COIL-Group "Five Peas in a Podcast"
Sonja Schädler, UIBK
Adam Coste, UNO
Andrea Klingler, UIBK
Maja Klostermann, UIBK
Yvette Rubio, UNO
How would you describe “cultural online international learning” (COIL) in your group?
It was really helpful for us Austrians to see the presentation of the UNO students, as they conducted the interviews before us. It gave helpful insight, and Yvette’s handout with tips was super useful! However, it was only a small amount of time that we spent as our “Five Peas in a Pod” group in the break out room. It would have been nice to have more time and maybe some clearer instructions on what goals were to be reached would have been helpful. Also, we focused quite a lot on differences - maybe next time, we'd look for things that we share. However, it was lovely meeting everyone, to see their perspective on history and conduct a piece of oral history in the form of a podcast!
What do you think of America/Austria?
We asked each other the following two questions to learn more about each other:
What do you think about America/Austria?
What interests you most about history/Why did you become a historian?
Here are our answers:
Andrea: When I think about America, it reminds me of big cities like New York, and about very friendly people.
Sonja: When I think about America, it reminds me of big landscapes and fast food. In terms of American history, I think of the Boston tea party.
Yvette: I think of The Sound of Music. I fondly remember my landlady in Vienna, the elegant Frau Keglevich, with whom I lived in 1971 when I was a student in Vienna. I rented a small room from her in the third district. Every morning she brought me freshly baked Semmel and the best coffee. I also think of Vienna’s amazing cafes, the opera, Sachetorte, and Hungarian Gulashsuppe.
Adam: As an American, when I think about Austria the first thing that comes to mind is the geography. Growing up as a big snow skier, a country whose landscape is dominated by the Alps intrigues me. I would like to visit one day and ski this historic mountain range. Also, growing up in the 1990’s the most famous Austrian I became familiar with was the movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Maja: I’ve never been to America before…I have to, I should to make up for, for sure! I think the world is an amazing place and so is America too. America has long been perceived as a world-leading nation. It’s one of the most culturally diverse countries, it’s home to people from all around the world, like a “melting pot” of cultures. In context of history, I would say that the history of the United States is quite long, quite complex, quite interesting. There’s much to celebrate. What do I think of America? … The first thing that comes to my mind is that there’s a thing about big. Big cars, big houses, big supermarkets … and I'm also thinking of apple pie ... my grandma used to do that... I would love to take a trip through America one day!
What interests you most about history, why did you become a historian?
Yvette: I’m interested in what lessons we can learn from history to improve our current lives. My area of interests are nineteenth century and early twentieth century New Orleans and Guatemalan history. I am a tenth generation New Orleanian. My father was from Guatemala and his father was a diplomat. The convergence of these two histories has also fascinated me.
Sonja: I decided to study history when I visited Ausschwitz for the first time. Culture of remembrance and source criticism are the topics that interest me the most.
Adam: I chose to study history because growing up, I was inquisitive about how the current world landscape formed. As a voracious reader, the stories of the past intrigued me. My focus was always on military history and this inspired me to serve in the military.
Andrea: In history, I am particularly interested in the fields of Austrian history and contemporary history. I became a historian because it's a very interesting subject and I'm going to be a teacher.
Maja: I’ve always felt a deep connection to my family’s past. I was lucky to have spent quite a bit of time as a little child around people who were at least two generations older than me. I always did enjoy sitting and listening, especially to my grandma talking about her early live… when my grandma shared stories with me about the past. I guess I can't even remember a time when I wasn't interested in history. I think that looking back at history allows us to gain insight to today's world and understand the future. In addition to that, I think that the past teaches us quite a lot about the present. The past is powerfully present. In context of “doing history”, I would argue that there’s way more to history than knowing times and dates. On a personal note, I really like to study the diversity of human experience which helps us appreciate cultures, ideas, and traditions as well that are not our own…and to recognize them as meaningful products of specific times and places. For me, history is not just a collection of facts. It's like a giant puzzle waiting to be solved and an awesome source of inspiration at any rate.
How would you describe your group?
We were diverse not only geographically but also in terms of age, gender, and areas of study.
Adam interviewed Dr. Jason Dawsey (The National World War II Museum) and Yvette interviewed Dr. Fitzhugh Brundage (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Maja and Sonja interviewed Dr. Ingrid Böhler and Dr. Eva Pfanzelter. We all had really interesting talks and enjoyed the experience and learned a good deal about aspects of history we were unfamiliar with and, also, the practice of conducting oral histories.