Hello!

My name is John Bence and  I just started the Archives and Public History program this semester. I got my BA in History from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.  I moved to New York last week having spent a year in DC. I am originally from Vermont.

While doing my undergrad, I worked as a archival assistant in both the school’s archive and in a special, sociological archive. I have little technical experience so I jumped at the chance to register for this class. I am interested generally in intellectual and social history of the postbellum and progressive eras.

My name is Kait Medley, and I am now starting my second year in the Public History and Archives Program. I received my BA in History from NYU where I studied a variety of topics as I find it difficult to pick favorites. I originally started this program with a greater interest in Public History and more experience with museum work. However, in the last year my interests have migrated toward archives, which luckily this program allows me to do. My knowledge of computers and the Internet appear to be on par with most everyone else in the class. I am excited to take this course and hopefully become more savy about how the internet can be used by members in the field of public history and for patrons of both archives and historical exhibits.

Hi, I’m Rachel Moskowitz. This is my third year in the Masters in History program combined with a certificate in Archival Management and Historical Editing, a precursor to the existing masters program. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania a few years ago with a degree in American history, and minors in Classical Studies and Women’s Studies. A summer spent at the historical society in my hometown and months of archival research for my undergraduate thesis made me consider archives as a profession and led me to apply to NYU. I currently work as the archivist for a production company specializing in documentaries for networks such as the History Channel, National Geographic, and Discovery.

For my internship seminar, I created an online exhibit for the NYU Archives highlighting New York University and its students during wartime years, from the Civil War through World War II (website will hopefully be up soon!). To build the exhibit, I downloaded a free trial of Dreamweaver, and spent the thirty days until the trial expired learning the program and structuring my site. The internship provided a much-needed introduction to the world of computer programming, though I’m still rather hesitant when it comes to such things. I’m excited to build on this knowledge with the material we’ll learn in the course! As for social networking sites, I have a facebook account (am proud to say I think I was one of the first 1,000 or so members, haha), but am rather unfamiliar with much else out there. There’s a lot to learn, and I’m confident we’ll do so this semester!

Looking forward to class this afternoon!

My name is Sarah Hodge. I’m starting my second year in the LIU -NYU dual degree program. So, hopefully by May I will have an MA in archives and an MLIS to my name. I have worked at the National Archives in New York for a year and a half – mostly toiling in the processing room. I graduated from Southern Illinois University with a BA in English/Creative Writing several years ago.

I’m mainly interested in the conservation/preservation side of archives. My historical interests are roughly the 15th and 16th centuries of England (Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt).

I once had Myspace, but migrated to Facebook because I liked the cleaner layout. Before I started the MA program I worked at an internet company called ThomasNet where I basically tagged clients’ sites with WebTrax, a traffic tracking software. Last year I took a website architecture class at LIU, so I have a little experience with HTML and website building. I am looking forward to improving on my knowledge and feeling more confident of my web application skills.

Hello all. My name is Julianna Monjeau. I’m a first year Master’s student in the Archives and Public History department. I very received my Bachelor’s from NYU in History and Russian studies this past May.

My main historical interests are the Progressive era politics and labor movements in America, especially in Manhattan. I’m also interested in political and labor relations of Jewish-Americans in New York.

As for my tech experience, I’m about as competent as any other 22-year-old. I’m quite comfortable working on social networking sites. I regularly update Twitter and Facebook accounts and read a number of blogs (mostly political). In the past I’ve dabbled in Photoshop. I’m looking forward to ACTUALLY learning the language of the internet and especially learning new and fun ways to explore history online.

Hi, my name is Tracie Logan and I am a first year student in the Archiving/Public History program, with a primary interest in Public History. I graduated this May with a B.A. in History and Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans. My experience with technology is slim. I’ve used social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, and have followed some blogs, but I have little experience (none, really) in creating websites or with anything else behind the scenes. I interned at a museum which had a poorly designed and executed website, so digital history has taken on a new importance to me and I think that this is a vital set of skills to have.

I look forward to meeting you all on Wednesday!

Hello, everyone.

I’m Stacey Satchell and I’m in the certificate program for Archives. I’m rather a perpetual student having multiple master’s degrees (KU-Higher Education, NYU-Draper, NUI Galway-Irish Studies). The first one pays the bills as I work full time at NYU as an Academic Advisor for CAS.  Busy week with all of the undergraduates back.  I became very interested in archives through my own historical research for my Irish Studies degree.

My background in digital/web media consists of being the administrator for a department website at another university. For this, I used Dreamweaver. I am a newbie to the social networking thing (I’ve always been biased against them but am slowly coming around).

My interests continue to center around the world of Irish Studies and I am hoping to tie this class project in with the work I have previously done at the Archives of Irish America here at NYU.

See you all on Wednesday.

My name is Ann Christiansen. I am a first year student in the Archives and Public Records Program. I graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with B.S. in Information and Library Science with a minor in History. I am currently working at Liberty Science Center. In the past I have worked at Bethal Woods Musuem (original site of Woodstock) and Ethnic Heritage Center in New Haven.

I have minimal experience with technology. I have a facebook account, but I haven’t up loaded any pictures on to it. I haven’t done any downloading of music or postings on websites. I did take a course in designing websites using dreamwaver. I need more experience with the internet. I looking forward to my first offical class at NYU on Wednesday.

Hello everyone!  My name is Nicole Milano and I’m in my first semester of the Certificate in Archives program.  I just (two weeks ago) received my M.A. degree in History from the University of Florida where I specialized in Early Modern Italy. As a person who grew up in the “internet era,” I feel unusually technologically-backward and thus am looking forward to the skills I will learn in this course.  I’ve used social-networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, but have not gone any farther in creating websites.  I have some experience with archives and museums and have co-curated a small exhibit, and am now looking forward to learning how to create a digital one!

Hi everyone, I’m Meredith.  I’m a second year grad student in the ever difficult to explain Draper Program. It looks like I’ll be seeing some familiar faces and I’m excited to meet those of you I haven’t had in classes before. My undergraduate background is in Art History and I’ve come back to school to focus more on Public History and cultural memory…

I’ve worked very minimally with HTML editing, played for about 30 seconds with Dreamweaver, and  read a few blogs but I often feel a step behind technological trends… I am familiar with many of the social networking sites but mostly in a surface level way. I’m looking forward to really diving into the material it looks like we are covering!

My focus within my program has shifted significantly over the last year and I’m working towards a thesis on the evolution of collective memory around national events like Septemeber 11th and the influence of the state and the media in this process. I’m hoping to work my project around some aspect of this for our class…

I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!