Reconnecting a Profession: Collaboration and Community

Juli Jones

Participants in the OAH Community College Workshop in Dallas attend a session on documents and artifacts at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza.

The 2008 OAH Community College Workshop series brought together two- and four-year college historians for summer workshops in Bloomington, Indiana, and Dallas, Texas. A strong desire to connect with other colleagues motivated many to join the workshops in the program’s second year. The overwhelmingly positive experience resulted in new memberships, renewals, and volunteers for service in our organization. As in 2007, these historians recognized and appreciated the OAH’s commitment to its mission of including diverse members of our profession. A Dallas attendee wrote, “thank you for recognizing the need for the workshop and making it possible. I know that it is expensive and labor intensive, but it is gratifying to know that you are leading the OAH to strengthen the field of American history in significant ways.”

In beginning the workshop series last year, the OAH sought to reconnect two-year faculty with their profession and to overcome the barriers for many who have felt cut off from the larger historical community, lack institutional support for professional development, and work in isolation from four-year colleagues and each other. Through supporting our commitment to diversity and mission of outreach and service to all segments of our profession, we realized that community college historians teach the great majority of U.S. history courses taken by American college students, but they have little connection to the larger profession. By focusing on the U.S. history survey, we realized we could bring together diverse audiences and provide useful, accessible, and collaborative professional development. The workshop series thus seeks to provide a venue and opportunity for connection and collaboration among two-year faculty, as well as with four-year colleagues. With three workshops now behind us, it is clear that community college historians are seeking their own “community”: a forum for exchanging ideas, best practices, continuing education and funding opportunities, and a supportive network of colleagues who understand their challenges.

This is particularly true in the Midwest for the historians who attended the Indiana workshop in May held at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington. Attendees came from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and some from other areas of the country. A number of them were from small departments in rural areas, with few opportunities for professional development as historians or meeting others in their field. The college town atmosphere of Bloomington was an excellent environment to meet and socialize with colleagues—conversations begun during the workshop days continued on into the evenings at area restaurants. Friendships were formed, resources shared, and the workshop listserv has continued to remain active, providing an ongoing opportunity to continue the midwest community begun at Bloomington.

The workshop program consists of three days of core sessions and other panels specifically related to regional issues and interests. In Bloomington, these included a State of the Field session on “The Problems and Promise of Public History,” with Edward Linenthal, and “Oral History and the Classroom,” with Barbara Truesdell. Dallas special sessions included Edward Countryman on “Historians and the Origins of the American Revolution,” and Richard McCaslin on “Teaching the History of Texas and the Southwest.”  Core sessions addressed “U.S. History in a Global Context” (Michael Grossberg, Bloomington; Troy Bickham, Dallas), “Using Online Primary Source Documents and Material Culture in the Survey” (Michael McGerr, Bloomington; Meg Hacker, Dallas), “Strategies in Teaching Late 20^th-Century and Recent History” (Nick Cullather, Bloomington; Michael Bernstein, Dallas), “Incorporating Geography and Maps” (Jessica Overstreet), “Finding Financial and Other Resources to Build Local Partnerships, Programs, and Networks” (Hal Berry; staff from Indiana Humanities Council and Humanities Texas), “Working with Underprepared Students Planning to Transfer” and “Working with New Americans” (Liz Nichols, Dallas), and “Interpreting History: Museums and Materials” (Eric Sandweiss, Bloomington; Sixth Floor Museum Staff, Dallas).

The Dallas workshop was held at Mountain View College in June, with most attendees coming from Texas. A few also attended from Colorado, California, Oklahoma, Florida, and the East Coast. There was a wide range of institutions represented, with historians from urban multi-district colleges and small rural schools with one-person departments. Although Texas has a number of large districts, the overwhelming majority of faculty have never met and have no venue for networking. Most are also unconnected to four-year faculty in the state and welcomed the opportunity to exchange ideas with these colleagues. Thus, whether in large or small districts, two-year faculty work in isolation from each other and the larger historical community. This widespread complaint underscores the importance and the challenge of OAH outreach and inclusion efforts.

The use of public history and museums in the survey course was another element of the workshop experience, which includes visits to local museums. In Indiana, the group visited the Indiana Historical Society, the Eiteljorg Museum of the American West, and the Indiana State Museum, all in Indianapolis. Dallas museums included the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture, the Dallas Holocaust Museum, and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Tours included presentations by local historians and curators and allowed attendees to compare opportunities presented by a variety of institutions. The focus is on how historians use material culture to sharpen our understanding of the past, how public history sites make interpretive decisions, and pedagogical tools for utilizing such sites.

The OAH received substantial support to cover our 2008 expenses, including a major grant from the Ford Foundation, and funding from the History Channel. Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington sponsored all breakfasts, snacks, and the keynote luncheon, along with our bus transportation, and signage. Site Coordinator Donn Hall generously donated time to help administer the workshop and assist staff and attendees. In Dallas, Mountain View College sponsored the keynote luncheon, provided signage, assistants, and duplication services. Site Coordinator Ken Alfers also devoted many hours to workshop production and assistance. The enthusiasm of sponsors and sites is an essential factor in the success and positive climate of the workshops. Next year’s workshops are shaping up to be similar in the excitement of institutions and faculty for the project.

In 2009 our southeastern workshop will be held May 28-30 at Hillsborough Community College Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. Ybor City is the historic Cuban district with unique cultural opportunities and flavor. The workshop location is the college’s new technology center, within a couple blocks of several hotels and close by freeway access. We are finalizing arrangements for our June 18-20 northeastern workshop to be held at the Community College of Rhode Island, Knight Campus, Warwick. In the meantime, we are soliciting ideas for future sites in 2010 and 2011; anyone with an interest in hosting a workshop should contact OAH in the next few months.

Looking ahead, we continue to refine and improve our efforts to meet the needs of community college historians. In expanding outreach to this constituency, the OAH is also sponsoring a special premeeting mini-workshop before the 2009 Seattle Annual Meeting, and a new community college listserv. This is a very positive time for collaboration and community building with OAH and two-year historians. New memberships, volunteers for service, and useful programs help to build positive and productive relationships that further our mission and reconnect our profession.