Mardi Gras: Performance, Narratives, and History

  Ancelet, Lipsitz, and DeWulf are intent on illustrating how the modern-day Mardi Gras has more than an inconsequential, indirect connection to the past. While Ancelet explicitly states that the symbols used in modern carnival--whips, in his case--could not be inspired by anything else but the past, both Lipsitz and DeWulf provide ample suggestive evidence...

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A Good Toil: A reflection on the process of building a digital project

The digital project assignment gave me hours and hours of enjoyment and enhanced my skills as both a public historian and user of technology. I had signed up for the class initially because it was practically the only thing I could take, yes, but I was excited because I knew I would likely finally understand...

The Two Koreas: An evaluation of a Story Map

Esri StoryMaps’ “The Two Koreas” is a graphics- and text-heavy (relative to the traditional map designed by ArcGIS-type software) piece of, dare I say art, that peeks beyond the aggressive words of President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to see the history behind the political, economic, and cultural divides separating North and South Korea....

Good Enough: An evaluation of the Jeanerette Museum

*The reader may skip to "FINAL EVALUATION" toward the bottom of the blog post for a more concise look at the Jeanerette Museum. PRESENTATION AND SOME INITIAL THOUGHTS Even the short drive up the narrow back road to the museum-proper prepares the visitor for a modest yet engaging experience. Dotting the vast front lawn are...

Fair Game: A few thoughts on historical games

Photo by Seth Anderson

Hold that Crumb: Intellectual rights, licensing, and the thief who doesn’t exist

In their article "Social Media and Organizational Change," Dana Allen-Greil, et al remind us that "it is natural to transfer what we already know how to do into a new realm." This is one of the aspects of life in general that I both embrace and fight, and the lessons I am learning in this class...

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe: Omeka and a tough decision

I have been playing with Omeka for quite some time now, and this week's readings and practicum allowed me to zero in even more earnestly on the nuances of the site. I like it. It is clean, practical, and very useful, in particular the ease of entering the metadata through the Dublin Core Initiative. One...

One Important Story: Life and labor in the Louisiana prisoner of war camps

  Some stories are told so many times they lose their truth. And some aren't told nearly enough. World War II is a popular subject among those inside and outside the university setting. Unfortunately, however, there are only certain images that come to most individuals' minds when the subject is mentioned. The Pearl Harbor attack,...

Horseshoes ‘n Hand Grenades: Coming up short in the digital knowledge department

See the picture? This is how I feel when it comes to creating a website and compiling all the work I have assembled over the years in a more satisfying way, rather than allowing it to collect digital dust in the folders of my laptop. And on my OneDrive backup. Taking the step to back...