That "Useless" Liberal Arts Degree....

"That "Useless" Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket" over at Forbes is is a great article on the value of the liberal arts degree in the Tech World.  From the article:  "MIT professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in a recent book, The Second Machine Age, that today’s tech wave will inspire a new style of work in which tech takes care of routine tasks so that people can concentrate on what mortals do best: generating creative ideas and actions in a data-rich world."  Later on, the author continues "As LinkedIn data show, most of the migrants have created nontechnical career paths in Silicon Valley. The list starts with sales and marketing (14%) and goes on to include education (6%), consulting (5%), business development (5%) and a host of other specialties ranging from product management to real estate. Add up the jobs held by people who majored in psychology, history, gender studies and the like, and they quickly surpass the totals for engineering and computer science."

I'd like to think that my digital history class and the game design materials we're introducing to public history only helps open doors to these types of jobs.

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Civil War Panel Aug 1

Civil War panel discussion won’t just look back

at 154th Regiment’s reunion August 1 at SBU

Public invited to reunion events; tickets still available for dinner/concert

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., July 23, 2015 — The Civil War historians visiting St. Bonaventure University next week won’t simply be reflecting on a battle that ended 150 years ago.

They’ll discuss why the ripple effects of the nation’s darkest period still wash over us today.

The Confederate flag controversy that boiled to the surface in South Carolina after the church killings June 17 in Charleston is just one example.

“The Civil War is still very much with us today,” said Kristopher D. White, a co-founder of the blog Emerging Civil War and one of the historians who will be part of a panel discussion on Saturday, Aug. 1, at the 30th annual reunion of the Descendants of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Most of the men from the 154th were from Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

“People have strong opinions about some of these hot-button topics, but there really needs to be calm, rational discussion from all sides. We hope to offer some of that.”

The panel discussion will feature Civil War authors White, Eric Wittenberg, Derek Maxfield and Dan Davis, and be moderated by Dr. Chris Mackowski, professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure and a prolific Civil War author.

Wittenberg’s critically acclaimed works have focused on the plight of everyday cavalrymen of the Civil War, and have addressed nearly every major cavalry battle of the Civil War. His battlefield preservation work includes serving as the vice president of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, and he is a member of the governor of Ohio’s Advisory Commission on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

The reunion will celebrate the donation to St. Bonaventure’s Friedsam Memorial Library of the Mark H. Dunkelman and Michael J. Winey Collection of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry. The collection includes documentary material as well as numerous prints, objects and artifacts related to the regiment.

Descendants of the 154th will gather from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The reunion activities beginning at 3:45 are open to the public and free, except for the closing barbecue and concert at 6 p.m., which is open to the public but costs $30 per person. Registration for the dinner/concert closes July 29 and can be made at www.sbu.edu/154threunion.

The first public event is the opening of the Quick Center for the Arts exhibition of  “The Hardtack Regiment: 154th New York Volunteer Infantry.” The exhibition is part of the collection of regimental artifacts from the collection of Dunkleman, author of several books about the men of the 154th regiment.

Among the cases of artifacts are letters written from the battlefield, carte de viste (small photos) of soldiers and items carried by the soldiers into battle. A to-scale mural of the regiment’s memorial at Gettysburg Battlefield is also in the exhibition. The exhibition will be open through Nov. 15.

A timeline of public events:

• 3:45-4:15 p.m.: The opening of the Quick Center exhibition of Civil War artifacts.

• 4:15-5:15 p.m.: Panel discussion with Civil War authors and historians (Quick Center).

• 5:15-6 p.m.: British scholar James Brooke’s “The Last and Most Precious Memento,” a look at portrait photography and the Union soldier (Quick Center).

• 5:15-6 p.m.: Browse the Quick Center exhibition and a second one in Friedsam Library, a short walk across campus. The Friedsam exhibition focuses on photographs and documents from Winey’s collection.

• 6 p.m.: Barbecue dinner under a tent on the lawn next to the Magnano Centre’s Café La Verna, followed by a musical performance by Rush the Growler. The band will perform its renditions of letters and poems written by members of the regiment, set to period music. Register at www.sbu.edu/154threunion.

For more information about reunion activities or to register, go www.sbu.edu/154threunion. On-campus accommodations are available for $50 per night and may be booked online as well.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things.  St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #3 best college value in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.    

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Minecraft in the Classroom & ComputerCraftEdu

The blog has been pretty quite this summer, mostly because it is summer.  In some ways its downtime and in other ways it is time to do the the behind the scenes stuff that makes a university work.  I just finished with page proofs - important but not very interesting to anyone but me and my publisher.  I'm also planning for the fall.  As many know, I've been looking for ways spruce up the Public History class; to that end I've been looking at Minecraft.  This isn't as crazy as it sounds.  Minecraft has launched an educational arm and is showing up in the K-12 system.  Check out "Using Minecraft as a Learning Tool" for more on that.  The video is from the Minecraftedu YouTube channel.  I also need to thank various people who have been sending me articles about this.  Pretty cool.

Press Start to Begin

For those of you wondering just what we've got cooking for next fall with the games and the Civil War collection, check out Gianna May's article for the AHA Press Start to Begin.