The Intimacy of Research

Recently, I have been reflecting on my MTSU graduate class on the Third Reich in preparation for teaching my World Civilizations class about World War II, and I just realized something intensely interesting. For research projects in my class, we were to select Nuremberg Trial defendants, and use trial documents, cases and evidence, to write lengthy papers. I chose Alfred Jodl, cheif of staff of the German Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wermacht). The tribunal ruled him guilty and hanged him after the trial. His case was unique in that, until then, no military chief of staff had been held accountable for war crimes.

As I began delving into the case records, including prosecution and defense. Some of the trial defendants, notably Rudolph Hess, became (arguably) mentally unstable through the course of the trial, but Jodl remained dutiful, proud, and kept his cell organized and clean. As I researched him, I gained more and more respect for the man. Though there was no firm evidence to confirm or deny his knowledge of war crimes or crimes against humanity, I began to convince myself of his ignorance, so as to see him in a positive way. His mournful testimony upon being presented with evidence of the Holocaust or other crimes convinced me of his ignorance. In retrospect, though, I wonder if I had merely developed a relationship with Jodl by researching him so intensely.

Could interest in a research subject tamper historical objectivity? I supposed it could, sure, but perhaps it was merely Jodl's personality and station that I respected. Soon, however, I recalled my research project for my capstone undergraduate history class. That project stemmed from researching the Watergate scandal. In that project, I studied H. R. Haldeman, President Nixon's chief of staff. I read Presidential memoirs, as well as conflicting evidence from different members of Nixon's staff and CREEP. The core of my research, though, was in Haldeman's diaries, which he kept rigorously throughout his White House career.

Over the course of each project, I developed a respect for my subject as I learned more about their past and personalities. Many considered "Bob" Haldeman a bully, and Jodl was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Arguably, both men were almost unanimously disliked and had reputations for their alleged crimes.

Both research papers argued for the, somewhat, innocence of the subject. I argued that Haldeman had no prior knowledge of the Watergate incident in the first, while in the second I argued that Jodl should have had a lesser sentence, perhaps life in prison, rather than execution for his part in the Nazi crimes of WWII.

I can now see that as I researched the men, I became more and more intimately connected with the subjects of my studies. Does it render my research invalid? Probably not, but it does bear some consideration. Perhaps review of my papers' arguments would allow me to see holes in my reasoning, but I'd like to hope that my training as a historian allowed me to remain somewhat objective. Hopefully, the threat of intimacy in research was tamed by historical need for truth, evidence, and objectivity.

What, then, are we to do with such threats to historical impartiality? I know that there is much to be gained from stepping back from research projects so as to bring (somewhat) new eyes to the documents, but perhaps even more care must be taken to acknowledge potential for growing respect and fondness for the subjects of historical research. I can assure you that I will be telling my students about such dangers whenever I someday teach students about the research and writing of history. Like most potential threats to objectivity, or perhaps even accuracy, historians must acknowledge this connection and take care to limit its interference with historical value and validity.

A Variety of Things

To make sure I cover the various topics I'm gonna break this down into sections. But you should note that I just had my first wedding anniversary Saturday with my gorgeous wife. Unfortunately, it was also my first day of class, and she had to work. We still had fun just hanging out together, though.

Spring 2010 Semester

So my last class in the History program at Middle Tennessee State University was a European research seminar on the Third Reich. My project studied OKW Chief of Staff Alfred Jodl, particularly his trial at Nuremberg and the justice (or rather, at least partially, injustice) of his sentence of being hanged. I enjoyed the class, and overall I think I learned more than I did in my Road Culture research seminar, but the latter class taught much more about the researching, writing, and editing process. I guess each had its merits, but the former's teacher was cooler, and I got to write about cars in cyberpunk lit. Sounds like the scale tips that way.

During the semester I worked at the Albert Gore, Sr. Research Center on MTSU campus. The project aimed to work toward constructing a historical electronic simulation (read: game) about Gore and his role in the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 (which he voted against, FYI) using primary sources from the archives. The project was not disastrous; it was merely unfruitful and a wasted effort for various reasons that I won't go into. It was, though, the highest paying hourly job I've ever held, and that was cool.

Moving and School Part III

After graduating the first week of May, the Mrs. and I began to fully shift into panic, pack, and move mode. We moved the 18th to the town I grew up in, which leads to various mixed feelings of happiness, nostalgia, anxiety, and annoyance. We did it for school.

You see, after the obstacle-ridden path that was my experience at MTSU, I was tired of school and ready to just get a job. I spent the spring semester applying to various governmental jobs, but after none of those called back, I decided to get licensed to teach high school. Hence the move. As my parents remain in Freed-Hardeman University's employ, I reap the benefit of cheaper tuition, even for graduate classes. At the moment the plan is to be in and out of this program by December 2011. Then, hopefully, I can get a job teaching history, philosophy, or English in a high school somewhere (anywhere), and we can settle down for a few years. Maybe I'll go back someday and get a Ph.D. in History, but that's sort of in deep-space travel hibernation for now. Heck, if one of the jobs I applied to decided to offer me a position, I'd probably drop all this to go for it, depending on the variables.

TV, Movies, etc.

So most (traditional, American) shows have aired their season finales. Heroes was first, and was meh. Hearing it was canceled phased me even less than I thought it would. 30 Rock was pretty funny, but I'm just not very invested in the story arcs of it. Human Target was really good, and I like all the main characters and am excited to see where next season leads. Flash Forward wasn't spectacular, but it did suck me in with the various characters' story-lines, and I suspect this is how LOST fans feel about their show. Dono, I've only seen like one full episode of it, and have had more experiences with LOST fans than the actual show.

Fortunately this summer I still have Doctor Who with Matt Smith and the fun companion Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan. I think Burn Notice should be starting a new season, too. I also plan to finish watching a few shows that I've been watching by season (My Name is Earl, Chuck, etc.). [that period, parenthesis, period felt very wrong grammatically. hmm]

Haven't seen many new movies. I did get to see This Film is Not Yet Rated, Choke, Up in the Air, and Where the Wild Things Are. I liked the first and third of those, but the second and fourth were just pretty good. Oh! Iron Man 2 was good, but not as good as its predecessor. Sam Rockwell's and Mickey Rourke's performances were both excellent, but my man-crush on RDJ didn't keep me from thinking he was just doing more of the same with too much of that talk-under-his-breath thing. P.S. Super excited about Thor. D'oh! We also watched Kick Ass! and it was as good as the comics (which were great). Wife and I are excited about both Avatar: The Last Airbender (calling it wrong title purposely) and Scott Pilgrim VS the World.

Gaming

Bah, I'll save this for the next post. Running late for dinner and games at my brother's house. Needless to say, I've been playing World of Warcraft, Lego Batman, Fable 2, and Dungeons and Dragons.