Teaching cultural exchange with art

A Cyprian Herakles

Roman copy of a Greek Herakles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Roman Hercules

Teaching cultural exchange is a great opportunity to collaborate with your art teachers and create multi-disciplined projects!  There are different ways to go about it.  One could recreate a historical artistic exchange by directing research into the original cultural expression and the newer, adopted art form.  One could demonstrate the concept by taking a historic art form and making it anew with today’s cultural iconography.  One could assign the design of an edifice that is blending cultures or build a model of an historical example that demonstrates cultural borrowing.

The Museum of Russian Iconography did something like this for field tripping students of Clinton Middle School.  In their blog post, “From Field Trip to Exhibiting Artists: Clinton Middle School & MORI Partnership,”  the museum blogger Julia Metzidakis explained the field trip, art-making, and exhibition for the middle school students.  Each student was encouraged to pick their own subject for the icon portrait.  Below, is an excerpt from the blog sharing some of the inspiration students used to pick their subjects:

“I picked JK Rowling because I admire her. She overcame the challenges of being a poverty-stricken  single mother and wrote what was is probably the most successful book series ever.  Joanne Rowling has inspired me to be a writer. Many people have been moved by her story, and have attempted to overcome their own challenges because of her. I hope one day to be as good a person as JK Rowling.”

“I picked Muhummad Ali because I like boxing. I also like sports.  He has determination like me to win. He never stops believing, just like I do.”

“I picked Michelle Obama because she is helping the world with healthy eating, getting outside, exercise and much more. Michelle is someone I look up to, a great role model. She is also very stylish and fun.”

Another way to try this is to look at book-making.  Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord has created entire career out of this concept of book-making from different cultures.  I harbor dreams of someday making an illuminated manuscript out of the Declaration of Independence, but what a great assignment it would be in understanding how certain documents are regarded by different societies.  (Add a twist and you could specify making one that is rich with 1776 iconography versus 21st century iconography, or evolving iconography from the last 200+ years.)  Illuminated manuscripts from the medieval era are, themselves, rich in cultural exchange–even the pigment used by early Irish and British artists reveals a layer of depth in exchange with blues coming from organic or mineral material as far away as India.

Of course, another way to approach this concept is to use entirely modern examples, but this highlights a potential danger in this type of exercise:  Don’t lose track of what you are trying to represent historically.  Remember that a project like this involves a lot of doing, which embeds the experience solidly in your students’ mental archive.  The memory will only maintain the art project if it is not tightly tied to the historical example and experience.  Ways to avoid this deficiency include the following (note: I mention exhibits below because this sort of exposition of the finished product tends to raise the stakes for the students in positive, motivating way):

• require research as part of the art project (whether heavily directed or loosely guided, just make sure they are connecting good information with the project)
• explanatory essay for an “exhibit book” or “exhibit display” or simply as an additional assignment
• set up the art project as a direct metaphor for the historical example–this idea may translate the concept: Greco-Roman ideals contributed to a neo-classical national Capitol in Washington DC; so, design a school or university using the design concepts Thomas Jefferson’s home because of his advocacy of public education
• assign extensive review of relevant artifacts and primary documents–encourage them to be thinking in character, as it were, as they are designing or creating, not just immersing themselves into a creative project of their own design (mimicry is an essential ingredient for the historical learning process)

I want to emphasize that I think a project such as this works best if sparsely used to highlight particularly relevant points.  The illuminated manuscripts of Ireland and Britain form the foundation for generations of illuminated books of Psalms, Gospels and Psalters made throughout Europe with varying effects and materials that often reflect the changing domestic and international economic and political exchanges.  The central importance of these religious documents to the literate contemporary culture can be correlated to the importance of America’s founding documents in our literate culture, today, thus making an illuminated Declaration of Independence, Constitution or Bill of Rights a relevant activity.  Furthermore, there are multiple opportunities to study centuries of European Medieval examples in museums, university archives, or online.  Cultural exchange can be demonstrated in an illuminated Constitution, for example, by accounting for the changing face of American culture with the subjugation of the western frontier and the introduction of various immigrant groups in the iconography used.

Keep an eye out for off-beat exhibitions that may also demonstrate the point.  For example, during the Japanese Internment, the living facilities were minimal, but the internees made some beautiful artwork out of functional objects, such as furniture.  That is the sort of museum exhibit that could fuel an art project, reinforced by the historical material.  If you live in a city with a strong connection to an operable sea dock and there was a locally hosted modern exhibit on sailors’ art, you could tie this closely to historical examples of exploration, sea voyages, etc.  Many exhibits are also created with correlating online  exhibits that can be used, too.

So, take advantage of a great opportunity for a collaborative and interesting project, but don’t overuse it.  Make sure it is on point and facilitates a better understanding of the culture you are studying.

Art reveals historic cultural exchange

Greco-Roman Egyptian mummy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Throughout history we are aware of cultural exchange via descriptions of foreign culture and through the arts.  This is a particularly easy concept to convey, today, with the extensive globalization that has occurred through trade and technology.  Many folks, for example, are already familiar with the relatively new music genre of reggaeton, a blend of Caribbean (especially Jamaican) dance hall music, Latin American salsa, and Latin hip hop that grew out of American rap traditions.

The past offers many examples of architectural and artistic transmission from one culture to the next, sometimes revealing relations that were otherwise unknown to scholars.  This is, therefore, not a strictly historical area of research, as most examples are of architecture or artifacts–and these examples date back well before the historical record was established, providing revelations into the development of the earliest human cultures before permanent settlements were established.

Another area with copious evidence is in culinary culture.  We also see it in food, today, just as the Italians witnessed it with the introduction of Chinese and other Far Eastern noodles, creating pasta.  (The spice trade has been  longtime indicator of cultural exchange, and the Silk Road has revealed many secrets of cultural development and transmission.  It was along the route that some of the best evidence of the secret cult of the Manicheans was finally revealed, as opposed to the meager evidence within the realm of the Roman Empire where it was founded!)  So, foodways are another legitimate way to pursue this same idea.  (See Colonial Foodways, A delicious learning experience, for example.)

This idea was recently reinforced when I came across a fascinating YouTube video produced by the Museum of Russian Icons in Massachusetts via Twitter.  In it the museum explains with digital animation how a Russian icon is made.  What really makes this interesting is the knowledge that both Russian Orthodoxy and its icons come from Byzantine (or Greek) Orthodoxy.  For that matter, Cyrillic, the written language of Russia and parts of eastern Europe is the likely heir of a written language invented by Byzantine scholars Cyril and Methodious and derived from Greek in the mid-9th century (precise origins of Cyrillic and its inventor/s is under some dispute by scholars, today).

These sorts of cultural exchanges are richly represented in history through artifacts and historical commentary.  It is an inviting and exciting way to study history, especially when one recognizes one culture while studying another.

Summer Olympics = Summer Adventures for the Family

This summer, the Summer Olympics are rocking London.  The Olympics are a fascinating source of cultural history.  They also present some great summer opportunities for families.  The marketing machine will be clamoring at a full din before you know it, so most kids will be aware of the Games shortly if they are not already following the lead-up.

Little of the marketing will get your kids doing anything, though (unless you pick up the nifty Great Britain Legos).  And, by now, most of your kids are out of school looking for something to do.  So, if you are looking for summer activities for your kids I have a few suggestions that will get them up and moving and exploring history and the world!

Below, are three ideas for themed exploration.  Try one or all of them!  Included are “Resources” that include links to website–some of these have books or DVDs for purchase, others have films provided.  I did not include specific offline resources for convenience, but they do exist, so check out your local library.

The Greek Olympics

Revisit the past!  The Greeks participated in Olympic Games for religious reasons and political pride.  The Greeks took it very seriously!  Winners were heroes; losers disgraced their city-states.  There were many events especially in what we would describe as field and track events, today.  One of the most important was the Pentathalon: long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, sprint and wrestling match.

Use the period during which the Games are running and host a Greek festival!  After having the kids explore the ancient Greek Olympics via the web or through DVDs or books, collaborate with them to design events for a Greek festival family or neighborhood Olympics.  Work it in and around the schedule of events that folks want to watch and serve classical Greek food (or modern Greek food, if you must, after all we love our baklava).

Resources

These resources either focus specifically on the Greek Olympics or include them in more general discussions about the history of the Olympic Games.  While it is likely to expect that many of your standard documentary channels will ramp up coverage as the games approach, there are already some programs available.

Perseus Digital Library Project

The Ancient Olympics

History Channel

The Olympic Games

Pankration

National Geographic

2012 Summer Olympics

Registration for educational materials

History for Kids

Olympic Games

Food in Ancient Greece

History of Greek Food Blog

History of Greek Food

The Modern Games

While the above focuses on the ancient history of the games, the Games are also an opportunity to focus on modern history.  In fact, the Olympic Games provide a really unique and informative means for studying some of modern history’s events and conflicts, because the Olympic Games are such an important international stage for competition.

Some of the famous moments include Hitler’s Olympics in Berlin–the same Games in which Jesse Owens dominated the track and field events–preceding World War II, the Cold War Games, the Munich Games in 1972, and China’s games in the last Summer Olympics.  These Olympic Games, being of the modern era, include many of the sports that are still played, today (although the selection of the Games varies year to year).

Once you’ve spent some time looking at all of the challenges involved in the Games, induced by politics and conflict, perhaps the best way to celebrate is with a community sporting event collaboratively hosted by the neighborhood association, church, civic group or other community group.  Have an international potluck, organize some games, and enjoy the day.

Depending on how great the desire is to make it an educational event, families can pick participating countries and look at the current news from that country, answering questions such as: what’s going on politically, how are international relations with other countries, what are the relations like within the host country of “Great Britain,” in which the individual countries that make of up Great Britain are competing as one team?  At the potluck there can be an informational poster-board, international food, etc.

Resources

Many of the same resources above, are also useful for the history of the Olympic Games in the modern era.  Below, I’ve added more sources on recent history and the Games.

Teachinghistory.org

(This site provides a review and link to a number of useful sites on the topic and may well add an additional set of resources as Games approach.)

Amateur Athletic Foundation Digital Archive

Triumph: Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics

PBS

Doping for Gold

Politics and the Olympics

LA84 Foundation

Olympic Oral Histories

LA84 Homepage

Routledge Online Studies on the Olympic and Paraolympic Games

Homepage

Internet Archive

Jesse Owens radio Interviews from Olympic Games 1936

Sports Illustrated Vault

March 3, 1980 issue

Indonesia Puts on its Games of the Newly Emerging Forces – December 2, 1963

When the Terror Began – August 26, 2002

Gleanings From a Troubled Time – December 25, 1972

The International Games

Of course, one can simply take the time to delve into the international culture of the Olympic Games and highlight different countries and their athletes.  This can be less historical and more of a modern survey for your family, though history can still be included.

There are different ways to do this:

• Make individual country profiles for each day of the Games (family members can help with this)
• Have international dinners during the days of the Games and at each meal recap that country’s accomplishments from that day of the Games, or create a running score board for the countries you chose in advance
• Assign each family member a particular country to investigate, follow and share with the rest of the family
• Host an Olympic Games-themed party or picnic and have each guest/family pick a different country, supplying ethnic cuisine at the potluck, bringing a flag and an informative printout or poster about the countries–families can compete in a mini-Olympics, follow their countries throughout the Games, etc.

The Olympic Games will be the sporting event of the summer while they are on, but interestingly the Summer Games are not followed as closely by as many folks as the Winter Games.  With so many summer activities, the events’ results are often followed more closely than the events themselves.  This means it is easy to have them on in the background while doing other things–like picnics and parties!

Resources

While enjoying the Games there are number of resources for results, events, and country information.

2012 Summer Olympic Games Coverage

Olympic Games Movement

NBC’s coverage

ESPN’s coverage

BBC Sport – Olympics

Team USA

Country information

CIA’s World Factbook

BBC Country Profiles

* * * * *

Enjoy the summer with Summer Games!  Compete against each other in friendly competition for swimming, biking, running, H.O.R.S.E., soccer penalty kicks, canoeing or kayaking, or invent your own events etc.!  Create decathlons or find a local adventure race–and be sure to drink water, wear sunscreen, and eat!  Have fun!

A Medieval Castle in the Making

A castle is slowly taking in shape in France.  It has taken 15 years to get this point, but then, you don’t raise a medieval castle in a couple of months outside of Hollywood, Disney World or Vegas–especially if you are building it the medieval way!  In fact, in this construction project, the lengthy duration of the project is a point of pride.  The results are also pretty impressive for those of us used to seeing those various Vegas/Hollywood/Disney models.

Guédelon, a castle growing out of the French countryside is the operation created by architect Michel Guyot who came across the original foundations of a 13th century castle, while rehabilitating its 17th century predecessor, the Chateau de St.-Fargeau.  He pulled together medieval experts and set about making his own 13th century castle 100 miles southeast of Paris.

This should give some comfort to the project-organizers at Campus Galli, building a medieval monastery in Meßkirch, Germany (see Building a Monastery the Medieval Way).  Both Guédelon and Campus Galli are open to the public and volunteers–the expectation is that these are learning opportunities both for scholars and lay people.

Guédelon, unlike most other building sites, is open to the public. One of the project’s principal raisons d’être is to demonstrate and explain to as many people as possible, the craftsmanship of our forebears.

~ http://www.guedelon.fr/en/the-guedelon-adventure/an-educational-site_01_05.html

For more information, visit the castle’s website: Guédelon, A Castle in the Making.

Guédelon in the news:

Smithsonian Magazine’s “Constant Traveler Blog” – http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/travel/2012/05/a-medieval-castle-in-the-making/

BBC News – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10440300

Student drama brings War of 1812 home

Student drama brings War of 1812 home – baltimoresun.com.

A model of the fort as it appeared during the War of 1812.

I think theater is one of the most under-utilized history teaching tools available to teachers.  That’s why I got so excited about the performances covered by the Baltimore Sun, linked above.  Students from the Baltimore School for the Arts wrote and performed “Fighting for Freedom” about the War of 1812:

The cast and crew, all sophomores at the Mount Vernon school, researched the archives at the Maryland Historical Society for insights into the war that many call the nation’s second struggle for independence. They visited the fort several times and drew characters from ordinary people, rather than from the few made famous by the war.

~ Mary Gail Hare, “Student drama brings War of 1812 home,” The Baltimore Sun

The effort of developing a character based on a historical person, requires research into the primary sources available for that person.  It requires leaving behind one’s own world and trying to access the strangeness and differences of another culture.  While local Marylanders may be well-acquainted with life by the Chesapeake Bay, the world of Maryland during the War of 1812 is still a foreign land, beholden to rules of a different era and expectations that have been left behind in a pre-Civil War/pre-Civil Rights, pre-WWI/pre-WWII America.

Their research unearthed one Maryland militiaman’s letters home, accounts that inspired one of the scenes. Alexandra Morrell, clad in a floral dress that designer Erin Beuglass had created from a curtain, read her husband’s letters to their daughter as their enslaved servant girl shared their concerns. Students developed a love story subplot between the servant and the household’s enslaved wagoner. The scene ended with the young man pleading with the girl to run away.

“It will be hard for her to leave the family, but I think she will run off with her man to freedom,” said T’Pre Mayer, who portrayed both the girl’s hesitation and her love.

Lance Strickland, who played her suitor, said, “The war affected everybody, not just the people in history books, but even the slaves.”

~ Ibid.

The conflict of 1812, is also a different type of conflict, in many ways, than what we have become accustomed to in the modern U.S.  The War of 1812 is the only war visited upon the United States, and outside of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the only time the United States suffer attacks among the states, themselves.  One has only the Civil War and the colonial wars (and the Indian wars) to turn to for a similar sense of foreign aggressors in and among American homes, cities, and waterways.

This sort of production helps to introduce a narrative that is an authentic representation of that foreign world.  As NPS Ranger Vince Vaise is quoted saying in “the show fills in historical gaps with credible fiction.  ’These kids are telling untold and more inclusive stories,” he said. “They show what average people were talking about in the Fells Point coffeehouses. They really have blown the dust off the history books. The school, the fort and the historical society give us a real powerhouse of history right here.’”  Emphasizing the other side of this project that I so admire: collaboration.  The archives are here, and the students and teacher put them to innovative and productive use!  (Extra props for using the name of the blog, Ranger Vaise!)

Such insights fulfilled instructors’ expectations for the project, said Norah Worthington, a costume design teacher, who wrote a pirate scene and worked with the 24 sophomores involved in the production.

“They put together a picture of what those of that era faced,” she said. “They focused on everyday people, not the famous, and showed how events affected them. The stories make the war personal.”

The drama helped the teenagers understand the local significance, too, she said.

“The scenes played out on streets these students walk every day,” Worthington said.

One scene focuses on the riots that broke out on city streets. Again, the students presented a new perspective — that of an assertive woman. Calla Fuqua played the normally docile wife of a shipping merchant, prompted by the war to disagree publicly with her husband. Their encounter occurred on Charles Street, where she finds him safe after a night of rioting.

“The war was about freedom of speech, bringing Canada into the union and impressing American sailors,” she said. “I think even the women had to speak up.”

~ Ibid.

This is a new day for these students, many of whom may have had no interest in history before the project who have now experienced it on multiple levels: 1) they have experienced researching history–just as historians do–with primary sources; and 2) they have created an experience of the historical era through their performance, introducing themselves and viewers to the people of a foreign time in our community’s history; introducing them to the concerns about conflict; introducing them to the mores of a society that continued to grapple with slavery, a young government, and other problems that we sometimes struggle to relate to otherwise.

We should be doing more of this sort of learning.  Take the talents that students have or are eager to develop and make use of them in education.

100 Years Later: Ways to Teach About the Titanic

100 Years Later: Ways to Teach About the Titanic With The Times – NYTimes.com.

100 Years Later Ways to Teach About the Titanic With The Times - NYTimes.com

So, the Titanic has sailed back onto our horizons, for at least a little while.  The link above will take you to the New York Times education page.  On it, you will find links to primary sources from the Titanic’s sinking, including articles from the paper’s archives.  There are a variety of suggestions, such as: making scrapbooks or mock Facebook pages (try MyFakeWall.com) which are neat ideas–easily incorporated into an existing history program or as a stand alone activity.  And, this brings up an important decision for history teachers wanting to do something with the Titanic.

What are you doing with the Titanic: Is it an opportunity to take advantage of history being covered in the news, or does it work well with what you are covering in your class already, or is it something that you simply feel compelled to cover, or is it a means to actually cover current events?  Another relevant question: Are you going to simply do a fact-finding project, a history project driven by a particular question, or a project that evaluates other disciplines either in an isolated way or in a multi-disciplined approach, such as science, engineering, or sea-exploration?

I always consider the anniversaries of particular events as interesting opportunities in teaching history, but they are also potentially awkward prospects that could unsettle the flow of the class if they do not fit in logically. Sometimes there is no real way to introduce these moments without a natural gap, such as in-class activities just before a major test or due date while students are working on tasks at home, or immediately after such a date when students are a bit exhausted.

Of course, if you are already discussing the era, then so much the better.  This is a great opportunity to evaluate Edwardian issues of class, the lingering perception of invincibility for imperialists and innovators of industry, the era’s perceptions of gender, an evaluation of the early 20th century’s media and connection with perceptions of disaster, or a more general consideration of communication developments in the age.

One of the resource links from the NY Times article: RMS Titanic Victims of the Titanic Disaster

If you are going to utilize the Titanic tragedy in class, do it with a purpose.  Be cognizant of the event’s social and cultural cache.  It may be the perfect moment to capture and wow students with a degree of interest that is sometimes hard to achieve in history classes.  Try assigning each student a person through the stories, wooing them into the drama of the past.  Provide them with multi-media sources to explore the moments they are reading about.

If your student, Tommy, reads about a young lady who gushed over dancing in the ballroom and seeing the view from her balcony, and then let him explore the underwater scene of the ballroom, today, there is a real opportunity to draw him into an experience he may have never had before.

If your student, Natalie, follows the excitement and worries of a family who put everything into this trip to immigrate to America and their struggles to keep the family together during the tragedy, complete with subsequent census records for the family after the survivors made it to the States, she may develop an interest in the nitty-gritty she never knew she was capable of sharing.

If your student, Devon, takes a look at one of the socialites who is in the newspapers leading up to the voyage and then considers his or her experience during the voyage and its disaster, they will get a personal “in” and learn a little bit about class status in the era.

This is a potential trigger moment, that can really open the world of the past in a way that other events often do not, especially for older students who are more likely to know something about the Titanic.

Titanic 100 Years -- National Geographic Channel

Additional resources:

The NY Times piece from above: 100 Years Later: Ways to Teach About the Titanic With The Times – NYTimes.com.

The BBC has interviews with survivors–great primary sources, but don’t forget the effect of history and time impacting the memory of those interviewed.

Teachinghistory.org provides a useful movie review of the James Cameron’s Titanic which is short enough to be used easily in conjunction with the movie (also complement the Hollywood experience with primary sources!!).

HistoryTech.wordpress.com offers some tech resources for Titanic lesson plans.

Larry Ferlazzo also has a collection of “The Best Sites for Learning About the Titanic.”

The History Channel’s website also has a series of articles, clips and interactive materials on its Titanic Topic’s page.

How to Raise a Marylander — a REQUEST for written guides to your state, city or region!

How to Raise a Marylander.

This article (linked above) was posted online at the Chesapeake Family Magazine’s website.  It covers the cultural “musts” for the children raised in the region.  This includes recreation, history, cuisine, and more.  We should all make such a list–maybe even more detailed–about our regions and states!  It’s a great help for transplants like my family, and also a point of pride for locals (although, I stray at the bottom when they start talking about sports teams, somethings are irreplaceable).

I would love to see your guides to raising residents of your state, city or region!  E-mail me (FranzFreelancing@gmail.com) 100-250 word guide about the food, places, history and experiences that are must for the place you know and love best!  Bloggers, home-schoolers and student submissions welcome!!  I will post them on the blog.  See the directions below:

1. Put “How to Raise a ___” (using your state, region or city in the blank) into the subject heading.
2. Type or copy and paste your submission into the e-mail body with any pictures.  DO NOT ATTACH ANYTHING TO THE E-MAIL.
3. Include a brief bio about yourself, max. 50 words.
4. Look for a reply from in your inbox to confirm receipt and to let you know if I will be posting it on the blog.  If I do post your submission on the blog, I will categorize it under “Guest posts” with your bio and give you credit.
5. Have fun!

Thanks!

Capitol Hill Close Up

At 8:30 am on Wednesday, supporters of Obamacare were already out in force, anticipating the day's arguments in the Supreme Court.

Hill Day.  One of the fundamental reasons Close Up exists is for this epic moment, this controlled collision between students and legislatures.  As it so often goes, this week’s Hill Day was one of the most vindicating experiences for program instructors.  It didn’t hurt that there was an historical case being heard at the Supreme Court, nor that the committee hearings were relatively light for a day so near Congress’s recess.

Senator Al Franken speaks to Close Up Minnesotans outside his office.

I was assigned three meetings on the Senate side of Capitol Hill to attend.  In this phase we program instructors are very much in the background, just facilitating the meetings, providing directions or suggestions, answering logistical questions, helping lost school groups find their way, and occasionally suggesting that a student with a question that cannot be answered take a business card to follow up.  Minnesotans met with Senator Al Franken (D) outside his office following his constituents breakfast.  He then took questions and explained on which committees he served, what Hill responsibilities he had, the national issues he is plugging or fighting, the state issues that he is supporting in Washington, the constituent groups with whom he meets, and bills or amendments his staff is drafting.  Each school got a few moments with him, including one of the schools from my hotel who got hung up in the security lines and arrived late.

Michiganders met with Senator Carl Levin outside the Armed Services Committee, which he chairs.

The next meeting I had was with Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D).  He met with students in person outside the committee room he for which he is chair in the Russell office building.  He, too, discussed the state issues for which he is advocating in Washington–Asian carp in the Great Lakes, for example, is a big concern for both Michigan and Minnesota.  Senator Levin further elaborated on some of the issues related to energy and oil speculation that he has been working on.  He came from the Senate floor to meet with students and rushed off (late) to get to a meeting he was suppose to be leading after his opening remarks and answering a handful of the students’ questions.  His staffer continued the meeting, even handing out his business card to a student who asked a question he could not answer (I did not hear the question, sadly, otherwise I would brag about it).

Alaskan students met with both of their senators, Senator Lisa Murkowski and freshman Senator Mark Begich, on the Senate-side eastern steps of the capitol.

While it was a little breezy and bit loud and busy on the steps, the small contingent of Alaskan students nonetheless had a pretty intimate meeting with both of their senators, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) and Senator Mark Begich (D).  While they waited for them to arrive, a nearby press conference was held by the Democratic leadership regarding the Supreme Court case being argued in the background.  Once the senators arrived the questions began.  It was a slow start, but questions about oil and energy, transportation costs, and the health care law soon followed.  The two senators spoke to students for about 20 minutes, if not longer, and urged students to be ambassadors for the state and its issues that are relevant to the national stage.

Here is the most important take-away:

Each of the senators took the students seriously as constituents; they did not talk down to the students; they did not trivialize their presence with softball, time-sucking questions about the tourist sites in town that they might have visited; they did not expect to lecture, but anticipated good policy questions and answered them without talking down or patronizing them; they fielded questions about the state issues that were relevant on the national stage that they were working on for the benefit of their state and constituents.

Students have been encouraged all week to take agency, to increase their knowledge and to ask questions.  Beyond that, they have been given the opportunity to express themselves, to take the lead, and to influence their peers and decision-makers–especially those working on Capitol Hill.  They have walked the halls of power in America’s democracy and owned them–as is every citizen’s right–sitting in on committee meetings, hearings, Senate and Congressional floor debates, and Supreme Court arguments and asking questions of those who represent them.  If they can do this, surely, the halls of power and authority at home are small potatoes: student councils, school boards, city councils, state governments, etc.  While each school was photographed with their senator, it is to be hoped that it is merely a reminder of their agency and not a mere picture of a brief encounter during their high school days.

War memorials and mock congress Close Up

The Lincoln Memorial heading up the end of the National Mall with America's war memorials.

Tuesday was a busy day!  We started out the morning with an exploration of Capitol Hill (so students would know their way around for Hill Day).  We took a group picture in front of the Capitol before workshops 1-6 headed to a seminar with a speaker from AIPAC–the strongest Israel lobby in the U.S.  (He shared the importance of Israel as an ally, but did not mention the P-word, until a student asked point-blank about Israel’s relations with Palestine.)

A group of students meets to discuss the presentations made by the war memorials. The World War II Memorial is in the distance at the end of the empty reflecting pool.

Then, after lunch, we hit up the War memorials to discuss the theory of just war and the representation of American wars on the Mall.  Students debated the timing of our entry into World War II and reviewed just war theory in the cases of the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  (At the Vietnam, one student got a rubbing of his family member’s name who died in that conflict.)

Students explore the iconic and controversial Vietnam War Memorial. Students explore with questions about the artwork and the concepts of just war in their heads.

Then we returned to the hotel for dinner and a student-run mock Congress in further preparation for their Hill Day. Students took on the roles of chairpersons, lobbyists and reps in the House. While the group on the whole is rather conservative, there was a lot of good debate on current issues and bills under consideration, today.

Students are grouped in their mock committee meetings discussing the issues, pros and cons of bills that relevant in today's congressional debates.

Big government, small government, and citizen action Close Up

Talking about small government at the Jefferson Memorial

Beautiful day in Washington, DC, today!  A little blustery–most of the cherry blossoms have blown off and collected in petal clusters along the paths–but the sun kept us all warm and the climate was otherwise quite accommodating.  A great day to use historical examples to talk about civics and government!

FDR Memorial: big government, big memorial... also, a long presidency

I had an awesome day with my students.  Our workshop has students from Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.  24 strong and mostly self-identifying as conservatives or “depends-on-the-issue” with a few genuine “I-don’t-knows.”  I’ve had to play a little liberal devil’s advocate to represent the “other side.”

Different backgrounds, different states, evaluating the "depressing facts" of the Great Depression and the government's responses.

We hit the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK memorials, today.  We discussed the merits and demerits of small and big government.  Then we discussed the role of the citizen–naturally, not restricted to government of one size or another.  Particularly, we discussed the methods of King in response to injustices entrenched in government policy, comparing and contrasting those with others, such as Malcolm X.

Entering the MLK Memorial and his quotes, evaluating citizen-responses to government injustice.

After we hit these memorials, our bus had lunch at the National History Museum.  Students had time to eat and explore before checking out the Hall of Evolution and how the concept is portrayed by public institutions–in other words, should it acknowledge debates–while drawing some parallels with public museums and public education.

Close Up participants get to be students and tourists while on program.

We finished up our Smithsonian visit and headed up to the Carnegie Institute for a seminar with Politico’s Senior White House Writer, who talked with students about media, driven by their questions.  Subjects covered the viral news stories, finding reliable reporting, following politics in today’s media world versus the pre-internet world, his belief in investigative journalism which he feels is on the decline, and the merits of major news outlets that are clear about the side of the aisle they stand on.  A useful seminar to follow the earlier issues raised in active citizenship as information is key to citizen response.

My workshop had another engagement covering federalism and the criteria students have for whether national or state governments should be in charge of specific responsibilities.  Then I was off for the evening, but  I am looking forward to hearing about the domestic issues debate between DC insiders Barry Piatt (liberal) and Ken Insley (conservative), debating the issues the students introduced, tomorrow morning!