A Gaggle of Thoughtful Posts

Let's Peek Under the Hood

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. . . and take a look at some interesting, challenging thinking by some of the students in the graduate courses at Temple University: Nonprofit Management for Historians (Public History) and Topics in Urban Studies (Masters of Liberal Arts). As recently noted, there's a total of 15 dedicated, talented, insightful students currently creating content on Steemit under #explore1918.

First: Exploring 1918

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Philadelphia Artist on the Frontlines
@johnsmithiii says: “From his position in the trenches of France, [artist George Matthews] Harding illustrated the new technologies of twentieth-century warfare including tanks, airplanes, and machine guns. His scenes captured the new realities of war, not the romanticized abstractions.
Notable comment from @engledd: “Harding includes tiny details in his pictures, but he still makes them fuzzy and a bit blurred--how I would expect a sleep-deprived soldier to see the world.”

Drugs, Sex, & Games: Party Like It's 1918! by @gvgktang, who asks (and answers) “what's so fun and sexy about people who could have been your great-great-grandparents? A lot, actually! After all, history is always more interesting than fiction.”

Wandering Aimlessly, Flanerie 1918 to 2018 by @hourofhistory who asks what it was like to aimlessly stroll the streets and alleys and parks of Philadelphia in 1918. Perhaps by walking aimlessly, we can #explore1918 and better understand Philadelphia history. Do flaneurs still exist today? Who are the flaneurs of today? Do you know the art of Flanerie?

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Fixing What’s Broken in the Culture Sector

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How Do Art Museums Live? --- The Current Revenue Model of Art Museum
@landy-yinan questions “the function and responsibility of public museums to give all people chance to receive arts and knowledge, like public libraries do.”

Arts, Culture, and Philanthropy: The Robbed and the Robbers by @cheider, who found notice of an exhibition of contemporary art in New York City In 1892, when, “on a hot Monday night in June, an exhibition of about 100 works of contemporary art opened its doors on Allen Street on the Lower East Side to the working people of the neighborhood- for FREE.”

Strategic Planning or Strategic Posturing: Whose Expectations Must Cultural Organizations Meet?
@gvgktang points out a disconnect in planning without participation of those who are served: “…the most telling example was that of a victims’ service agency that planned with only the staff and Board members! Talk about what’s broken in the nonprofit sector!” A set of good, pointed questions follow.

(Source)

Secret Strategic Planning: Transparency in the Nonprofit World
@chelseareed also critiques the way in which staff is marginalized, removed from the role of visioning and relegated to the practical. “Boards have drive and vision; staff members have business savvy and common sense. This, to me, is an inaccurate and limiting portrait of the average cultural worker.”

To help the cultural sector, historians should make films
@jfeagan notes: “Unfortunately, academic historians have long resisted working with film for a number of reasons. But, in my opinion, each point of resistance is also a point for why historians should embrace film.”
In a comment, @kenfinkel adds: “…the unfortunate irony is that Temple University produces public historians in one school and documentary producers in another! “

Crowdsourcing History
@engledd points out "Even when we try to be as objective as possible we can never fully escape the biases in the sources themselves, in whatever historical method we choose, in our language, in the culture and time we belong to, and even in each individual historian. Steemit could make a good platform for reducing some of these biases..."

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And an Idea for the Future

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Building Investment Momentum
@tmaust asks: “What if we didn't give money, but rather loaned it? Could we, humble graduate students, do that? Probably not, but there is at least one possible solution, I think: micro-lending organizations.

Stay tuned for next week's curated selection of posts...

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^{100% of the SBD rewards from this #explore1918 post will support the Philadelphia History Initiative @phillyhistory. This crypto-experiment conducted by graduate courses at Temple University's Center for Public History and MLA Program, is exploring history and empowering education. Click here to learn more.}

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