Cheers, Cambridge.

Here are some pictures of my class. I can’t tell you what a smart, interesting, curious, kind, funny group of people they are. . . . and they care so much about kids, history, and their craft. (And so much fun to hang with after class as well!) The professors were wonderful and they even knew everyone’s name by the second day. Thank you, Gilder Lehrman! (I miss it already.)

Dance and the Cold War

This is me with one of the Russian ladies, Olesya, and my Balkan Cold War professor, Svetozar, Sveta for short. This character ( I just called this top dog Balkan expert from the LSE a character, ha!) reamed me out three times for not asking questions in class. .. . I tried to explain that I was thoroughly engaged even if I hadn’t spoken, but he wasn’t having it. He was remarkably interested in my ability to bring dance into the Cold War mix—in his Serbian accent, “it is this that tells us so much about the Cold War…..Daily Life in Eastern Europe, in China, in the U.S….there is so much to learn.” I told him if I ever get a PH.D. in dance history, I will specialize in the Cold War. He liked this. (If you told me three years ago I’d be talking PH.D. in dance and the cold war, I would’ve said you were mad.)

Punting on the Cam

Out of hundreds of potential punters, my group got “one of the top three punters on the cam!” I don’t think he was exaggerating—he was good. On a Saturday afternoon there are hundreds of boats on the river, and navigating is really crazy.

When Emily asked if he ever fell in, he said in a lovely British accent, “Just once on a public boat. . . . . but I’ve been in this river several times…in many different ways.”

If you ever make it to Cambridge—spend the 14 pounds to punt on the River Cam.

One of the most interesting moments of the seminar came today when we were discussing the end of the Cold War.

The subject was Gorbachev, Reagan, and the breakup of the Soviet Union. After acknowledging that no one believed Gorbachev would turn out to be the reformer that he was and then discussing his policies …talk turned to whether he was a good leader. Olesva said definitively, “No.” She went on to discuss his inability to lead the country after the breakup. Debra—“Would you rather Gorbachev not been in power and these reforms not taken place? Olesva (after a long pause)—“they would have happened anyway….the people wanted it. We were ready.”
I’ve got chills just writing this after the fact. (not that this matters, but I like Gorbachev and most believe he was fundamentally instrumental in the collapse of communism in the soviet union—and how much longer would it have been had HE not been in power, who knows?….but it is interesting to see another point of view of him in the era after Dec. 1991.

zhong guo ren min qi le!

Today in lecture, my professor, the Swedish-accented Cold War expert named Odd repeated these words of Mao Zedong at the Gate of Heaven . . . .and, I actually knew what he was saying (at least the jung guo ren part!) Speaking to the Chinese people and celebrating the Communist victory in 1949 he said, “The Chinese People Have Stood Up!”

Hayley—I’ve got so much good history material for us. You are going to love it. (Better yet, I have a better understanding of how to frame modern Chinese history in the context of our course! Yippeeeeeee.)

I love being a student of history! Have I mentioned how cool the Cold War is??

I’ve just decided to share some of the phrases I wrote down while listening to everyone talk in my session on teaching strategies:

Students driven by concepts of social justice and morality
Grapple with theory & ideology ---- to think about morality and values
Aristotilian response
To what extent was the CRMovement ushered along by the Cold War climate? (strong presence of leftists in Harlem, domestic more than cold war, segregation in WWII)
“Cold War is much more complicated than mere content”
Russian scientist chooses to go to desert to practice science…Russian classmate Yelena, “Did not think it better for his daughter to be in the cultural capital of the country.”
USSR not able to meet the demands of consumerism….Yelena: ”I wanted to buy jeans.”


Books mentioned: Freedom by Eric Foner
Consumer Republic
Lynn Tyler Mae book—women in cold war/domestic cold war
Uncertain Partners by Lewis Xue (Korean war)
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Film: Good Night Lenin
Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears
The Lives of Others
Illusion of Morality
Gentlemen’s Agreement

Telling Stories

Met the nicest Italian ex-pat, Claudio, on the train on my way to Cambridge. He works at Cambridge and has a PH.D. in engineering and an MBA from Cambridge. . . But forget all that, he is one of the best storytellers I've met!

Claudio told me about his grandfather and grand-uncle, who deserted the Italian Fascist army and hid in a basement in Rome for three years—only to step out at night to smoke a cigarette. Once it was somewhat safe (Italy was virtually in chaos), the two men faked paralysis and rode the train to Milan (taking as long as 12 days at times since the tracks were often bombed out ) to pick up fabric for Claudio’s grandmother—a clothesmaker for the Roman elite. Next, the two became Robin hoods of sorts—assuming jobs as chefs (they were not cooks, but said, “it’s American food, how hard can it be?”) and securing jobs at an American army camp—stealing food and tossing it along the streets, only to return the next day with containers to collect the food and distribute it to everyone in the neighborhood.

Turns out Claudio will head to Beijing on July 12--the day before I leave for Beijing. Pics are from a little tour of Cambridge.

The Cold War is absolutely fascinating!

After being consumed by the modern dance world for a couple of years now, I’ve forgotten just how smitten I am with history and politics. This stuff is so crazy—especially when you are reading from the actors themselves (Adlai Stevenson asking the Russian delegate about weapons in Cuba and saying, “….don’t wait for the translation” and the Russian delegate retorting back at him, “I am not in an American Courtroom, Sir.”) . . . . . I can’t wait to read more about Stalin, Mao, Guevara, Castro, Tito, and GDR housewives in 1965.

Molly—I think you’ll get a kick out of my document project…I titled it "Ballet as Propaganda." Here is the photo I used as my doc http://www.zitantique.com/c2170.html …and I found a book--Cambridge U press published last year--that had an entire chapter on ballet during the cultural revolution in China.