Hello! My name is Greta. I just finished the first year of the M.A. program at George Mason University. I am most interested in Early American History and Public History (specifically Museums and Digital Media). I have a background in technology and museum work. Throughout middle school and high school, I submitted my work to Media Fairs and Festivals, winning serval awards at the State and International level. Most recently, I have worked as a freelance video editor. In the museum industry, I have served at two different sites: Conner Prairie Interactive History Park in Fishers, IN (as a First-Person Interpreter) and Sully Historic Site in Chantilly, VA (as an Intern). I have also had some experience (both as an undergraduate and as a masters student) with serving as a teaching assistant for 100 level history courses.
These two types of experiences, both in a formal classroom and in informal museums settings have convinced me that I love history education. Eventually, I would like to earn a Ph.D in History and serve as a college professor, focusing on eighteenth and nineteenth century U.S. history as well as public history. Along the way, I would also like to work in the museum industry so that I have real-life experience to authenticate my teaching. While teaching, I intend to continue working with or at history museums or sites in some capacity. I also think it is important to strengthen or establish a partnership between my history department and a local historic site through which my undergraduate students can obtain firsthand experience with Public History. Sharing my love for American history with others both inside and outside the classroom continues to be one of my life-long ambitions.
Therefore, this class seems to perfectly complement my personal and professional goals. While I have had a few years of experience as an interpreter at a museum, I am excited to have a formal course in history education. In this class, I hope to gain some new strategies for teaching in an informal setting and learn more about how that compares to teaching in a formal classroom. I also hope to learn how to incorporate technology into both types of settings. In the previous two classes, I feel like I really learned a lot about using digital tools and creating digital presentations of of museum “exhibits.” In this class, I hope to really focus on how those two things can be used to create tools or experiences that are truly educational.
