A methodology for enhancing student writing in the discipline through complementary and collaborative working between central and school based writing development provision

Academic literacies theory argues that academic writing is currently caught up in unequal power relationships which 'problematize the student' (Lea and Street 1998) and thus argues for a change in focus from a 'skills' model to the adoption of a more discursive model which values tutor-student and student-student discussion and considers writing and meaning-making within the context of the discipline. Haggis (2006), similarly argues for an embedded, dialogic approach to processes within the discipline whereby ' the embedded processual complexities of thinking, understanding and acting in specific disciplinary contexts need to be explored as an integral part of academic content teaching within the disciplines themselves.' This article will demonstrate how a range of pedagogies has been adopted at Nottingham Trent University to enable students to develop writing strategies which are mindful of, and embedded within differing disciplinary practices

Growing Up in the Trenches: Fritz Draper Hurd and the Great War

On February 18, 1919, Second Lieutenant Fritz Draper Hurd supervised recreational activities for the men of the 103rd Field Artillery. The men breathed easy; they tossed a football and even engaged in a little gallows humor with a “gas mask race,” at last finding a use for the once fearsome yet no longer needed device. The Great War was over, and the men of the 103rd Field Artillery were content to lob footballs instead of shells as they awaited their discharge papers. [excerpt

Tales from a Boston Customs House: “Worthy” Suffering

Despite Francis Clarke’s argument that men who suffered in exceptional ways, such as amputees, were regarded as national martyrs and held up as the emblem of sacrifice to the nation, this argument cannot be applied wholesale to all exceptional sufferers in the post-war North. Although men who lost limbs in battle were often remembered in terms of glory and treated as national heroes, those who suffered in non-heroic ways, such as prisoners of war and the victims of non-combat related accidents, were often treated as less deserving of honor. [excerpt

Some contributions to the theory of edge waves

A new theory of edge waves over a slowly varying depth

Remembrance Day…But Remembering What?

In conversation with other CWI Fellows last week, we began discussing the strangeness of the annual Remembrance Day Parade. Originally conceived as a way to recreate the procession to the cemetery in 1863 to hear the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery, it seems to have morphed into something different all together. If we are honoring a recommitment to the preservation of Union, why do Confederate reenactors march in the parade? If we are simply celebrating the soldiers of both sides of the Civil War, why does the parade end at the site of the address that rededicated the nation to Union emancipationist victory and a “new birth of freedom?” [excerpt

An Evening with David Blight

Monday evening, November 18, students from Gettysburg College got to sit down and discuss memory with Dr. David Blight from Yale University, author of the renowned work Race and Reunion. The session was conducted as an informal panel with Dr. Blight and Gettysburg College’s own Dr. Isherwood and Dr. Jordan. Dr. Blight spoke about beginning his work when memory studies was not an official field and stumbling his way headlong into working with the memory of the American Civil War. When discussing whether or not memory studies were a fad that would pass away, Blight reassured the audience that people have doing memory studies long before there was an official field. Memory is essential to who we are as human beings and all peoples and all nations construct their past in a way that is useable to their future. [excerpt

Men and Machines: The Psychological Impact of Gunboats on the Fort Henry and Donelson Campaign

During the course of the American Civil War, 1861-1865, ironclad warships developed a fearful reputation as powerful commanders of the Mississippi River. With the ability to pierce deep into the heart of the South, destroy Confederate property, and pull out with amazing speed compared to land assaults, the early Western Flotilla became the symbol of Northern industrial invincibility, boosting Northern morale and seriously damaging Southern psyches. However, an analysis of the Fort Henry/Fort Donelson Campaign of 1862 reveals a different story than the one that went into legend. Using the official records of the Union and Confederate armies and navies, this study traces the psychological impact of the Western Flotilla ironclads and their journey into legend

Spotsylvania Undercover: An Interview with Dr. Keith Bohannon

Dr. Keith Bohannon, one of this summer’s Civil War Institute Conference speakers, is an Associate Professor dealing in the subjects of the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Southern U.S. History, and Georgia History at the University of West Georgia. During the upcoming Institute Conference, Dr. Bohannon will be speaking on Sherman and the Atlanta Campaign and giving the tour for the Wilderness & Spotsylvania battlefields. [excerpt

Developments in upper atmospheric science during the IQSY

Vertical structure and temperature fluctuations in upper atmosphere, anomalies in ionosphere, and whistler identificatio

A Jaded Romantic: Uncovering the True Nature of Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1913?, has become renowned in the Civil War world for his sharp-witted and cynical short stories that frequently feature ghastly death and the terrible irony of survival. His life has become somewhat of a caricature, used by historians such as Mark Snell and Gerald Linderman to demonstrate the utter disillusionment of the common soldier and the retreat into hibernation in an attempt to escape the trauma experienced during the war. This view of Bierce fails to capture the complexity of the man and his war experience. Rather than a skeptical realist, Bierce demonstrates the characteristics of a jaded romantic. [excerpt