Week 7 Blog

As we get to the middle of the semester, things are now ramping up! This week at our Wednesday meeting, we had the privilege to chat with Dr. Robkin (my preservation professor) and hear about her journey through public history. She spoke about how her original intention for her career was not in public history, but in archeology, later realizing that there are a lot of ties between archeology and public history. She spoke about her role at UCF, the opportunities that History students will have access to after graduation, and the importance of gaining experience. I asked if she had any difficulties in balancing a focus on her passion for Middle Eastern history and maintaining the motivation to keep a region of interest to strive for. When working with a lot of Florida history or other regional studies, I find it difficult sometimes to maintain studying the region that I am most interested in. She responded by explaining that it was difficult, especially when not living in the Middle East. I found it very relatable as I want to focus on European history, but I find it difficult sometimes when doing work for other places. But the experience is worth it, and being able to work with people who share my interests is the most important to me in the end. 

After the initial meeting on Wednesday, we had a meeting with our individual teams. We discussed the logistics of the exhibit, as well as making the theme broader, instead of the specific theme that we had originally come up with for each display. We will begin to work on the narrative portion of the display, since we have the ideas for each case. We will be sharing a document with each topic, such as local bicentennial activities, national activities, physical media, iconography, and various products. Each of us will have five narratives to write about. In terms of the digital component, I came up with an idea for an interactive experience by using a Prezi presentation where the visitor could click on each photo of the display, leading to an explanation of each case. Sharon came up with a translation component in which the visitor would have the option between different languages, so more people will be able to experience the exhibit. Hopefully, we will be able to translate each item and explanation both physically and online. Things are beginning to speed up, and I am excited to see how our hard work pays off.