Last week I traveled to Europe and got to do some really cool stuff.
I stopped off first in Cambridge, England, to check on my student, Anna Bressor, who is doing a summer research project at King's College.
She took me to the King's College Chapel for Evensong, the services held every evening by Anglican clergy and a boys' choir. Breathtaking.
The next morning, Anna took me up on the roof of King's College Chapel! We got to climb all over and enjoy amazing views of the city.
Then I left Cambridge and continued on to Augsburg (the challenges of which I detailed in my last post.) My purpose in going to Augsburg was to give a talk about the Lutheran Heilig-Kreuz Church, IN the Heilig-Kreuz Church.
That's me, standing in front of the church altar! I spoke for about an hour in German about the history of the congregation and some of the interesting stories associated with the church's construction that I have found in my research. It was so cool to be speaking in this church I have spend so much time studying. My presentation was very well attended, about 50 people were there, including my dissertation advisor and some other important historians, some Mormon friends from Augsburg, and even the parish priest from the Catholic church next door.
The Pastor thanked me with some beautiful flowers. It was such an incredible night for me, well worth all the travel-hassle and preparation and anxiety. When I first saw the Heilig-Kreuz church as a young grad student who spoke hardly any German, I could never have imagined being invited there to speak about my research -- much less actually being able to carry it off!
I stopped off first in Cambridge, England, to check on my student, Anna Bressor, who is doing a summer research project at King's College.
She took me to the King's College Chapel for Evensong, the services held every evening by Anglican clergy and a boys' choir. Breathtaking.
The next morning, Anna took me up on the roof of King's College Chapel! We got to climb all over and enjoy amazing views of the city.
Then I left Cambridge and continued on to Augsburg (the challenges of which I detailed in my last post.) My purpose in going to Augsburg was to give a talk about the Lutheran Heilig-Kreuz Church, IN the Heilig-Kreuz Church.
That's me, standing in front of the church altar! I spoke for about an hour in German about the history of the congregation and some of the interesting stories associated with the church's construction that I have found in my research. It was so cool to be speaking in this church I have spend so much time studying. My presentation was very well attended, about 50 people were there, including my dissertation advisor and some other important historians, some Mormon friends from Augsburg, and even the parish priest from the Catholic church next door.
The Pastor thanked me with some beautiful flowers. It was such an incredible night for me, well worth all the travel-hassle and preparation and anxiety. When I first saw the Heilig-Kreuz church as a young grad student who spoke hardly any German, I could never have imagined being invited there to speak about my research -- much less actually being able to carry it off!