Diana Rogut: Communication Is Key

            Greetings, fellow lovers of history. Matt Craft, AW MML, HI, here. So far, The Bruin History Blog has profiled history professors and majors, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading their character profiles because I have. This week profiles someone who is not associated with history in any way, but is very dear to me – my close friend Diana Rogut. I think the world of her and know what she has to say in this great conversation is beyond golden.

            So, without any further ado, I give you – Diana Rogut!

            From up north in Westfield, New Jersey, Diana is a senior nursing major here at Belmont and was inducted into the ever-vaster Bruin family in the fall 2010 semester.  She told me, “I came because I did not get into the nursing program at UT [University of Tennessee] Knoxville, and Belmont was some other school I had heard of in Tennessee.”[1] Although she did “not particularly”[2] always like history, her multilingualism more than makes up for this absence.  Diana elaborated, “I can speak Italian. I know some Russian. I know the Hebrew [… and] Russian alphabet[s].”[3]

            And now, my exclusive interview with this amazing young lady… :)

CRAFT: What and how many history courses have you taken here at Belmont? Please provide the course names and numbers if you can (e.g. HIS 4670 – The Tudor Monarchy, 1485-1603).

ROGUT: I have taken two history courses at Belmont. I do not have the numbers for these courses at this time. I have taken a linked cohort which included World History from the 1500’s as well as Dr. Kuryla’s course on America in the 1920’s.

CRAFT: Why did you enroll in Dr. Kuryla’s 1920s’ America course? Was it to fulfill a general education requirement, or was it because that you were genuinely interested?

ROGUT: It was to fill a general education requirement. I picked it because it was the ONLY course out of HUNDREDS that I looked at that would accommodate my clinical schedule. I looked at everything from dance classes to religion to Spanish to guitar lessons. This was the only thing that worked for me. I was relieved that it wasn’t a dance class.

CRAFT: Will you take more history courses here at Belmont? Or was Kuryla’s 1920s’ America it?

ROGUT: My degree does not require any additional history credits so I will not be taking any additional courses within the history department.

CRAFT: If you can remember, what history did you learn in your pre-collegiate days?

ROGUT: I barely remember. Honestly, whatever is required by the state of New Jersey. I know I took Western Cultures and Eastern Cultures. I took U.S. History and AP European History. I know I took more but I do not remember.

CRAFT: What is your opinion of history, both the discipline and the concept? Before college? Before taking Kuryla? Before meeting me? Before helping me study? After taking Kuryla? After meeting me? After helping me study? Has your opinion of history changed? If so, how?

ROGUT: I value the study of history. I think it is important. Before college, I did not like school in general, so I don’t think I really cared one way or the other about history. Kuryla was brutal, but I loved the class. I knew I did not belong in that class, and I missed half the references or little side jokes the other students made, but I enjoyed Kuryla. I enjoyed helping you study for your exams and writing your study guides, but I don’t know that those experiences really affected my opinion of history. While I appreciate it, I know I am not meant to spend my life meddling with it. I love what I am studying. I love the science of nursing, and I know the history of nursing because it generally interests me.

CRAFT: Why are the histories of Russia and ancient Rome boring or uninteresting to you? Even during and after helping me study for those two courses?

ROGUT: I know a lot of Russian history because my father is Russian. I enjoyed it as much as a nursing major can really enjoy studying for a class that they weren’t getting credit for. Rome was pretty boring for me. I don’t know—I guess I am not really interested in either one. I like helping people. I guess I felt like learning about Rome and Russia wasn’t really helping anyone in a life or death situation. I understand I was helping you study, but I like helping others in a different way.

CRAFT: Is there a specific avenue or focus of history you find most interesting, and why?

ROGUT: I enjoy the history of nursing. It has come a long way in a short amount of time. I enjoy it because I am passionate about the science of nursing.

CRAFT: What is your impression of Dr. Kuryla and his class?

 ROGUT: I absolutely LOVED Dr. Kuryla.  I signed up for the class because it fit my schedule and it seemed tolerable. I heard about the professor and didn’t think much of it because I thought that there could be absolutely nothing more difficult than nursing. If I could survive Jane Shelby’s Pathophysiology, then this Kuryla guy had nothing on me. It was during the first class that I learned I was the only nursing major and one out of two students who was not a history major. It started off manageable. I was excited about what we were studying. I did the readings. But the first class discussion I remember raising my hand and I thought I had a really mind blowing comment about the reading. Like, I thought my comment was jaw-droppingly amazing. Another man in the class spoke first, and I didn’t even know what his analysis meant because it referenced some other writer in history that I never heard of and that was that. I never participated in class again because my responses were first-grade level compared to their real world understandings. My opinion of Kuryla has always been this: He is absolutely hilarious. I just liked to listen to him talk. I enjoyed his humor. Sometimes he would go off and rant about something that had nothing to do with our class and it didn’t even matter because it was so funny. However, he was also able to be incredibly serious at the same time. He knew when there was time to go off on a tangent about the weather and when there was a time to express disappointment in the history majors for not going out and supporting their fellow students at an important convo. He presented the material in a clear manner and graded appropriately. I think sometimes he gave me points for the pure fact that I was at least trying. He knew I was lost. I think the History Department has a real treasure in Dr. Kuryla.

CRAFT: What is your opinion of your other history teachers, both pre-collegiate and collegiate? Before taking Kuryla? After taking Kuryla? Has it changed? If so, how?

ROGUT: Pre-collegiate I don’t really feel the need to comment on. No single teacher blew me away or made me fall in love with the subject. I am blanking on the other history professor I had at Belmont, but she was Native American and a really sweet woman. She introduced one lecture by saying this, “Okay, guys, here’s the deal. There is absolutely no way for me to make today’s lecture interesting. This is just going to be plain old boring. I’m bored teaching it, and you’ll be bored hearing it, so let’s get this over with.” That really won me over. I feel like a lot of times professors have no idea how students are perceiving their course. I had a racquetball professor at Belmont who could not fathom the idea that I had a life outside of racquetball. This lady was able to be honest. I learned a lot because I respected her. She did an amazing job.

            As I stated previously, I enjoyed Kuryla as a professor. He was challenging as I assume most professors in this department are.

CRAFT: Do you have other friends who are history majors or minors or are interested in history?

ROGUT: No. I know of other Belmont students via general education credits, but all my friends are nursing majors. My freshman year roommate was some other type of major (I forget) but it was not history.

CRAFT: In your opinion what role do writing and other forms of communication play in history, nursing, and other disciplines?

ROGUT: This is a very broad question. I will answer specifically to nursing. Communication is key because we are being trusted with the lives of others. It is important to communicate with the patient as well as all members of the health care team. Nurses need to work together because it is oftentimes a high stress environment with many opportunities to make mistakes. Writing is a lost art in nursing. We don’t form real sentences in our charting; it’s mostly all abbreviations. I am currently getting frustrated with this questionnaire because it is very long and I haven’t really had to write this much without using abbreviations in a really long time. I would assume writing is more valuable in other disciplines, but communication (mostly verbal) is key to nursing.

CRAFT: How difficult was it for you to write history papers for Kuryla and others?

ROGUT: Difficult because I am more accustomed to charting which is all short hand and abbreviated. I more or less forgot how to structure a sentence.

CRAFT: Was it difficult to switch from APA documentation style for your nursing and science courses to Chicago documentation style for Kuryla? Or didn’t you have to switch for Kuryla?

ROGUT: Haha! When Kuryla told us that we had to “write in Chicago,” I thought that he had lost his mind. How could he expect me to go to Chicago to write this paper? What planet was I even on? It was a very, very embarrassing moment for me. I never heard of it before. I can do MLA and APA and feel very comfortable. Chicago ruined my life for like 6 straight days.

            So, folks, what do you make of Ms. Rogut? Obviously, I love her to death. Thanks a million for reading, peeps.

            Also, FYI, I am putting The Bruin History Blog on a brief hiatus. Don’t know yet when I will reawaken from its slumber, but when I do, I’ll definitely let you know. So for now, “That’s all, folks!”[4]

AW MML, HI

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[1] Diana Rogut, personal interview, March 26, 2013.

[2] Rogut.

[3] Rogut.

[4] Looney Tunes character Porky Pig uttered that classic phrase at the end of some episodes.

Douglas Bisson: The Lens of Life

Greetings, fellow lovers of history. Matt Craft, AW MML, HI, here. If you enjoyed “Cynthia Bisson: The Connection of All Life” and you’re curious what her husband, Douglas Bisson, has to say, then you are in luck. For, he is this week’s character!

            “[B]orn in Rockville Centre, New York, [and raised] in south Florida (Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach),”[1] Dr. Bisson received his Bachelor of Arts “in History from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida,”[2] and his “Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. are from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.”[3] While at Ohio State, he “studied Latin, French, German and Dutch,”[4] making him multilingual, a trait which I personally think qualifies him as interesting. He remarked, “I have a reading knowledge of the first two, but my Dutch and most of my German have deserted me.”[5] [LOL!]

            Like his wife said in her character profile, she and Dr. Mr. Bisson joined the Belmont history family in 1987 – a year before I was born! Can you believe it? I hardly can! – Anywho, Dr. Bisson said, “I saw a job advertised by what was then known as Belmont College.  The description was for an entry-level position in ‘Early Modern History.’ I was hired in 1987.”[6] Dr. Bisson is indeed a veteran sensei;[7] he has been teaching for more than thirty years and has taught at Belmont since 1987. In addition to his teaching, he finds time to work as an active historian. He told me, “I keep busy as the sole active author of a two-volume history of England.  The sixth edition of A History of England will be published in the winter of 2014.”[8] (Don’t know about you, but I’m totally thinking of picking up A History of England!)

And now, my exclusive interview with the other Dr. Bisson – Dr. Mr. Bisson!

CRAFT: Why history?  What first got you interested?

BISSON: As a boy I was entranced by the “island story,” that is, the history of Great Britain.  As a middle school student, I read the books of Mary M. Luke (Catherine the Queen,[9] A Crown for Elizabeth, [10]Gloriana[11]) and the historical novels of Margaret Irwin (Young Bess,[12] Royal Flush,[13] The Stranger Prince[14]).  In high school, I read the biographies of Mary, queen of Scots,[15] and Oliver Cromwell[16] by Antonia Fraser.[17]  I was hooked.  Later, I spent much time reading about the history of the United States.  I am something of a Lincoln buff.  I have read about twenty biographies of the sixteenth president[18] and many books about the Civil War.[19]

CRAFT: Is there a person you admire or model yourself after?

BISSON: I admire my old master and Doktor-Vater,[20] Clayton Roberts.  He is a wonderful historian and a fine man. He turns 90 on the 10th of November.

CRAFT: Who is your favorite intellectual? Where and how do you see his or her historical relevance?

BISSON: Among living persons, I suppose I admire Garry Wills[21] (though his latest books attacking the Church are too angry and too polemical for my taste).  John Stuart Mill[22] would be my favorite “Dead White Male.”[23]

CRAFT: Do you bring history home with you?

BISSON: I cannot avoid it (nor would I want to).

CRAFT: Does your family share your passion for history or teaching?

BISSON: Naturally!  I married a historian, Dr. Cindy Story Bisson.  Although our son Richard majored in physics and mathematics at Vanderbilt University, he was also a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honorary fraternity.

CRAFT: What role does history play in education?

BISSON: I suppose history is the lens though which one may approach almost every question, issue, and field of study.  “Not to know what has passed before you is to be forever a child,” said Cicero.[24]  In the current world, I fear that most will remain children forever.

CRAFT: Do you feel history gets enough attention or focus in all levels of school?

BISSON: Definitely not.  Less and less history is taught in schools.  Students show up in my classes with precious little understanding of the history of the United States or the historical origins of the world they inhabit.  It is discouraging (but it keeps me employed).

CRAFT: What is the most important thing students leave your courses with?

BISSON: I hope they leave with an understanding of the complexity of history and how challenging it is for us to understand and describe the role of agency, motive, and causation in history.

CRAFT:  What do you read for pleasure?

BISSON: All my reading is for pleasure, since I love to read.  I especially enjoy the novels of Jane Austen, [25]Joseph Conrad, [26]and Thomas Hardy.[27]  I read a great deal of ancient history; I admire the work of Mary Beard, [28]Barry Strauss,[29] and Garret Fagan.[30]  My favorite ancient author is Tacitus.[31]

CRAFT: What book of historical nature would you recommend that everyone read?

BISSON: Americans should read one book about themselves: Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.[32]

CRAFT: What book would you recommend that any president, prime minister, or head of state should read?

BISSON: Thucydides,[33] The Peloponnesian War.  It contains the greatest lesson any modern statesman can learn: “Democracy is incapable of empire.”

CRAFT: In your opinion, has popular culture ever portrayed history accurately? Why or why not?

BISSON: Not very often.  I thought Spielberg’s Lincoln was awfully good.   But I am not sure that historical authenticity is always a good thing.  Some historical films, for instance, are dreadful bores.  See the 1953 film, Martin Luther, commissioned by the Lutheran Church.  Snoozers!  Ken Loach’s film about the Irish War for Independence, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, is remarkably faithful to the spirit of the time (although the characters are fictional). 

CRAFT: In your opinion, why does medieval times/history have a negative connotation for some people?

BISSON: The images derived from films are relentlessly sensational. Blood, gore, cruelty, disease, and ignorance are all on display.  That makes for a “ripping yarn” rather than an accurate picture. However, the emphasis on “realism’ means the complicated reality of medieval life disappears.  But there are films that do convey something of the texture of lived experience in the Middle Ages.  See the opening scenes of The Lion in Winter (1968).

CRAFT: What is your opinion of Renaissance Festivals, and why?

BISSON: It’s harmless fun for the most part.  But don’t take any of it seriously.

CRAFT: In your opinion, why does the history of the Byzantine Empire receive less attention in education than that of the Roman Empire if the Byzantines were the cultural successors of the Romans?

BISSON: The Byzantine Empire is usually treated as a sibling civilization to the Ummayads, Abbasids, and the early medieval West.  But I don’t think the Byzantines are really the “cultural successors of the Romans.”  While they called themselves “Romans” (Romaioi), they called themselves this in Greek.  They called the emperor basileus (“royal king”) not imperator. The Byzantines are an eastern-oriented culture and Western Europe gets the attention in the textbooks.  I think you are right that more attention should be paid to this great empire and its extraordinary artistic and cultural traditions.

CRAFT: In your opinion, who was the greatest Roman Emperor, in terms of achievements and contributions to the Empire’s stability? Who was the worst?

BISSON: Augustus[34] is the greatest Roman emperor.  Hadrian[35] was the most interesting person among the emperors.  As for the worst, take your pick.  Caligula,[36] Nero,[37] Domitian,[38] Caracalla,[39] Elagabalus,[40] the innumerable barracks-room emperors of the third century—they’re all pretty bad.

CRAFT: In your opinion, who was the greatest Byzantine Emperor, in terms of achievements and contributions to the Empire’s stability? Who was the worst?

BISSON: There are 88 of these guys! I suppose Justinian,[41] Heraclius,[42] Alexius I Comnenus[43] rank high on the list. Constantine V[44] (nicknamed “S--t-Head”) ranks pretty low.

CRAFT: In your opinion, who was the greatest European monarch, in terms of achievements and contributions to his or her realm’s stability? Charlemagne? Henry VII? Who was the worst?

BISSON: Charlemagne[45] ranks high, but what we really know about his “agenda” is limited by the fewness of the sources.  I have a reluctant admiration for Henry VII,[46] but I think he was a lucky – and ruthless — politician rather than a far-sighted statesman.  It is hard to say much good about Edward II[47] as a man, husband, father, or king.  Richard II[48] still seems like a vainglorious fool (Shakespeare kind of got him right). I like St. Louis (Louis IX).[49]  He still seems like a chivalrous Christian king (in spite of his anti-Judaism). He must have been great: they named a baseball team for him.  His grandfather, Philip II Augustus,[50] was the maker of the feudal monarchy of France.  But he was a nasty little piece of work.

CRAFT: In your opinion, are the Renaissance and Reformation periods ears in and of themselves or merely continuations of the High Middle Ages? 

BISSON: This is a big question (too big for a short answer here).  But we should keep in mind that periodization is just that.  These are names for events rather than things that possess agency.  Too often students – and their professors—reify these abstractions.

Thanks a million for reading, peeps. Stay tuned!

AW MML, HI

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[1] Douglas Bisson, personal interview, October 22, 2013.

[2] Bisson.

[3] Bisson.

[4] Bisson.

[5] Bisson.

[6] Bisson.

[7] Japanese term for teacher.

[8] Bisson.

[9] A 1967 book on Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) – first wife of Henry VIII of England.

[10] A 1970 book on Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) – daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

[11] A 1973 book on Elizabeth I.

[12] A 1944 novel dramatizing Elizabeth I’s early life.

[13] A 1948 novel about Henrietta of England (1644-1670) – daughter of Charles I of England.

[14][14] A 1938 novel about Count Palestine of the Rhine (1616-1682) – a German nobleman and Renaissance man.

[15] Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587).

[16] Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) – a British official who had handled matters in England, Scotland, and Ireland.

[17] Antonia Fraser (1932-present) – a contemporary and accomplished writer with both British and Irish tendencies.

[18] Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

[19] The American Civil War (1861-1865).

[20] Doktor-Vater – mentor and advisor for doctoral students.

[21] Garry Wills (1934- present) – an American writer known for particularly writing about Roman Catholic Church history.

[22] John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) – a British intellectual and government official.

[23] Term for an intellectual whose significance may have been overplayed.

[24]Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.-43 B.C.) – a Roman intellectual and official.

[25] Jane Austen (1775-1817) – a British writer known for romance novels.

[26] Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) – a Polish writer.

[27] Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) – an English writer.

[28] Winifred Mary Beard (1955-preset) – a British classicist and a Cambridge University professor.

[29] Barry Strauss – a contemporary historian specialized in ancient history.

[30] Garret Fagan – a Pennsylvania State University “Professor of Ancient History.”

[31] Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56 A.D. – sometime after 117 A.D.) – Imperial Roman senator and historian.

[32] Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) – an early nineteenth-century French political scholar and historian best known for his analysis of America.

[33] Thucydides (460 B.C.-395 B.C.) – an ancient Greek historian and soldier.

[34] Augustus Caesar (63 B.C.-14 A.D.; r. 27 B. C.-14 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[35] Hadrian (76 A.D.-138 A.D.; r.  117 A. D.-138 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[36] Caligula (12 A.D.-41 A.D.; r. 37 A.D.-41 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[37] Nero (37 A.D.-68 A.D.; r. 54 A.D.-68 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[38] Domitian (51 A.D.-96 A.D.; r. 81 A.D.-96 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[39] Caracalla (188 A.D.-217 A.D.; r. 198 A.D.-217 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[40] Elagabalus (203 A.D.-222 A.D.; r. 218 A.D.-222 A.D.) – Roman emperor.

[41] Justinian I (482 A.D.-565 A.D.; r. 527 A.D.-565 A.D.) – Byzantine emperor.

[42] Heraclius (575 A.D.-641 A.D.; r. 610 A.D.-641 A.D.) – Byzantine emperor.

[43] Alexius I Comnenus (1056 A.D. or 1048 A.D.-1118 A.D.; r. 1081 A.D.-1118 A.D.) – Byzantine emperor.

[44] Constantine V (718 A.D.-775 A.D.; r. 741 A.D.-775 A.D.) – Byzantine emperor.

[45] Charlemagne (742, 747, or 748 A.D.-814 A.D.) – King of the Franks (since 768 A.D.); Holy Roman emperor (since 800).

[46] Henry VII (1457 A.D.-1509 A.D.; r. 1485 A.D.-1509 A.D.) – King of England.

[47] Edward II (1312 A.D.-1377 A.D.; r. 1327A.D.-1377 A.D.) – King of England.

[48] Richard II (1367 A.D.-1400 A.D.; r. 1377 A.D.-1399 A.D.) – King of England.

[49] Louis IX (1214 A.D.-1270 A.D.; r. 1226 A.D.-1270 A.D.) – King of France.

[50] Philip II Augustus (1165 A.D.-1223 A.D.; r. 1180 A.D.-1223 A.D.) – King of France.