Urban Humanist

So, I was reading Facebook and discovered Newt Gingrich’s latest set of promises, this time to the Christian Right. Now that he’s courting the religious right, thrice married New Gingrich promised to “uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others.” Wow. The cynicism is pretty extraordinary, even for the politician who pursued Bill Clinton relentlessly, because of an intern’s hummer and a blue dress. (Don’t get me started on the Clinton thing, so full of contradictions on both the left and right!).

I could complain about the absolute hypocrisy of Gingrich, but that’s too easy (and better done by other folks.) Not enough to break out of my usual somnolescence and blog, unless … Unless, Newt’s signature on this pledge, already signed by Bachman, Perry, and Santorum, has a deeper subtext… or alludes to another seminal cultural text.

Well, surely, Newt is wooing Christian Conservative voters through the pledge. Interestingly, though, he’s using the rhetoric of marriage, of inviolable life-time commitments, when signing a pledge about the sanctity of marriage as a social institution. So, let’s imagine that wooing and courting are the stuff of politics. Politics is about language; so is courtship; after all, “making love” has a long history in language. If indeed politics and courtship are interconnected, then Newt is not just wooing the right, he is making love to them. He seeks a political marriage to go with his three wives, three marriages, and two divorces. Even better, he is using the language of marriage and commitment to make that argument.

As I considered the multiple layers embedded in Newt’s latest marriage proposal, I couldn’t help but think of a seminal text that might help us understand Newt just a little bit better: Paradise by the Dashboard Light.

How could I not? Not only is it one of my all-time favorite songs (and I’m dating myself here), but also it was recorded here in Cleveland.  Cleveland International Records took a chance on charismatic Meat Loaf and his writing partner Jim Steinman. (We should add a more complete version of this story to Cleveland Historical, rather than our abbreviated reference to the Agora, shouldn’t we? Ok… apologies for the gratuitous plug of CPHDH signature digital humanities project. But, I digress.)

So, right about now is the time that you should queue the YouTube video. Listen along as you read my version of the lyrics, very minimally rewritten, I might add, in terms of modern political theater: Newt’s courtship of the Christian Right.

First, let me set the scene. Paradise is a song in three parts: 1) Paradise (including Phil Rizutto’s famous baseball metaphor), 2) Let me Sleep on It, 3) Playing for the End of Time. So, let’s set the scene: Washington in May 2013, just over 100 days after, President Gingrich took the Oath of Office. Our protagonists are New Gingrich (played by Meat Loaf), Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of the Family Leader representing the Christian Right (played by Karla DeVito), and the rest of us (as audience). Of course, Phil Rizutto plays himself.

I. Paradise (Washington, DC)
Newt:
I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday
Trundling through those Iowa Cornfields Only Mitt Romney in sight
And I never had a group of churchgoers
Looking any better than you did

And all the candidates at the debate
They were wishing they were me that night
And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
Our politics feel so good, it never felt so right
And we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife

C’mon! Hold on tight!
C’mon! Hold on tight!
The Iowa primaries are cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see nomination by the dashboard light

Bob Vander Plaats (and Christian conservatives)
Ain’t no doubt about it
We were quadrupally blessed
Michelle, Rick, Rick, Herman and Newt anybody’s race,
who would’ve guessed

Ain’t no doubt about it
Baby got to go and shout it
Ain’t no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed

Newt:
Cause my campaign’s rebirth was unforseen
And conservatives so marriage obsessed

Baby doncha hear my heart
You got it drowning out the radio
I’ve been waiting so long
For you to come along and have some fun
And I gotta let ya know
No you’re never gonna regret it

So open up your eyes
I got a big surprise
It’ll feel all right
Well I wanna make your motor run
And now our politics are oh so close and tight

It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we’re glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C’mon! Hold on tight!
C’mon! Hold on tight!

Though it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see nomination by the dashboard light
Paradise by the dashboard light

You got to do what you can
And let Mother Nature do the rest
Ain’t no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely–

We’re gonna go all the way tonight
We’re gonna go all the way
An tonight’s the night…

Radio Broadcast:
Ok, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here,
two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth, there’s the wind-up and
there it is, a line shot up the middle, look at him go.

This boy can really fly!
He’s rounding first and really turning it on now,
he’s not letting up at all, he’s gonna try for second;
the ball is bobbled out in center, and
here comes the throw, and what a throw!

He’s gonna slide in head first, here he comes, he’s out!
No, wait, safe–safe at second base,
this kid really makes things happen out there.
Batter steps up to the plate,
here’s the pitch–
he’s going, and what a jump he’s got, he’s trying for third, here’s the throw,
it’s in the dirt– safe at third!

Holy cow, stolen base!
He’s taking a pretty big lead out there, almost daring him to try and pick him off.
The pitcher glance over, winds up, and
it’s bunted, bunted down the third base line,
the suicide squeeze in on!
Here he comes, squeeze play,
it’s gonna be close,
here’s the throw,
here’s the play at the plate,
holy cow, I think he’s gonna make it!

II. Let Me Sleep On It (Iowa Primaries 2012)
Vander Plaats:
Stop right there!
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further–!
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
Do you love me!?
Will you love me forever!?
Do you need me!?
Will you never leave me!?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life!?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife!?
I gotta know right now
Before we go any further
Do you love me!!!?
Will you love me forever!!!?

Newt:
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you my answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you my answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you my answer in the morning

Vander Plaats:
I gotta know right now!
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever?
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further
Do you love me?
And will you love me forever?

Newt:
Let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Let me sleep on it
And I’ll give you my answer in the morning
Let me sleep on it!!!

Vander Plaats:
Will you love me forever?

Newt:
Let me sleep on it!!!

Vander Plaats:
Will you love me forever!!!

III. Praying for the End of Time (Washington, 2013)
Newt:
I couldn’t take it any longer Lord
I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me
Like a tidal wave I started swearing to my god and on my wife’s hospital cave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!
So now I’m praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don’t think that I can really survive
I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now I’m praying for the end of time
It’s all that I can do
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!!!

Newt:
It was long ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today

Vander Plaats:
It never felt so good
It never felt so right
And we were glowing like
A metal on the edge of a knife
…

Oh, so many ways to read the lyrics, once you get to the remorse that Newt and his Christian Conservatives will eventually feel with one another. My take is that they Newt and Christian Conservatives are both making a proverbial deal with the devil. Christians, of course, are hoping for the rapture. Newt, meanwhile, is fueling his obsessive doomsday vision. The left, meanwhile, will be predicting the end of civilization that almost certainly will not occur if Gingrich is elected, but will we too begin praying for the end of the world?

Ok, so this badge thing from MacArthur has me a bit mystified, actually quite a bit. I was just reading the curated space about the badging (http://www.scoop.it/t/badges-for-lifelong-learning) and I still can’t figure it out.

Really, badges as evidence of “skill.” I’ve never been one big on grades or pieces of paper as symbols of education. So, if that’s the case, how is getting to the next level (now a badge) any better than some pre-designed curriculum? Really, what’s the difference. Is the rubric isn’t handed out by some lame, lazy teacher but an invisible algorithm designed by a fad-bitten nerd in cubicle. So what?

Can’t we imagine a world with ambiguous problems, in which our work stands for itself?

I will keep mulling over my thoughts here, but I am dubious that this is really anything new…

Long time without posting; this summer, we’ve had numerous questions about Cleveland Historical, its features, how it developed, and where we’re going with our mobile projects. Earlier in the summer, we outlined some of those ideas in the Urban History Association Newsletter, linked here, but I thought I’d take another stab at where we’re at, in an effort to more easily share the project’s various facets. (I’ve cross-posted over on the CPHDH website.)

Cleveland Historical is a software tool developed by the Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History + Digital Humanities for interpreting history, culture, and environment on mobile devices. We like to tell people that it’s a tool through which we curate the city. It uses Omeka (from the Center for History and New Media) as its archivally-based content-management system. This ties Cleveland Historical to what we believe to be one of the best tools available in the digital humanities world. It enhances the usability and extensibility of Cleveland Historical, and it benefits the expanding Omeka user community by giving it a new way of engaging audiences.

Cleveland Historical was born from the kernels of several projects that Center co-founders Mark Tebeau and Mark Souther developed in their urban history, public history, social studies, and local history seminars. The central intellectual tenet behind our work is the notion that cities, landscapes, and history itself can be curated by diverse communities collaboratively and in multiple media forms. The Center is also committed to engaged university teaching & learning in which students build meaningful history projects that contribute to the body of scholarly knowledge and are publicly sharable, whether in an urban tour, a public forum, or through digital means. The Center also has sought to integrate best history teaching practices into K-12 classrooms through teacher professional development and training, which the Center has built and expanded through multiple Teaching American History initiatives. Fourth, the Center has emphasized the importance of capturing human voices as the centerpieces of its projects, collecting over 700 oral histories in collaboration with students and the community in ongoing initiatives over several years. Fifth, the Center has sought innovative ways to connect digital humanities to public history scholarship. These have included experimentation with Omeka and other digital history tools and projects. Most notably, this approach emerged in the award-winning Euclid Corridor History Project that resulted in 19 history kiosks located along Euclid Avenue at rapid bus stations.

The Euclid Project confirmed that scholars could do interpretive public history in collaboration with students, teachers, and community members. As the project was implemented between 2008-2010, Tebeau and Souther wished they could carry the kiosks off the bus stations and into the city. Realizing that mobile phones could become the vehicle for innovative historical interpretation, the Center began to explore how to do just that. We are exploring how to use the emerging paradigm of mobile communication to enrich teaching and learning of history and at the same time build a durable and incisive interpretive tool for heritage tourism and curating place. The vision and architecture of Cleveland Historical was born, with a vision toward building a tool that could be extended beyond the city.

To date, Cleveland Historical has been developed by a broad swath of the regional community. Cleveland Historical has over 200 geo-located stories, most possessing a combination of text, images, audio, or videos. Altogether there are some 1500 images, 500 audio clips, and 150 videos (some visible on our YouTube Channel.) We are particularly pleased with the multimedia content because it represents our collaborative story-telling process. Our friends at Cleveland Memory (thanks Bill and team!) have provided great support in working with photographs. Student- and teacher-collected oral histories, coupled with a rich intellectual partnership with Randforce Associates at the University of Buffalo, provide a rich aural texture, bringing to life the region’s history. Video created by students following a technique and style that was developed through a rich collaboration with brilliant local filmmaker Kate O’Neil of Authentic Films. Later, Center technical director Erin Bell developed the look and feel for early videos and then helped students and teachers to achieve similar results. Finally, we’ve even added archival film footage from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, to lend a rather remarkable historical sensibility to a number of the stories, including the air races and municipal stadium. Even so, much of the content remains imperfect, reflecting both our learning process and that of our partners. But, also the ways we use and interact with mobile are only now taking shape and evolving, which is why we explore and study how users–from tourists to 5th graders–react to the mobile applications.

Cleveland Historical also is becoming deeply embedded in the broader regional community through collaborative story development, regional classrooms, and its increasing use in interpretive tours and signage. In terms of collaboration, undergraduates have contributed to almost all the sites, with graduate students and historians editing, evaluating, and re-working content. Community members, from cultural organizations, community development groups, and various interest groups have contributed materials or stories for about one third of the sites. During the last six months, teachers have developed over 40 sites, in some cases in collaboration with their students. Many teachers are also using Cleveland Historical to engage students in learning American history through the landscapes of the region. Much of this work is highly original, exciting, and very much on the leading edge of where K-12 teaching is heading.

Communities have embraced the process of developing tours and connecting themselves to their own history through clever use of signage with QR (quick response) codes. Two neighborhoods have used Cleveland Historical as a tool for mobile tours of their community, including one tour that coupled the mobile application with guided tours. In collaboration with Downtown Cleveland Alliance, visitors to downtown Cleveland can find businesses with QR codes that lead to Cleveland Historical and historical views of the neighborhood. Additionally, over the next three months, four other communities will be involved in developing and extending tours, including collaborations with local schools and the use of Cleveland Historical as an interactive tool through which K-12 students can learn history.

Cleveland Historical is the first instance of a larger initiative called Mobile Historical through which we will extend Cleveland Historical into a mobile publishing platform available to the broader “GLAM” (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) community, as well as to a broad swath of K-20 educators in middle schools, high schools, and universities. Mobile Historical will give partners the ability to deploy uniquely-branding mobile applications through which they can curate the historical and cultural landscapes of their communities. Partners’ applications–available on both iOS and Android platforms–will have all the functionality of Cleveland Historical, including:

availability on both iOS and Android;
content display functionality allows for multi-layered stories/sites that can include text, images, audio, and video;
connects to best practices in history teaching & learning for K-20 teachers and students;
extensive tour functionality, in which communities, teachers, and scholars can develop interpretive paths through the stories, according to geography, theme, or chronology; this provides both analytic depth as well as fabulous opportunities for teaching and learning;
availability of basic but attractive (being refined at the moment) mobile stylesheets (which makes the content available on Blackbery and Windows devices);
availability on the web in a format similar to Cleveland Historical (www.clevelandhistorical.org), with distinctive partner branding;
social media (Facebook, Twitter, email and other sharing tools) functionality;
the ability to create and access mobile tours, and to get directions to sites (as part of the geolocation functionality);
integration with QR codes to develop posters, signage, and other visible interactivity, so critical to interpretive expansiveness;
uses the standards-based open-source Omeka archival software as our content management system; (we can help partners establish their own hosted Omeka installation, or they can purchase a hosted version through Omeka.net).

The second instance of Mobile Historical will be Spokane Historical, through a partnership with Larry Cebula and his colleagues at Eastern Washington University, which opens in August 2011.

We are seeking partners to be beta testers for the hosted version of Mobile Historical, helping us to refine its functionality as we begin distributing it more broadly.

Coupled with the scaling of the Mobile Historical project into other communities through partner organizations, the Center has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities through an Office of Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant to explore the process of scaling this initiative beyond Cleveland. We have begun the process of adding new features, more robust functionality, and richer user interfaces. We are even building a user interface designed specifically to serve for use indoors, inside museums. Other new features will include enhanced tour functionality and the possibilities of user-created playlists. Also, we’re considering the process of adding additional map layers using historic maps, as well as the possibility of stories and sites augmented by three-dimensional historical views of the built landscapes, views via Google Earth.

We’re excited about the future directions of Cleveland Historical and the Mobile Historical initiative. We look forward to continued feedback and comments from users, digital humanists, and the broader GLAM community of scholars, archivists, and curators.