Dr. Webb responds to Global Fair Keynote Speaker, Matt Rojansky
In my role as a history teacher, do I have an obligation to answer a similar question as Mr. Rojansky’s, why does history matter?
On Wednesday, April 18, I was in the audience at the keynote address for the opening of our biannual Global Fair. The title of Matt Rojansky’s address, “Why Russia Matters,” appealed to me as both a history teacher and as a member of a generation whose experience and knowledge of Russia were shaped by the Cold War and a place we once called the Soviet Union. Neither of those two exist today but the question as to Why Russia Matters appeals to me in a deeper, more fundamental sense as a question or challenge that all history teachers face on at least a yearly, if not a daily basis. I know I have the obligation to answer a similar question as Mr. Rojansky’s, why does history matter?
Our keynote speaker took on this question in both obvious (they are one of two major nuclear powers) and less obvious but equally compelling, reasons: we share elements of a common history (our common struggle and alliance in WWII), a citizenry that prizes personal freedom (which comes as a bit of a shock to the Cold War generation), and a population that in general loves being Russian like we tend to love being Americans.
Understanding history--or at least its latest narrative--is always a challenge as Rojansky deftly outlined. He superbly demonstrated the dangers of misunderstanding your adversaries as well as your friends in the world. Seen through the lens of competing narratives or biases that frequently lead to poor decisions, misjudgments or on occasion, much worse, Rojansky suggested an alternative Russian perspective that is frequently ignored. Studying history does not assure a clear path to good decisions. Yet it is a tool, a fine one I would suggest, that is more likely than not to improve our grasp of events, sensitize us to different points of view, and in the best-case scenario, lead to better decisions in both our personal lives and the lives of our nations. Understanding each other is the safe course, the wise course, and the course most likely to prevent calamity. Ideally, such understanding is also most apt, in my opinion, to lead to collaboration as a starting point to solving the global issues that increasingly confound us. I regularly remind myself that in my classroom each year there could be someone sitting at the table whocould, in fact, be a future decision maker. Well done, Mr. Rojansky! Yes, Russia matters and history matters as well.
