Bringing
history home
By Melissa Martin
Of the Emerald
Like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark,
University history professors leave briefcases
and classrooms behind for adventure in
foreign lands and great discoveries that will revolu
tionize textbooks.
Jonsie battled snake pits, huge boulders and
savage tribes to acquire the prized archaeological
piece that would make his museum famous.
• One University history professor shares wine
with a Basque shepherd in Northern Spain before
driving three hours to the farmer's field to examine
stones inscribed with Latin messages about past
lifestyles. Another professor dines on turtle, eel
and white rice all summer.
But unlike Jonsie, the work University pro
fessors do in other countries is not always
glamorous. They spend months in European and
South American libraries studying colleagues'
research and diving into ancient records.
“The primary reason for research is to unders
tand things from the inside out and to write about
them in a fresh way," says History Prof. Jeff
Needell.
"It keeps his mind active and forces him to be
a better teacher."
RALPH FALCONERI - JAPAN
University history professors must travel
because of the "insufficient history library" on
campus, says history department head Ralph
Falconeri.
"We often find ourselves traveling overseas to
meet scholars there and do our own research,"
Falconeri says.
He travels to Japan every year to keep himself
and students informed on the rapid changes taking
place. Falconeri revises his Japanese slide show for
his classes each fall.
"If we don't keep up we will be falling by the
wayside," he says.
|OHN NICOLS — SPAIN
Professor John Nicols describes his time in
Spam this summer as "spiritually rejuvenating."
Nicols is one of 65 scholars who research Latin
inscriptions on stones for Corpus Inscriptionum
Latinarum. After 10 years the scholars comprise a
volume of their findings and move on to another
country. So far, 50 to 60 volumes covering Mediter
ranean countries have been made and sell for $400
to $600 each.
This summer, Nicols analyzed Latin on more
than 12,000 stones and recorded the messages that
dealt with cultural values.
The research begins by talking to the village
priest or teacher and finding out which farmers
have potential research stones. He gets to know
the farmer over a glass of wine before he goes to
the field.
One method of reading the messages on the
crystalized stone is to pour water on the inscription
so that it forms a puddle over the impressions.
Reading the Latin stones gives Nicols, "insights
into values that one doesn't find in other
documents." His work deals with "hopes and
aspirations of private individuals."
But Nicols faces obstacles created by the
government.
"Politics is devastating," he says.
THOMAS BRADY — CERMANY
Last July, Professor Thomas Brady prepared and
read a paper for the International Luther Research
Congress in Erfurt, Germany. More than 270
scholars from 25 different countries attended.
"I stood in the very spot" where Luther studied
to became a monk, Brady says. On that spot Brady
read his 15-page paper which took four months to
research. Brady says "a lively discussion" followed.
The Congress asked Brady to do the paper two
years ago.
Erfurt is home of the monastery where Luther
spent most of his time. It was restored for the
jubilation, Brady says.
The jubilation, part of the Luther Congress that
meets every five or six years, consisted of lectures,
concerts, scholarly gatherings and debates.
"People used to believe history couldn't be
taught properly except with a thick European ac
cent," says Brady, who, as an undergraduate, had
teachers that were World War I refugees.
'The primary reason for
research is to understand
things from the inside out and
write in a fresh wayf
— Jeff Needed
Brady's trip this summer helped him unders
tand current political situations — improvements in
church-state relationships — between East and
West Germany, he says.
"An extremely important political event was go
ing on and it surfaced at this conference," Brady
says. The state actually sponsored the conference.
Because Brady lived in East and West Germany
and knew at least a third of the people at the con
ference, he says each day was a "series of intensive
fifteen minute conversations," with old friends. He
was mentally exhausted.
"One of the world's neatest people," accom
panied Brady this summer, His wife, Katherine, ad
ministrator of Hospice of Lane, is also an historian.
|OE ESHERICK — CHINA
joe Esherick, who is not teaching fall term,
spent most of the summer in China with professors
from UCLA, the University of Washington and
Sophia University in Japan. This is EsfWrick's fourth
visit to China and he says the country is constantly
changing.
"The pace in China is something we are not us
ed to. In many ways America is in a rut."
The scholars researched in the library for the
first three weeks followed by two weeks going to
four villages of about 100 families each. They
'The pace in China is
something we are not used to.
In many ways America is in a
rut'
— Joe Esherick
observed the people and their agriculture, village,
community and kinship relationships, commerce,
handicrafts, water control and the state involve
ment in politics.
Because China is not ready to let foreigners
stay in the villages, the scholars drove to the village
everyday. They tried to blend in with light blue
shirts and kahkai pants, Esherick says.
He calls his time in the Chinese village "two of
the most productive research weeks of my life.”
Spending time with the people dispelled cliches
Esherick says he finds in textbooks.
The professors want to write a popular history
about the life of the common people. But their
research just "scratches the surface," Esherick says.
Traveling in order to research "allows us to br
ing vitality to teaching," the Oxford graduate says.
And students can catch the excitement the pro
fessor feels about the recent trip and foreign
research.
|EFF NEEDELL — BRAZIL
When Needell returned from Brazil after a sum
mer of reserach in Rio de laneiro, he brought six
boxes of ancient books and six rolls of microfilm to
continue his studies.
But he also brought home a renewed compas
sion for the nation that is facing its fifth year of
'People used to believe
history couldn't be taught
properly except with a thick
European accent'
— Thomas Brady
drought in the northeast and floods in the south.
The people are eating field mice and snakes,
Needell says, and Brazil expects to see a generation
of children with brain damage because of the
malnutrition.
"I was never dealt with in a hostile fashion.
They never blamed me for the role of my govern
ment or American business," he says.
People are talking about three things in Brazil
— economics, drought and floods, Needell says.
Needell is studying the private papers of a late
19th century engineer to find out why he designed
the plans when Rio de Janeiro was reformed and
what the elite and intellectuals thought about the
issue.
The Yale and Stanford graduate spent six to 10
hours a day in archives, museum libraries and the
national library hand copying all the material he
needed because it couldn't be zeroxed or typed.
Needell says he loved'it but admitted be was tired
at the end of the day.
When history professors travel they bring life
to textbook pages. They also experience lifestyles
in countries they love as their own.
And Students hav.e an amazing resource in
these professors right in their backyard — only as
far away as a hike up the PLC staircase.
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