Not so fast, my friend.....

If you've ever watched College Game Day, you know this phrase. This was the phrase running through my head around 4:30 pm Thursday during the networking session.
I had just turned in what I thought was my final version of my thesis to my advisors when my phone buzzed. It was a message from someone I had asked to do an interview with for my thesis that I didn't think would be able to do it in time, so I had finished my thesis without the interview.
She CAN do the interview after all! An email to my advisors telling them to hold off and I'll be getting yet another revised version to them early next week and a meeting to do the latest interview later and I'm back at revising my thesis yet again.
I know having this last interview will only strengthen the thesis, so I don't mind doing it, but......as they say.....

Post #5 Revise, revise, revise....

As I stated in class last week, I was very relieved to have my final draft turned in to my advisors. I've already started to do some of the revisions that I noticed needed to be done during our peer review session, but there are many more left to do. I've already reformatted my photos appendix to have the captions under the photos instead of above. Just doing that alone has made them look so much better. Now begins the task of double and triple checking that I have all of my German words italicized, the punctuation in the right places in relation to footnotes, and getting my footnotes and bibliography in "Turabian" style. I used Zotero, but that isn't the same as Turabian, so I have to make sure I'm using the correct style. I also have a few grammatical things to clean up, but overall I'm fairly satisfied with how things have turned out.

I'm trying to let myself step back from it for a few days and be able to have fresh eyes when I look at it again, but I also want to get it done so I can be done with it and not have to think about it anymore.

But as they say, there's light at the end of the tunnel.... hopefully it's not an oncoming train! ;)

Post #4- Spring Break

I must admit, it was nice to have a break from everything for a week.
For Spring Break, I went to visit my family in Dacula, GA, north east of Atlanta.
If you ever get the chance to go to Atlanta, there are tons of museums to visit. I'd been to the World of Coke and the Atlanta Aquarium before, so this trip we decided to go somewhere different.

The first place we visited was the College Football Hall of Fame as both my father and I are college football fans, even if we root for different teams. When you enter the museum, you are directed to register and choose your favorite team. Every visitor is given a lanyard with a pass that links to their registration information. When the visitor approaches an exhibit the RFID recognizes you and your team and highlights exhibit items from that team. For example, when you enter, you're faced with a wall of helmets from various teams featured in the museum. As you register, the helmet from your team flashes so you're able to find it.

Partial view of the helmet wall. Photo: Jennifer Roeszies

Overall, I really enjoyed the museum, but of course I had to pick out a few things that most visitors would never see. Some of their artifacts were falling off of the mounting, things were falling apart and probably should not have been on display in the first place if they wanted to preserve the item, and empty exhibit cases were shoved in a corner but still visible on the exhibit floor.

 Empty cases visible on the exhibit floor. Photo: Jennifer Roeszies

Movable monitor which interacts with visitor pass. Photo: Jennifer Roeszies

 Helmet with pieces of leather falling off. Photo: Jennifer Roeszies

Some of the cool technology they have includes a movable monitor that allows the visitor to scroll left and right while interacting with the exhibit, and a place to record the visitor singing their team's fight song, which is then posted to their website. (Just don't tell my father, he didn't realize it was being recorded and posted. ;) )



The second place we visited was the Atlanta History Center to see the cyclorama. I highly recommend going to see this exhibit!! The fully restored cyclorama reopened in late February, 2019 and is a must see for Civil War enthusiasts. The 47 foot high painting depicts the Battle of Atlanta. The museum interpreter tells visitors the history of the cyclorama as well as the Battle of Atlanta and includes a 12 minute video. There are multiple interactive screens on the first floor that allow the visitor to get more information on the people, the places, and the changes made to the painting.

Section of cyclorama painting. Photo: Jennifer Roezies

An additional benefit of going to the AHC is that when you pay your admission, they give you a ticket for free admission to the Margaret Mitchell House which is also a part of the AHC. As someone who has never seen Gone With the Wind or read the book (shock and surprise, I know) I wasn't sure what to expect from this visit, but it was very interesting and I'm glad that we went. If anyone is a GWTW fan, I would recommend going.

Spring Break was fun, but now it's back to working on my thesis before the deadline. 

Update #3

Some days I feel like I have everything on track and under control, and other days I feel like I'm terribly behind and will never finish in time.
I look at the deadline for the final draft and it feels like it's tomorrow!
I know I'll get everything done, and some days it doesn't bother me as much, but other days I wake up in a cold sweat thinking I've forgotten a deadline or a huge section of writing that I forgot needs to be included.
The writing for our last deadline went well, and I already have 5 pages of the next section done, but I still have to finish that section and get at least three more sections done. I think this is what is making me anxious because I keep thinking that all of the sections need to be as lengthy as the first two, but they don't.
It will get done, and I'll be fine. In the meantime, I just keep plugging away.
At least my preliminary poster PowerPoint is finished and submitted. One more thing checked off the list.
On to the next!

490 post 2: Revise, revise, and revise again

Now that I have the first few pages written, I'm trying to revise them to a point that I'm happy with before I have to start adding to the other sections of my thesis. I'm hoping that getting one section that I'm satisfied with will let me use it as sort of an example for how I want to format the rest of the thesis.  Getting feedback from not only my advisors and Dr. Lent, but from my peer review group has definitely helped. I knew that my writing was far from where I want it to be at the end of the semester, but seeing that I'm not as behind as I thought I was when I first submitted the first draft was extremely reassuring. Seeing that the three of us in my peer review group have taken three different approaches to our writing style has also helped me feel more confident that not everyone's thesis will be set up the same and it's fine if we have different styles, formats, and/or contents.

Where to begin....

Let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start....
Doe, a deer....
Wait, sorry, this isn't The Sound of Music!
If I could give anyone about to write their thesis any advice, it would be not to start at the beginning.
Sitting in front of a blank screen trying to come up with the perfect thesis statement and introduction is horrible! Instead, I ended up starting writing one of the subject areas that I knew I could write about and then the introduction started to write itself (more or less). I still don't have "the perfect thesis statement", but I feel a lot more confident about the main content of my writing.
I realize that I'm going to have a lot more than the 20-40 pages that our guidelines suggest, but that's okay. I'll get through it one page at a time.
Now that the writing process has started I feel a little more relaxed than I did before I started, when it was looming over my head. And now that I worked out the issues I had with getting logged back in to this blog, I may finally be able to get some sleep tonight.
Next step is to finally get the thesis advisory board meeting to actually happen..... but that's another story for another blog post.

Blog post 7: Break

My goals for my project over break are to have my two thesis advisors meet for the first time, to continue researching my topic to make sure that I'm providing as complete of an analysis as possible, to conduct some of the interviews with members of the dance group, and to relax for a few days so I can approach the topic with fresh eyes after the break.

I've already attended two Christmas parties for various groups within the Federation, and I will be attending at least one more in the upcoming weeks. While not during break, I will also be attending the Federation's Gala Ball in late January which will give me the opportunity to possibly interview a few more members of the dance group as well as members of the federation.

In the meantime, my thoughts are turning to going on our New Year's Eve cruise! Have a wonderful break everyone!!

Pulling in to Nassau, Bahamas aboard the Anthem of the Seas 1/2/18

Photo courtesy of Erich Roeszies

Blog #6: Reigning it in

     Since I first conceptualized the topic for my thesis I've had to reduce the scope of my research tremendously. Initially, I had hoped to discuss the entire German community in Rochester, which currently consists of eight members of the Federation of German American Societies (FGAS); down from 13 member groups when I first became affiliated with the FGAS in 2002. This loss of groups due to members aging out and not being replaced by younger members is what initially attracted me to the issue to see what could be done to preserve membership in the various groups. After researching the issues faced by one FGAS member group, the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold (SVH) it became clear that to try to discuss every member group would be too large of a task for my thesis, so I decided to focus solely on the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold. That in itself has presented more than enough content to complete my thesis.

     I had also conceptualized going in to depth as to the tanzen (dances) and tracht (clothing) that the SVH present as being authentic to the Allgäu region of Germany that they represent. While I still plan on addressing these points, I feel that I will not necessarily need to go in to the detail that I had originally planned on to still get my point across about the means that the SVH go to in order to ensure that their representation is trustworthy.

     I believe that an examination of the entirety of the member groups of the Federation of German American Societies is important to ensure the continuance of German heritage in Rochester and will suggest in my thesis that it be researched for future work.

Blog Post 5: A Better Understanding

One of the things that I've discovered through all of my research on schuhplattler verein (German shoe slapping dance groups or "societies") is that the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold really is a rare thing; not just in the Rochester area, but worldwide. There are only three groups in the United States that represent the Allgäu region of Germany that are a part of the 76 member vereine Gauverband Nordamerika, of which most organized groups are members. Part of the reasoning for this is the geography of Germany. The Allgäu region is mountainous, so travel to other towns and cities was not common for those in the region. The result of this is that not many were exposed to their tracht (clothing) or their region specific dances.


Although I knew they existed, another thing that I discovered is the website of the Allgäuer Gauverband der Gebirgstrachten und Heimatverine -hereafter referred to as the Allgäu Gauverband.(Website is available in English by right clicking on the body of the page and selecting Translate to English). The Wageggler Börwang-Haldenwang, one of the 45 member clubs of the Allgäu Guaverband visited the United States (Buffalo, NY to be precise) and attended a event put on by the Gauverband Nordamerika called the Gaufest back in 2017. Building relationships with the Wageggler as well as the Allgäu Gauverband can go a long way in helping to preserve authentic tracht, customs, traditions, as well as other aspects of the region.

Another thing that I learned while doing research is how to create the umlaut character while typing all of these German words!! ;)  The umlaut is used to indicate a different vowel quality. If you are not capable of creating the umlaut character, it is appropriate to represent the difference by using the vowel with the addition of "e". For example, ö would be written as oe. However, it is more accurate to use the umlaut whenever possible. Umlauts can be found with ä, ö, and ü in the German language. While this will not be addressed in my thesis, I feel that it is important as it lends authenticity to the writing.


I've also learned how the city of Munich promotes their world famous Oktoberfest. This also leads in to what I still need to know- how this knowledge can help Rochester German societies. Can they apply the principles that Munich uses to make their Oktoberfest not necessarily a world famous event, but an event that will perpetuate the German culture in Rochester?

Immenstadt in Allgau

Photo courtesy of Zaineb Chelly

 https://sites.google.com/site/zeinebchelly/cool-stuff

Blog post 4- Working research question

While many Rochesterians know that those of German ancestry make up a large portion of the Rochester population, many don't know that there is a German community that is actively trying to preserve and promote German culture and heritage. One reason for that is that many German immigrants chose to assimilate into the American culture for multiple reasons (some of which I will discuss in my thesis).

One major drawback of that assimilation (among other reasons like an aging population) is a decrease in membership in German cultural groups in Rochester. The result is the ceasing of multiple German cultural groups due to lack of membership and/or interest.

 After reading chapters 1-2 of A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Turabian, I know that a good research question will answer three questions: What is the topic? What do you want to find out about the topic? (Why is the topic important to your readers. Also know as the "so what?")  What issue will your research fix/improve? With these guidelines in mind, my working research question is: What is the German community (specifically the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold- one of the German dance groups) in Rochester, NY doing to authentically preserve and promote German cultural heritage and what could they be doing differently in order to perpetuate the culture for future generations?

Members of the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold after a performance in 2014 at the Genesee Country Village and Museum. Photo courtesy of Jim Smith.

Blog post 3- close readings

     For this week, I read two academic articles related to two different forms of German dancing.
"The Migration and Globalization of Schuhplattler Dance: A Sociological Analysis" written by Alexandra Kolb focuses on the "shoe slapping" form of dance known as the schuhplattler (as the title suggests), while the second article I read, "Folk Dances in the German Club" written by Herbert Schueler focuses on German folk dances. While both styles of dance are authentic to German culture, they are very different from each other. I'll discuss those differences in my thesis.


     What I've learned about close readings of both of these articles is that while they may be discussing similar topics, the writing style that each author uses is very different. Both of the journals that the articles were published in are peer reviewed journals, however, one article
is written with a more academic or scientific style (Kolb) while the other is much more casual (Schueler).

     I've also found that the research methods used in museum studies tends to lean more toward human interaction rather than the scientific trial and/or data set methods. Museum studies methods are more likely to be case studies, interviews, archival research, and interviews.

A high energy schuhplattler dance. (photo courtesy of http://www.dgemuetlichen.com/performance/)

A lower energy folk dance. (photo courtesy of https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-performers-bring-German-folk-dance-12401076.php)

Bibliography-

Kolb, Alexandra. "The Migration and Globalization of Schuhplattler Dance: A Sociological Analysis." Cultural Sociology 7, no. 1 (2012): 39-55. doi:10.1177/1749975512453658


Schueler, Herbert. "Folk Dances in the German Club." The German Quarterly 11, no. 4 (November 1938): 206-12. Accessed September 24, 2018. doi:10.2307/399999.

Thesis idea- German Cultural Heritage in Rochester

Last fall, for Dr. Foti's Cultural Heritage class, we were assigned a final paper in which we were able to choose any topic in cultural heritage that we wanted. After coming up with a few topics that I felt I could discuss with some relative expertise in those areas, the phrase that I had heard many times before in my previous classes stuck in my head- "write about what you know about" and my topic became clear.

Before I started my education in Museum Studies at RIT I was very involved in the German community in Rochester. I started out as a dancer with the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold (SVH), quickly became their recording secretary, Vorplattlerine (responsible for leading and teaching the females in the group), and eventually the Vorstand (President) of the group. In addition to my roles in the SVH I also became a member of the Rochester Touristen Verein (sometimes referred to as "the nature group" although it's much more than that) and for two years I was either the chairwoman or the co-chairperson for their annual Blossom Fest. In addition to this, I was also elected to be 2nd Vice President for the Federation of German American Societies (FGAS) with the duty of being the chairwoman for their German Fest currently held in Spencerport. In addition to these duties, I also have been honored by the FGAS with a citation for all of my work with the SVH as well as being selected as the princessen (princess) of the federation's 2014 Mardi Gras (also known as Karnival).
Being involved in the German community in Rochester for over 12 years has given me great insights into the the challenges they face including recruiting new members (as there is a large generation gap in many of the clubs which has resulted in multiple clubs folding) as well as making their presence in the Rochester community more widely known.

Drawing on this, I decided to write my final paper for the Cultural Heritage class on the German community in Rochester. After touching on just one aspect of one of the dance groups in the area I had enough for the requirements for the paper, leaving much more to be explored at a later time. Enough to complete a thesis. And so, a thesis idea was born.

My thesis will discuss promoting and preserving German cultural heritage in Rochester. I will discuss the history of Germans in the Rochester area, the challenges they face, and what they are doing to keep the German cultural heritage alive. I will mainly discuss the groups within the FGAS but will touch on their networking with other organizations outside of the German community as well as what other businesses and organizations are doing to promote German cultural heritage. Primarily, my focus will be on the dance groups associated with the FGAS, their authenticity and how it preserves German cultural heritage, what determines their authenticity, and the connection to the Gauverband Nordamerika and UNESCO's international standards.

This photo features three different dance groups that represent the Allgau region in Germany- one from Texas, one from Germany, and the third is the SVH from Rochester. Because each group from the United States adheres to the standards set by Gauverband Nordamerika, they are indistinguishable from the group directly from the Allgau region in Germany.

1st post

For our first assignment, we were asked to write a paragraph on our interests and experience in the field of Museum Studies and post it to ritmuse.blogspot.com so here it goes.
Unlike most of my classmates who establish their interest in the museum studies field and then pursue their education, I was put in to the field as a necessity of my ever changing job. After being assigned part-time to the RIT Archive Collections, I discovered that I really enjoyed the work, and decided to get the education required for a degree in Museum Studies so that I would have a better understanding of what I was doing and why I was doing it.
My first assignment in the archives involved packing up 87 boxes of materials in the basement at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT and moving them to the archives. Since then, other students and staff members have had the task of going through the boxes and organizing and sorting the materials.
I've been able to expand the types of projects that I've worked on for the archives in the years following that first project. Currently, I'm in charge of the social media for the archives as well as capturing RIT websites using a platform called Archive-It. Be sure to follow us on Facebook (RIT Archive Collections) and on Twitter (@ritarchives).

(Photo taken by me in celebration of Museum Selfie Day 2017- I'm on the far left next to Becky Simmons (RIT Archivist), Jody Sidlauskus (center- RIT Assistant Archivist) along with some of our student employees)