly for an overachiever like myself) I will end my comps process with at least 6 mostly ready to go courses I can teach which excites me tremendously.
Anyhow, I am tiring so I will bring this initial reflection to a close with one final thought. This is a long process that involves a great deal of thought, attention, and focus. It is my hope that this blog, if it does nothing else, will help give me a place where I can engage in those three activities separate from the actual work I am doing.
Until Next Time,
Derrick Angermeier, A Tired PhD Student
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