Sunday 17 November 2019

Return to Normalcy

This past week we observed another Remembrance Day, and with each passing year I grow more appreciative of this day and what it means to me and to all people affected by war either directly or indirectly. When studying history I was never particularly drawn to the study of war, and especially not the battles or commanding officers. The only piece of history that surrounded wars that interests me is the people, the stories behind those who went to fight in a war, or those who went as medical support during the fighting. Their stories, and how the war affected them is what would interest me if war was something I would ever like to research, that would be the area I focus on. But, as I was saying I truly never felt that pull towards military history like many others have, and oftentimes I feel in the dark when people are discussing The Napoleonic Wars, The First World War or Second World War, or some other great wars throughout history.

 I think if I had met my family members who had fought in major conflicts, then maybe I would have more of a connection to the study of wars. My Great Grand Father Jimmy Dawson fought in the First and Second World War. In World War One he was living in Scotland and joined the fight as a young man, and for the Second World War he was a coal miner in Cape Breton and went to fight as a member of the Cape Breton Highlanders and as a high ranking officer. And his son (my great uncle) William Dawson fought in the Korean War, following in his father's footsteps in fighting for Canada. He unfortunately was killed on his third day in Korea. I never met these men, and my grandfather never told me stories about them before he had passed away. When I began this blog entry I said that I gain a better appreciation for Remembrance Day each year. I wish I had the opportunity to get to know them and hear how the war had affected my great grand father, and to have spoken to my great uncle before he had enlisted on why he wanted to go fight in the Korean War.

While Remembrance Day was sitting heavily on my mind the past week, I was also focusing on some of my projects and assignments as well. I was able to get to the London Room and find some great information on my heritage designation project, and it gave me an inkling of hope that my property may be able to be designated after all. In Understanding Archives I have prepared for my presentation on a Web Based Research Tool, and I chose www.cbgen.org which I am familiar with and have used it in the past and continue to as well with my current research.

One of the most interesting classes that we had last week was in Digital Public History as we discussed the uses of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for History. The readings we had discussed some of the current practical AR representations in museums and institutions, but as many of us in the class agreed upon, AR seems to be a little behind on its deliverables. The technology is wonderful and amazing, but for practicalities sake sometimes it seems that it is only being used as a gimmick. I think Brendan said it in class, if there is a way to show or represent history without AR then you shouldn't have to use AR as the primary source of edutainment. 

As a week of reflection and project progress comes to an end, I can't help but think of how the next few weeks will go. This upcoming week if I am not on campus I'll be at Banting, or London Life, or the London Room, and I'm willing to bet that is going to become a trend.

This is Daniel bidding you adieu,

Adieu ya'll
City Daniel bids you adieu

1 comment:

  1. Hey! Great blog post! I understand how you feel about wanting the opportunity to speak to relatives who have served. One of the very reasons I study history, specifically, Second World War and D-Day, is because my great-grandfather had fought on the beaches all those years ago. I never had the chance to meet him as he passed when my mom was young, but I wish I had! I felt weird asking my great-grandmother about him, as I didn't want to drudge up any bad memories, but I really wish I had learned more about him or had that chance to speak with him. I mentioned wanting his medals in class a few weeks back and I still very much want to get them at some point in my life! - Kat

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