Medieval History
This blog is/ was the result of my reaction to a specific moment of time. It began at the end of May 2007, just a couple of weeks after the massacre at Virginia Tech (my home institution). I thought I had something to say, especially because I was an academic, and needed somewhere to say it. And people wanted to hear it; I was warmly welcomed into a community of blogging medievalists that already existed. In turn, this blog has created new friendships and academic collaborations. I have not, for a moment, regretted my decision to create and maintain this blog. Every once in a while, I even got to see evidence that people were reading this blog (and not just at Kalamazoo).
As I have written elsewhere, I always saw this blog as simply one part of a larger effort - an effort to bring academia back into the world -- something Tony Grafton and Jim Grossman have recently called for (though my decision predates their essay). Blogging is a part of that. Tweeting is a part of that. Public talks hosted by my home institution are parts of that. Op-eds for the local paper are parts of that. And there's more.
As some of you now know, this year I'm running for political office.
I'm running for County Board of Supervisors (here in VA, this is a partisan, elected office that's "above" town council).
It's a part-time position, so if elected I'll keep my research and teaching duties as well. But this coming election cycle was an opportunity to take another step in attempting to engage academia with the public. Our county has problems (whose doesn't?) but it has possibilities as well, and I have a skillset - particularly as an academic, perhaps even as a medievalist, and one with a young family to boot - that I can bring to bear as we tackle both. We need fresh perspectives, from people who can think, who can argue, and who can listen. Scholars are researchers, innovators, teachers, and students all at once. Sentences like "It's always been done this way" aren't adequate explantion; they're excuses. No more.
So, this may be the end of my participation in this blog. Then again, I may be posting much more. I just don't know right now. I do know, however, that this blog has always been just a tool, one part of a larger, core mission that will continue on, again, anew.
This is, as you surely know by now, not the end.
- Is There A Comment For This Blog?
Recently, Jeffrey Cohen wrote a thoughtful blog post (prompted by Christopher Schaberg's post) on why blogging seems like such hard work. Somehow, blogging has come to feel less dynamic and more permanent. The elevation of the blog as...
- Reflections On "e-medieval"
Last week, I noted the release of the most recent issue of Literature Compass, which is a collection of articles around the special theme "E-Medieval: Teaching, Research and the Net." Since last week, I've been reading through...
- Blog Bleg
I'm taking a few weeks here to slowly but surely update and in fact create a blog roll for this blog. I am also slowly but surely updating the links pages for The Heroic Age. I thought it was high time that the links page included a section of late...
- What? 2015 Already??
2015 already? how did that happen? I feel like I had only just put my feet up. No avoiding it. The new year is here. I will continue to blog it up in 2015 if all goes to plan. Obviously, there are some months where I am not reading Historical Fiction...
- Late New Year's Resolutions
Any of the people who still visit this blog will have noticed a distinct lack of updates in the past few months. Today, however, is the dawn of a new day. Dear reader(s), you are about to witness the revival of this blog. For too long we have existed...
Medieval History
Why I write/ Why I wrote & The "Next" Step: Not the End
This blog is/ was the result of my reaction to a specific moment of time. It began at the end of May 2007, just a couple of weeks after the massacre at Virginia Tech (my home institution). I thought I had something to say, especially because I was an academic, and needed somewhere to say it. And people wanted to hear it; I was warmly welcomed into a community of blogging medievalists that already existed. In turn, this blog has created new friendships and academic collaborations. I have not, for a moment, regretted my decision to create and maintain this blog. Every once in a while, I even got to see evidence that people were reading this blog (and not just at Kalamazoo).
As I have written elsewhere, I always saw this blog as simply one part of a larger effort - an effort to bring academia back into the world -- something Tony Grafton and Jim Grossman have recently called for (though my decision predates their essay). Blogging is a part of that. Tweeting is a part of that. Public talks hosted by my home institution are parts of that. Op-eds for the local paper are parts of that. And there's more.
As some of you now know, this year I'm running for political office.
I'm running for County Board of Supervisors (here in VA, this is a partisan, elected office that's "above" town council).
It's a part-time position, so if elected I'll keep my research and teaching duties as well. But this coming election cycle was an opportunity to take another step in attempting to engage academia with the public. Our county has problems (whose doesn't?) but it has possibilities as well, and I have a skillset - particularly as an academic, perhaps even as a medievalist, and one with a young family to boot - that I can bring to bear as we tackle both. We need fresh perspectives, from people who can think, who can argue, and who can listen. Scholars are researchers, innovators, teachers, and students all at once. Sentences like "It's always been done this way" aren't adequate explantion; they're excuses. No more.
So, this may be the end of my participation in this blog. Then again, I may be posting much more. I just don't know right now. I do know, however, that this blog has always been just a tool, one part of a larger, core mission that will continue on, again, anew.
This is, as you surely know by now, not the end.
- Is There A Comment For This Blog?
Recently, Jeffrey Cohen wrote a thoughtful blog post (prompted by Christopher Schaberg's post) on why blogging seems like such hard work. Somehow, blogging has come to feel less dynamic and more permanent. The elevation of the blog as...
- Reflections On "e-medieval"
Last week, I noted the release of the most recent issue of Literature Compass, which is a collection of articles around the special theme "E-Medieval: Teaching, Research and the Net." Since last week, I've been reading through...
- Blog Bleg
I'm taking a few weeks here to slowly but surely update and in fact create a blog roll for this blog. I am also slowly but surely updating the links pages for The Heroic Age. I thought it was high time that the links page included a section of late...
- What? 2015 Already??
2015 already? how did that happen? I feel like I had only just put my feet up. No avoiding it. The new year is here. I will continue to blog it up in 2015 if all goes to plan. Obviously, there are some months where I am not reading Historical Fiction...
- Late New Year's Resolutions
Any of the people who still visit this blog will have noticed a distinct lack of updates in the past few months. Today, however, is the dawn of a new day. Dear reader(s), you are about to witness the revival of this blog. For too long we have existed...