Hello, everyone! I’m tremendously excited to be a part of the new Public History program at St. Mary’s University, and to have the opportunity to work once again with many of my former professors, as well as meet new and interesting people, many of whom share my interests.
First, i’ll share a bit about myself. I’m originally from Washington, D.C, but have lived in roughly twenty different states during my life and even more homes. My family traveled quite a bit, so I became accustomed to adapting to the world around me. I’ve always been quite an avid reader, and my house generally has more bookcases than anything else. I love stories and storytelling and a wide array of arts. I’ve always wanted to learn more artistic skills, but for the meantime I do calligraphy, and play the piano and the guitar. While nearly everything else I do is generally grounded in reality, I love chaotic and imaginative shows like Doctor Who.
My primary goal as an aspiring historian is to help tell the stories of cultures that have long been overlooked, or whose stories have been generally omitted from the historical record. I’m particularly fascinated and respectful of cultures that have had to struggle to maintain their cultural identity against larger, more aggressive or more influential neighbors. Some of the foremost examples that come to mind are the Korean, Armenian and Tibetan cultures.
My favorite subject, and what I aspire to write about in the future would be the religiously driven fanaticism driven relentlessly into a fever pitch that tore central Europe apart during the 17th century. The period of the Thirty Years War and the Wars of Religion in France have been a focus of my reading for years, and shall continue to be.
I was so glad to meet all of my fellow graduate students in the St. Mary’s University Public History program, and look forward to working with all of you and learning more about your own interests!
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage – Smithsonian Institute
It is awesome that you have an interest in the stories of cultures that are under represented in history. Many historians are realizing that history is not just the “heroes” and “villains”, but the common people that make up the stories too.
Good luck on your quest. I hope you are successful in helping to promote that side of history.
It is amazing that you are able to dip into so many different things from music to history. I find that are interests align with music, story-telling and helping people find their voices in history (which kind of goes into story telling for me). I once tried to learn calligraphy but that was bust however I can also play piano and guitar! While I studying Anthropology, I read a lot about identity politics and the struggles that certain groups have in keeping their history, traditions and culture alive. I would love to chat about these topics as they strongly relate tony interests in Public History!
@Scott, I couldn’t agree more about the stories less told. We’re lucky to have a teacher like you here in San Antonio to help instill those interests in the less known subjects of history in students.
@Shine, Absolutely! I’d love to talk about that more, and i’m interested to hear more about your background in anthropology.
Welcome back! We’re excited to see what you produce and create!