User:Cmtillotson

Christopher Tillotson

Overview

The paragraph should give a three to five sentence abstract about your entire London HUA experience including 1) a summary of the aims of your project, 2) your prior experience with humanities and arts courses and disciplines, and 3) your major takeaways from the experience.

Milestone 1

Impact of Winston Churchill's WWII Era Speeches
Objective: How did Winston Churchill's famous World War Two speeches impact the course of the war?

The following project focuses on the impact of Winston Churchill's World War II speeches delivered to the House of Commons during 1940. This was an important time in world history, and this project offers the opportunity for a better appreciation of the world we live in today. Over the last 80 years Churchill's speeches have been analyzed many times. I choose to create an original video that provides background information necessary so that anyone can gain a better appreciation of these important historical events. I started with only a small knowledge base of this time period from a previous course at WPI "History of U.S. Foreign Relations". I began my research with first understanding Churchill and World War II. With this knowledge I selected speeches given at a time that I considered to be the most critical. I narrowed my focus to four main speeches, and dug deep into the background, content, and interpretation of each. With this information I created my video analysis of the impact Churchill's World War II speeches had.
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Milestone 2

Milestone 2: John Tillotson a Post English Reformation Preacher
Objective: What role does John Tillotson play in English Catholic-Protestant tension?

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Milestone 3

History and Influence of Football's Commercialization in England (Capstone)
Objective: What economic, cultural, and social impacts has the commercialization of Football had in England?

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. If this milestone, for you, represents a humanities and arts capstone, please indicate so. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Activity Journal

The activity journal represents an ongoing log of reflections gained through each and every project activity on the calendar.

Leave the above sentence in place exactly as it is, delete this sentence, and add a new activity journal entry for each major trip or activity in which you participate (museum visit, cultural experience, etc.).

Activity #1 Westminster Abbey and Tower of London

May 8th, 2017

First today we visited Westminster Abbey. Before I arrived at the Abbey I was mildly interested, but I left feeling like it was very worthwhile for me! The first thing that really caught my interest was the tomb of the unknown warrior. I had been to Arlington before, and was surprised to find out that Westminster had a similar memorial. It was moving to be reminded of the sacrifices of those brave men that fought for the betterment of the world. The second thing to catch my interest was seeing the tomb of Issac Newton. This was really cool to me because he is regarded as the father of modern physics, and being a WPI student I had learned all about his works. The fourth thing was the tomb of Bloody Mary, this is an interesting topic for me because I am a Catholic and it is always amazing how far we have come in the way of religious tolerance. I also was very moved by the painting of Saint Christopher because this is who my parents named me after because they loved to travel and he is the patron saint of travel. The only tie in to my milestones was the memorial to Winston Churchill in the Abbey, but it was more an indirect relation.

We also visited the Tower of London, which was also very cool. The one thing that I noticed was that a lot of the tower and surrounding vicinity was not original, however this only took away from the experience mildly. I enjoyed looking at the different weaponry that they had. The crown jewels were also very cool and I enjoyed looking at them. There was a video of the queen being crowned that I had not seen before. I did not find any major tie ins to my milestones, but there was some info on World War II, which relates to Winston Churchill of course.

Activity #2 St. Paul's Cathedral

May 9th, 2017

Today we arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral just before the opening at 8:30 AM. The outside of the Cathedral was quite stunning from the exterior due to both the shear size and intricacy. Once inside I was given a headset for the audio tour and begin to make my way through the building. First I looked around in the nave and begin to take in the combination of architecture, art, and religious symbolism. I learned about how Christopher Wren designed the Cathedral and the different religious and political reasons for why it was built the way it was. Going up to the whispering gallery and getting a view from above was beautiful.

Although I am not of the denomination St. Paul's is I was still moved by all the religious symbolism and art. I really liked "The Light of the World" painting, and I spent some time admiring it. The video display in the church of the man being buried, the woman hanging, the man sitting in fire, and the upside down man was very odd to see. I could see what the artist was trying for, but mostly I found it more distracting than moving. The memorial at the back reminded me how much the U.S. was involved in helping the UK during World War II. I thought the tribute was moving, and found it ironic that Richard Nixon was the one present at St. Paul's when it was presented.

The memorial to the members of the Antarctic expedition was also very cool, as I can remember learning about that in the past. Moving into the crypt was also a cool part of the church. I was looking for an ancestor of mine named John Tillotson who was the Archbishop of Canterbury and at one point the dean of St. Paul's who died in 1694. I did manage to find a memorial to him in the crypt, but after some research I found he was buried in a nearby church. So I decided to take a walk to St. Lawrence Jewry in order to investigate. I found out that the church was firebombed in WWII, but that his vault survived and he is still buried there today. His original memorial still stands in the corner of the church where his vault is.

Activity #3 Natural History Museum

May 10th, 2017

Today my group took the tube to the Natural History Museum, and arrived around 10 AM when the doors opened. After making it through security we were greeted with the view of a large hall with an escalator going through the center of an earth sculpture. Before making our way up we walked around looking at portholes with different fossils and rocks inside. One of the most interesting was a moon rock encapsulated inside a large glass pyramid.

We then made our way up the escalator to an exhibit on volcanoes, tectonic plates, and earthquakes. The one thing I noticed early on in the museum was the amount of interactive exhibits that engage visitors in learning. After this we entered an exhibit dealing with geologic time and different ways the earth changes over long periods of time. After we spent some time in a geology exhibit looking at various materials and precious stones.

After a short lunch break we continued on through the exhibits. We saw a gallery of taxidermy creatures, and then another of large fossilized prehistoric creatures. We also looked through a exhibit dubbed "Creepy Crawlers" that had all kinds of spiders, crabs, and lobsters. My group particularly enjoyed an exhibit that illustrated how different spiders hunt prey. My favorite exhibit was marine invertebrates, because they had a life size giant squid (which happens to be my favorite animal). The last exhibit we visited was focused on dinosaurs, and then we left around 1PM to begin work on milestones and journals.

After seeing the both the U.S. Natural History Museum in D.C., and the British Natural History Museum I would say the collection in the U.S. Museum dwarfs the British Museum.

Activity #4 National Gallery

May 11th, 2017

Today my group walked to The National Gallery and arrived around 10 AM. I was never much of a fine art fan, but I decided to enter the museum with as little reservation as possible as to what the experience would hold. One of the first things I noticed when entering the gallery was that a majority of the paintings subjects were Christian in nature. I enjoyed these paintings the most. Many different painters had scenes of the nativity, the crucifixion of Jesus, and St. Jerome. These paintings I had no problem taking a few minutes and really looking into them and admiring the work of the artists.

One thing Peter and I noticed and discussed was the contrast of the christian and mythological paintings on display in the gallery. One room in particular had two large paintings one a picture of Christ, and one being a mythological scene. We also noticed the level of detail in specific paintings, and how the closer you got the more you could notice. I can only imagine how much time must have been spent on many of the works. We also are both James Bond fans and had to stop in the gallery that appeared in "Skyfall" to recreate the scene.

After looking at very detailed paintings is was hard to believe that some paintings in the gallery can be considered masterpieces. Specifically the Monet gallery left me underwhelmed. I understand the difference between realism and impressionist works, but I still wasn't that impressed. The one thing that did impress me was the way that painters with only dots could create a keen sense of depth in their work. Overall I enjoyed my time in the gallery, however, it wasn't my favorite attraction I have visited so far.

Nothing in the gallery related to my milestones, but this makes sense because the works there are not from the time periods my milestones cover.

Activity #5 British Museum

May 12th, 2017

Today my group and I walked to the British Museum and entered right around 10 AM. After the typical bag search we entered the museum to a large central room. We walked by a shop that caught our eye as it had numerous items for sale with a Rosetta stone print. We all had a laugh and thought some of the items were "over the top." Funny enough we decided first to stop at the ancient Egypt exhibit. As we walked through the door we were greeted by none other than the Rosetta stone itself. This was the one piece on display that I wanted to see the most. I have memories of writing a paper on the Rosetta stone at some point in my previous schooling. I know that it unlocked languages to historians that were previously thought dead and I understand the importance of a find like that. We continued to walk through the Egypt exhibit after stopping at the stone.

We then wandered into the Greece area of the museum, and I was impressed by the collection of items they had. Then I thought of the phrase "the sun never sets on the British Empire", and I really realized that by looking at all the different items they had. The British Empire was all over the globe at points concurring lands so it makes sense that they would have brought back and had access to so much global history. They even had items from North America, and this made perfect sense because I assume at least a portion of the items were sent back when the original colonies were still controlled by the crown.

We continued to walk though other exhibits including one on the enlightenment. I was very impressed by the collection of different artifacts they had. One thing I was really impressed by was the craftsmanship in miniature wood carvings. They held interesting designs including one of the last supper that was really well done. That was one theme I had when walking around the museum was the level of craftsmanship that all the different civilizations had around the world through history. I think today's world is more driven by technological advancements and craftsmanship today is less artistic and more practical. Overall I enjoyed my time in the British Museum admiring their large collection.

I didn't see any exhibits that relate to my milestones, but it is a large museum and I did not get a chance to see all of it.

Activity #6 Museum of London

May 15th, 2017

Today my group and I visited the Museum of London. I was excited to find out that this museum would be focused throughout all time periods in London and not one particular aspect. We arrived a few minutes early before the museum had opened so our group spent some time looking at a sculpture outside with a letter on it. We noticed that the letters were very unique in the way that the letter "s" often looked like an integral symbol and also sometimes looked like an f. We spend some time discussing why this might be until the museum doors opened at 10 AM. We decided it would be best to buy a museum map and booklet so we could identify the highlights we wanted to see.

The first room was one of my favorites, it was called "London before London". It detailed the history of the people who lived in London before it became officially settled. It had examples from the stone age and the bronze age. I always am astounded to learn about prehistoric people and be reminded that civilization as we know it today was not always here. They also had many examples of the animals, such as reindeer, that lived in the area before humans had a chance to tamper with the environment.

The next room was all about the Roman invasion of the area. I always have admired all that the Roman empire was able to accomplish. The next exhibit moved into medieval times and even had a example of a typical dwelling that could be found in the city at the time. I was very impressed by a model they had of the old St. Paul's that burned in the great fire of 1666. I wondered if the cathedral had not burned in that fire if it would still be around today, and I might have even been able to go inside of it on this trip. They also had a short video I watched talking about the "Black Death" that spread throughout Europe. It was simply astonishing to see how many people died and suffered as a result of this illness. I had also been very curious about the "Great Fire" of 1666 and was excited to explore and interactive exhibit detailing the events that took place.

I was really hoping that there would be some detail of Winston Churchill in the museum, but there was not. The museum overall dealt with events and places rather than people, and I think this is why he was not mentioned. The only other connection I have to another milestone is they listed the founding years of some of the famous London football clubs.

Activity #7 Churchill War Rooms

May 16th, 2017

Today I visited the Churchill War Rooms in order for me to gain more insight into my first milestone. I arrived around 10AM to the museum, and was really impressed from the moment I began the tour. The first room was the actual "War Cabinet" meeting room. I couldn't help but think about the discussions and decisions that took place in that room. I don't believe it to be an exaggeration, in my opinion, that decisions made in that room account for much of the world today.

As I continued the insight I gained towards my first milestone was invaluable. The exhibits supplemented my already solid knowledge of how Churchill influenced the world during World War II. There was also an expansive timeline of Churchill's life that really helped arrange my knowledge about him chronologically. He did so much in his 90 years and I have to say that I was really impressed and inspired by him. His contributions to the world are still remembered today, and rightfully so.

Seeing a place so entrenched in important world history was really an enjoyable experience. The museum allowed me to better understand the war as something that really happened, and not just events recorded in history books. In the gift shop I found a book about Churchill's speeches that I think will be a great asset for me going forward. I also took some pictures of the rooms for potential use in my deliverable. I spoke with a supervisor at the museum and got contact information in order to gain permission to use these pictures in my possible video.

Activity #8 Tate Britain

Today my group and I visited Tate Britain. I knew it was a more recent art gallery so I really wasn't thrilled to go. However, as with everything I went in with an open mind to have a better experience. We took the tube there and MI6 caught our eye so we visited that first. It was really cool to see up close because of all the movies it appears in. After a breif stroll we entered the gallery around 10 AM.

The first thing that caught my eye was a light display in a main hallway. This was one of the few displays I actually enjoyed. As we continued through I could tell that all the art was made in a purposeful abstract way, but the meaning was often lost on me. There were however some simple photographs and sculptures that I enjoyed. I also noticed that this gallery as opposed to the national gallery was lacking religious art, but this makes sense given the modern time period.

After seeing all there was on the main floor we went downstairs where I found a bubble sculpture that I enjoyed the idea behind. The artist wanted a sculpture that would display invisible forces. I thought that concept was something worthwhile. Afterwards Kristy needed some pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye so we walked the river back to Westminster and than took the tube back to the flats to continue working.

Activity #9 Victoria and Albert Museum

Today my group visited the Victoria and Albert Museum. We traveled by tube and arrived as usual around 10 AM. I didn't know much about the museum beforehand so I went in with no preconceived notions. As soon as I got in the door I was drawn to the Pink Floyd mixing table. I'm not a huge fan, but it was still cool to see the mixer for such an iconic album like "Dark Side of the Moon". We sat down with a map and decided which exhibits we would like to see. We started off with the "Space" exhibit and worked from there.
My favorite exhibit dealt with Britain fro the 1600's to the 1800's roughly. I was really impressed by all the intricate artwork as well as furniture. One piano in particular had to have been one of the most embellished items I had ever seen. I also enjoyed a section dedicated to hunting paintings, firearms, and crossbows. The items that they had on display were very unique, and that's what I enjoyed the most.
Another exhibit detailed the evolution of fashion as you walked around a circular track. It amazes me how what is thought of as "beautiful" changes so drastically as a function of time. Upon finishing up at the museum Kristy and I decided to check out Harrods just down the street, and I am really glad we did. It was such a unique department store with very expensive prices. We spent a considerable amount of time just exploring the store and I really enjoyed it.

Activity #10 Tate Modern

Today my group visited Tate Modern. We left around 9:30 and walked across the Thames to arrive around 10 AM. The first thing I noticed about the building was how large it was from the outside, and I figured it would be chalk full of exhibits, but this was not the case. I was surprised to find the main section of the building to be empty. We first wandered into an area known as the tanks. I had the chance to see a few different exhibits here that dealt with video and audio components. Modern art usually doesn't resonate with me, but one exhibit I felt like I grasped. It was titled the mother language in which three screens were displaying conversations with headphones to listen in. It didn't take me long to understand that there were three generations of women who could each understand their mother, but the grandmother couldn't understand the granddaughter. I thought of how I have had many experiences similar to this in my life.

We explored a few other exhibits on this lower level and then began to climb the floors. One exhibit that stood out detailed how the human body can be perceived in different ways. After seeing many exhibits we were anxious to check out the observation deck on the 10th floor. The views of the city and St. Pauls on the river were spectacular. I really enjoyed this part of the museum.

After leaving the museum we decided to grab lunch at the Borough Market as was suggested. I got to try the National winning fish and chips to which I was impressed. The market was a cool place with foods from all over Europe. I really enjoyed walking around the market. Afterwards we worked our way back to the flat via London Bridge then St. Paul's back to the flat. It was a nice walk to take in the city.

Activity # 10 Imperial War Museum

May 22nd, 2017

Today our group visited the Imperial War Museum. We arrived a little late due to a slight travel mishap, but we arrived a little after 10 AM and began our exploration of the museum. Immediately after walking through the door I could see fighter jets hanging from the ceiling and I was hooked. The amount of vechicals, War memoribelia, and weapons was astounding. One of the most interesting exhibits was the Family in Wartime exhibit. It really brought the war to a level that I could understand living in.

I find it ironic the contrast of how terrible war is to live in, but how enjoyable I find learning about war to be. War is terrible, but how important it is to preserve freedom. I had the thought while walking through the museum of how the world might look today if no one had ever fought back. I think there is something to be said about human nature and how it is resolved to resisting the will of those who are believed to be in the wrong.

One thing I found to be most annoying regarding the museum was the amount of Churchill literature available. I felt this way because I made a point to visit the Churchill war rooms early on while doing milestone 1 so that I could get books and was disappointed with what I found. However this museum, not focused on Churchill, had scores of books dedicated to Churchill.

I found my time at the war museum to be very enjoyable. Following leaving the museum I met up with my family to spend some time with them before heading back to the flat to continue work.

Activity #11 Horniman Museum

Today our group visited the Horniman Museum. I didn't have a chance to see what the museum was about so I went in with no prior knowledge. We took the bus from the flat to the museum which took the better portion of an hour. We arrived around 10:30 when the museum opened. This was the first activity that was far from London so it had a different feel to the experience. The first room we entered was the Natural History museum. I was impressed by the vast collection of animals they had on display, but it was quite apparent that they had been on display for a very long time.

In the upper portion of the museum they had a very ornate wooden clock that caught my eye. Upon reading the display I found that it was made in Germany in the 1800's. I thought it was oddly placed in the museum, but it was still an interesting piece. I take a great interest to odd antiques such as this one. After we finished in that portion of the museum we decided to take a walk around the nature trail. It was a refreshing change of pace from the city environment.

After exploring the museum a bit more we settled down in the cafe and began to work on articles and the journal reflection I am typing now. We will most likely work here a bit longer and then head back to the flat in London via bus.

Activity #12 Hampton Court Palace

Today my group explored Hampton Court Palace. We arrived late due to some travel mishaps, but this didn't do much harm. We arrived and were really impressed by the beauty of the palace and the surrounding land. Once inside I was even more impressed the elaborate paintings and architecture was astonishing. I really enjoyed the short film that described the origins of the palace. It came as little surprise that Christopher Wren had a hand in it's creation. It's amazing how many famous buildings he designed or worked on.

My favorite part was the elaborate gardens outside. It was all beautifully kept and it really had a royal feel to it. We spent a fair amount of time taking pictures and sitting in the shade admiring the grounds. I really enjoyed the deer that I saw roaming about. I could imagine the royalty on the hunts that were talked about in the palace. After this we explored the maze on the property. I was surprised to find out it's certified as the worlds oldest surviving hedge maze.

We hurried back to the train station in order to make our train back to Waterloo station. I surprisingly enjoyed the views of the English suburbs. From there we found a cafe near the meeting Church and worked until it was time to go to the check-in meeting.

Activity #13 Museum of London Docklands

Today our group visited the Museum of London Docklands. We left the flat around 9:30 and traveled via tube to arrive just past 10 AM. I have always been interested in nautical history, specifically trade so I knew I would most likely enjoy the experience. When we entered the first exhibit we were drawn to was one on the archaeology projects done when underground lines are created. I found this exhibit to be really cool. They detailed how they found many Roman era skeletons and other artifacts while digging. I thought this was so cool because we don't stop to think what is under our feet when we walk around a historical city like London. I can only imagine how many skeletons are passed every day via tube rides while the passengers have no idea.

Next we decided to visit the regular exhibits which started on floor three and worked it's way down. There was a lot of nautical history which was what I was most interested and to see. There was a lot about trade and some on piracy and other crime. In between the exhibits there were fake scenes that corresponded to the time period and I thought it was somewhere between the spectrum of cool and cheesy, but more towards the cool end. One of the most striking rooms dealt with slave trade. This is obviously a lamentable chapter in history, but an important one to be remembered. I really appreciate the time period I get to live in today. Today is not perfect, but it's better than it was.

This museum ties into my first milestone. I was drawn to a wall hanging about operation dynamo, but I think my understanding of the background is sufficient because I didn't learn anything new. There were also a few parts about the blitz, but again nothing new that I learned from that. The modern history in the museum past world war two was the least interesting. Of course the modern archaeology is cool, but that really ties back to the past. After exploring the museum for some time we left to head back towards the flat and grab some lunch.

Activity #14 London Science Museum

Today our group visited the London Science Museum in South Kensington. We took the tube and arrived at the museum right around 10AM. After getting through the bag check we began to explore the museum. First we saw a large room devoted to the history of energy production. It featured many early steam engines that I found to be impressive as a mechanical engineer. One of the next rooms housed space exploration exhibits. My favorite of which was about Robert Godard who is the father of modern rocketry and attended WPI.

The next exhibit that our group spent some time at was called "Who are you?". The exhibit was highly interactive featuring many games forcused at the purpose of self discovery. We had fun playing the different games and looking around the exhibit. The top floor had an exhibit that all WPI students can relate to, and that was called "Engineer your future". It was an exhibit focused at getting young people excited about engineering. I found it somewhat comical to walk through knowing this is the field I am currently persuing.

After seeing a good portion of the museum we headed back towards the exit and quickly went through the gift shop looking at the science focused toys. Afterwards we grabbed lunch and ate in Hyde Park before finding a cafe to sit in and continue work.