Editor's Note, February 2005
Elizabeth Haller
PhD Student and Instructor, Kent State University
E-mail: editoraee@hotmail.com
It's February and we are probably all back in the swing of things. Fear not, March is just around the corner, and we will be enjoying our first (and only) long break of the semester. Now there's something to look forward to.
Enjoy this issue's submissions, and as you do, consider offering us a piece of your work for publication. Perhaps it could be one of those "smaller, attainable goals" I was talking about. We invite your continued perusal and encourage you to submit articles, poetry, and fiction for consideration in future issues of AEE. Please review our Call for Papers on this site for more details on submission requirements. If you are unsure whether your contribution would be suitable under the terms of our Call for Papers, please send along an inquiry, and I will be happy to respond forthwith. As always, do not forget to check out Grist for the Mill for possible submission ideas.
A reminder that if you are interested in joining our editorial staff, positions are available. Please e-mail me for more details.
Lynne Fukuda returns with the first of four insightful entries in a series titled "Curses, Nightmarchers, Wasps, and Archaeology: My Summer Adventures with the University of Hawaii Archaeological Fieldschool" for her monthly column, "The View From Here." According to Fukuda:
Hawaiian civilization is a misunderstood civilization. Archaeology was based in the Western world, making it famous with Egyptology and the like, so the archaeology of the Pacific did not impress many potential researchers. Because the peoples of the Pacific islands did not have a written history and introduced diseases decimated the populations, those who once were able to pass on oral traditions disappeared. As such, gaps occurred in the history of the early Hawaiians. It was archaeologists who recreated the lost histories of a proud and magical people who were just as advanced as the Egyptians and the Incas but lived frugally and naturally--satisfied with what they had. Growing up in Hawaii, I neither found interest in nor studied the Polynesian cultures until I was a college student. I considered Hawaiian culture to be extinct. Ignorant of the riches of this civilization, I passed archaeological ruins without feeling impressed and failed to understand the true Hawaii. Once a student of archaeology, I began to feel much admiration for a people who lived with stone-age technology and managed to develop to the utmost of their capacity. It was the ghosts from the past that began to speak to me of what had been. I needed, then, to learn more and studied their culture and their past and journeyed with them, sometimes painfully, through their transformation as a people.
Disease decimated the Hawaiians who, before outside contact, numbered one million, almost equal to today's crowded population on Oahu. With introduced diseases, they dwindled to 40,000 in less than 100 years. Studying the diseases that killed them also brought out some sad and gruesome images. It is for those who suffered and died, and yet wanted to leave their legacy to their descendants and the many foreigners who took their place, that I dedicate this article.
Mehnaz M. Afridi starts off this month's issue with "Religious Diversity, Walking and the City in Ruins." This piece is a "reflection on how teaching abroad and in different situations may allow for a more effective pedagogy. The essay discusses teaching religious diversity in Rome, and how walking in the city can become an important facet of pedagogy, and how interacting with monuments, religious sites, and people from other faiths can be more exciting for students then traditional classrooms. Finally, it discusses how American students can shape their own identities in another culture more effectively and accurately. This essay is one that all faculty should reflect on, even if they will not be traveling abroad any time soon."
Our second featured article is Theresa Monaco's "American and British Educational Practices for Gifted and Talented Students." According to Monaco, the purpose of the field experience discussed in this article was to "compare practices for educating gifted and talented students in Britain and America. Teacher observations indicated that there are many similarities and few differences in gifted and talented education practices between the two countries. These teacher observers were most impressed with a positive teacher/pupil affect, caring interaction, and teacher commitment to teaching. Differences were observed, however, in British students' attitude about their teachers and schools."
Duo Jie rounds out this issues features with "My Teaching Efforts Based on My Personal Observations in China." This personal essay is based on Jie's teaching in China over the past two years: "Due to the population, the class size is beyond our imagination in the West. Many teachers will be knocked down at the very beginning of this adventure, not to mention the fulfillment of a contract. Despite everything, I have made it. I have found my little paradise in teaching, and it is worth it, because I can make a difference here and my life is more meaningful."
Neal Hannon kindly returns to AEE (see his poetry contributions in the December 2003 issue) with three new poems to stir the imagination. The first poem, "The Glance," was inspired by "a lazy Saturday morning Christmas shopping trip with my wife. Bored with looking at Christmas ribbons and wreaths, I happened to notice an attractive woman a few aisles over from me. My mind began playing games and, before long, the shopping trip became memorable." The second poem, "Not to Be," is a reminder to "never let the heart get too far out of the head's control." The third poem, "Deep Thoughts," celebrates those "times when the communication between two people is so special that time stands still, and a virtual cocoon surrounds them as thoughts and desires blend into one."
Enjoy!
Academic Exchange Extra invites reader response to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.
- Web Editor
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Citation Reference: Haller, Elizabeth. (2005). AE-Extra. January. Available Online. [URL: < >. Created: 27 January 2005. Updated: --. Accessed: ] |