C-SPAN - a win!

So C-SPAN called last evening to ask me if I wanted to come down for the summer to be one of the Teaching Fellows.

I couldn't be more excited. As a politics junkie, and a C-SPAN junkie, there isn't much more exciting to me than working in the heart of darkness itself. But what is better, is that I get to be in a position where I can watch C-SPAN all day, see the speeches and press conferences, and Prime Minster's Question Hour, and the forums and intellectual gatherings as they are broadcast, as they are happening. Basically watch politics all day and listen to C-SPAN radio in the evening. It sounds ideal.

There were five finalists and three were chosen. I have no idea about who the other two Fellows are.

As for the job itself, as far as what I will actually be doing, well, I'm not entirely sure. Last time I signed up for a job with such a vague description I found myself going 4 kts to nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a submarine. I doubt that the C-SPAN gig is going to be as dull as that! I will be creating lesson plans out of the content that C-SPAN has in its archives, that it is collecting and broadcasting, and is planning. So there is a whole section on the C-SPAN website for teachers (look on the top right hand corner of the front page) called C-SPAN Classroom. Once you get in there you can look at video clips of all sorts of American History stuff, scholars, politicians etc discussing events and people. But the enterprising teacher can find a lot more within a few clicks of the homepage. The Fellows created a bunch of the content in there, along with C-SPAN's education department.

Better yet, C-SPAN puts me up for the summer, gives me some stuff before I leave (CDs, DVDs, books, hopefully a long-sleeved T-shirt) and provides transportation to and fro. And, if you can believe it, a stipend for $3500. A lucrative July, for old Jar.

Of course, I hope to reconnect with my old pal, Ralph Nader.

You guys should come visit!