Things I've learned, with Prof. Gardner
N-L: Outside of teaching, what do you like to do?
CG: My biggest interest is European soccer. Liverpool Football Club is my favorite team. My work is in French history and I'm a big fan of French soccer as well.
I'm very interested in computer work too, as you know, so I try to learn things on how to use a computer and learning how to use Web sites, which I use in my classes.
N-L: You mentioned to us [in class] that your wife is also a medieval scholar.
CG: Her research was history, but she's mostly taught theology courses. She does a lot of work in Catholic theology, especially on women's movements in the late Middle Ages and female Dominicans' participation in education and culture.
N-L: So what is it like at your dinner table? Do you guys discuss medieval history?
CG: Sometimes. But mostly what we do is if a topic comes up pertaining to politics or art or a movie or something, our training comes into play and we talk about [medieval history]. But we refer to it as sort of a secondary topic; the topic of conversation, of course, is not a medieval cathedral or a saint. A perfect example is when Lady Diana was killed within a day of Mother Teresa dying. And so for a long time we would talk about how interesting it was that most people were fascinated by this woman who did great things but was very comfortable, very wealthy, very well connected was dead, whereas the media just wasn't that interested in Mother Teresa, who in the long term of history would be understood as a saint almost the minute she died for the work she did in Calcutta.
So we were fascinated by that, and of course as medievalists we talk about it, about medieval saints and things like that, but it wasn't the point of the conversation. The point of the conversation was how interesting it was how differently people responded to those two famous people dying. And I do political history, so whenever there's an election, or with the whole debate about the Iraq war, I saw it through the eyes of how war was understood in the Middle Ages and how monarchies tried to defend and rationalize going to war. That wouldn't be the main topic of conversation, but I would just say, "In the Hundred Years' War, they said this as well," for example.
CG: My biggest interest is European soccer. Liverpool Football Club is my favorite team. My work is in French history and I'm a big fan of French soccer as well.
I'm very interested in computer work too, as you know, so I try to learn things on how to use a computer and learning how to use Web sites, which I use in my classes.
N-L: You mentioned to us [in class] that your wife is also a medieval scholar.
CG: Her research was history, but she's mostly taught theology courses. She does a lot of work in Catholic theology, especially on women's movements in the late Middle Ages and female Dominicans' participation in education and culture.
N-L: So what is it like at your dinner table? Do you guys discuss medieval history?
CG: Sometimes. But mostly what we do is if a topic comes up pertaining to politics or art or a movie or something, our training comes into play and we talk about [medieval history]. But we refer to it as sort of a secondary topic; the topic of conversation, of course, is not a medieval cathedral or a saint. A perfect example is when Lady Diana was killed within a day of Mother Teresa dying. And so for a long time we would talk about how interesting it was that most people were fascinated by this woman who did great things but was very comfortable, very wealthy, very well connected was dead, whereas the media just wasn't that interested in Mother Teresa, who in the long term of history would be understood as a saint almost the minute she died for the work she did in Calcutta.
So we were fascinated by that, and of course as medievalists we talk about it, about medieval saints and things like that, but it wasn't the point of the conversation. The point of the conversation was how interesting it was how differently people responded to those two famous people dying. And I do political history, so whenever there's an election, or with the whole debate about the Iraq war, I saw it through the eyes of how war was understood in the Middle Ages and how monarchies tried to defend and rationalize going to war. That wouldn't be the main topic of conversation, but I would just say, "In the Hundred Years' War, they said this as well," for example.
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