International Institute of Genealogical Studies – Page 133 – LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

Scottish Virtual Meeting Today

Are you working on your Scottish genealogy? Join Sheena for a Virtual Meeting. Come and ask questions about our Scottish courses and your research. Thursday, May 15th at 6:00 PM EDT Sheena Tait will be hosting the Scottish Virtual Meeting. Time zones: Thursday, May 15th – 6:00 PM Eastern; 5:00 PM Central; 3:00 PM Pacific;11:00 PM in London, England; Friday, May 16th – 8:00 AM in Sydney, Australia MEETING LOCATION: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/scottish/ (NOTE: No user name or password required. Please type in your first and last name; then click “Enter as a Guest”.)

The Many Facets of the Family Story

By Shannon Bennett, Student Have you ever thought about how many points of view there are within one family story? Each person who was there heard, saw, felt, or interpreted the situation differently. Just ask your family about an event from when you were a child. I bet that while similar, they are all different. These next two modules (Modules 3 and 4 of Demystifying Culture & Folklore ) touched on aspects of this phenomena. Course author Jean Wilcox Hibben made this point at the beginning of Module 4: “As genealogists, it is our responsibility to analyze the family story … the truth or falsehood(s) with it.” Many people want to believe that everything told to them by an ancestor has to be 100% true. You know, it might be, from their point of view. But you have to think about it, who has another side? If it was a story passed down, was the whole story told or only part? Everyone has something to hide, so were facts fudged or exaggerated? Hibben drives these points home through examples of her own family. Examples that I can see in mine as well. What I found fascinating was using Bormann’s Theory of Symbolic Convergence to understand my family and its stories better. Jean Wilcox Hibben put it simply: “by studying the paradigm of the communication of a group, a researcher can analyze the history of the unit [family] and assess its dynamics.” Communication is always key, how did our family groups communicate within the house and even outside of the house. Think about how this could have effected perceptions of them and in turn the stories they told to the next generation. As an example, my grandfather was career military. He and my grandmother grew up in a small farming community. As soon as she graduated high school they eloped and left. That was 1936. He served in World War II, they traveled the world, and he finally retired in 1965. They decided to move back home and he took up his portion of the family farm. My mother and her older brother remember it as a horrible time. Even though their parents were accepted back into the fold, mostly, the children were not. My mother and uncle were outsiders. They were picked on, ostracized, and teased simply because they were not born in the community and did not know the norms…

Learning More About Family History and Culture

By Shannon Bennett, Student Wow! This course, Demystifying Culture & Folklore started off with a bang. Lots of information and a page turner to boot. It’s hard to believe that I am even more excited now than I was before the first day started. However, if you remember my introduction post to this course, I am a self-confessed myth and folklore geek. What I liked, and I didn’t get from the undergrad courses I took, is that this is firmly family centered. How we take those standard terms, throes, and ideas then turn the magnifying glass on ourselves and our family, not another culture. Well, I guess in some ways we are doing that too since many of us are descendants of immigrants. From the beginning we were told to examine our family and explore our roots to see: That was a big task, a daunting task some would say. Honestly it takes a lot of guts to really analyze your family and come to an understanding about what they did and why they did it. Thankfully the instructor, professional genealogist and folklorist Jean Wilcox Hibben, does not throw you into the deep end. Each section began with a list of terms and their definitions. Terms which lead to discussion and understanding of how everything from material goods, unspoken customs, and assumptions affected the lives of our ancestors. The exercises in these modules worked in conjunction with the new terms I read as well. Instead of thinking about long dead civilizations and what their symbols meant I found myself dissecting what I knew about my own family. That was difficult, more difficult than I anticipated. Fun and educational, but difficult. I was surprised about what I could pull out of my memories. The nuances in the way a story was told. The unwritten norms and mores that I was indoctrinated with as a child. Plus, how the word sub-culture really isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I think I count eight sub-cultures that I belong to! The next two modules should be even more fun as we learn about cultural assimilation and family folklore. See you online!

Happy Graduation!

Join us for our 2014 graduation ceremony, on Friday the 2nd of May as we honor Graduates of the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. This year, it will be held at St. Catharines, Ontario at the start of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference between 3:30 and 5:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Savings Time). Our students and graduates are from all around the world. Naturally, because of the far away distances, many graduates have difficulty attending this ceremony. For the last two years, through the use of our Virtual Meeting Room, we were able to reach a much greater number of students and graduates virtually. Again this year, we will use the Virtual Meeting Room for those who cannot attend locally. The National Institute for Genealogical Studies invites you to come celebrate with us, our students, our graduates and our instructors. Everyone is invited. May 2, 2014 at 3:30pm (EDT) Brock University 500 Glenridge Avenue St. Catharines, Ontario (90 minutes south-west of Toronto) If you would like to attend virtually : MEETING LOCATION: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/graduation/ (NOTE: No user name or password required. Please type in your first and last name; then click “Enter as a Guest”.) If you have never attended a Virtual Meeting, see the Instructions link on the right hand side of the Virtual Learning Room page. Hope to see you online or in person on Friday, May 2nd. ——————– OGS CONFERENCE Canada’s largest annual gathering of family historians, the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference will be held in St Catharines, Ontario from May 2nd to the 4th 2014. This year’s theme, “Genealogy Without Borders,” is based on the simple idea that genealogical research can be done almost without ever having to leave your home. Whether you’re looking for a headstone picture in England or a 1921 Canadian Census data image, the Internet provides access to thousands of documents to thousands of people. More recently, there has been an explosion in the use of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, to connect family researchers to both sources of information and family members – around the globe. Hear some of The National Institute instructors ‘How can I Create an eBook to Share Family History in no Time’ with Luana Darby from Utah; or ‘Local History Online-Adding Social Context to your Family History’ with Marian Press from Toronto; Kirsty Gray, Director of the English Records program will present ‘Child Migration…

Starting My Next Course: Demystifying Culture and Folklore

Shannon Bennett, Student A good story can captivate the hearts and minds of listeners for years. Sometimes, when you have heard a story repeatedly, you can pick up the little embellishments and the differences that occur as a story develops and changes. Family stories are the same way. They captivated us as children, intrigued us as adults, and are information to be proved as genealogists. The next course I am enrolled in is Demystifying Culture and Folklore. I have to admit that as soon as I saw the title on the course list I knew I wanted to take it. In college I took a folklore class and have been fascinated by mythology from different cultures my whole life. It is one of those odd interests of mine that I love to feed with a good story from time to time. Judging from the course description, Demystifying Culture and Folklore promises to be a great class. The focus will be on looking at various cultures and how their traditions and folklore shaped the people of today. There will be a module on how a new culture affected immigrants and cultural assimilation. Plus connecting the stories of our ancestors to who we are today. Of course, you can’t have a class like this without talking about Joseph Campbell. For many people he is the face of modern mythology and folklore research. Lucky for me I have read his series of books “The Mask of God” and “A Hero with a Thousand Faces.” If you are interested in mythos and folklore they should be at the top of your reading list. I will be interested to read what our instructor thinks of him. I admit that I am intrigued by the assignment teaser given on the introduction page: “students will be encouraged to apply course theory to their own lives and the lives of their forebears in personal application essays.” Oh, I love to write, almost as much as I love to talk, and being able to analyze my family through this lens should produce some amazing results. Or, fingers crossed, I hope it will. This should be a very interesting class and I am excited to turn the microscope on my family to see what I find. Hope you will join me over the next month as I take this course. It should be a great time! See you online! …