Tom Isern, NDSU

As President Jacques Chirac gives way to Nicolas Sarkozy, the press is commenting on how Chirac positioned France in relation to its past, specifically the Second World War. "Chirac's main legacy," notes the Christian Science Monitor, "may be his work to rebalance the historical truth about France. . . . He led efforts to come to terms with and apologize for Nazi collaboration and French colonialism." Chirac apologized for the Vichy regime's collaboration with the Nazis, which contradicted the Gaullist myth of French resistance. Chirac also spoke bluntly about the evils of French colonialism and established the Quai Branly museum to showcase non-western art in Paris. His general view was that in order to move ahead, the country first had to reconcile with its sometimes unsavory past.

Sunday and Monday nights the senior seminarians presented their papers in the exhibit gallery of the Hjemkomst Heritage Center, Moorhead. I'd like to thank the seminarians not only for their presentations but also for the work that went into them; well done. Thanks also to Dean Sather and to the Hjemkomst Center for hosting the presentations. In the photo at right, Tim Haugrud awaits his cue to commence delivery of the first paper Sunday night, dealing with the forgotten Traill monument of Traill County. In the one below, Erin Neal explains why the people of Menahga built a monument to "the greatest Finn who never lived."

The upcoming visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Jamestown colony prompts notice of the ambivalent observance of the 400th anniversary of settlement. As the Christian Science Monitor notes, "the event will for the first time include commemorations of the settlement's darker effects, including Indian subjugation and African slavery." On the other hand, "critics . . . say that overlaying modern social mores on the Jamestown settlers amounts to a misreading and misapplication of history." It is, of course, wrong and untenable to tell the story of colonization without treating the history of peoples of color. Does this mean we need not fear the "misapplication" of history by partisan commentators? Well, an English prof from Wesleyan University with a new book out on Jamestown informs us, "The bumblingness of the Iraq adventure, for instance, bears a striking resemblance to the Virginia adventure 400 years ago." Hmmm. This insight, from an English prof who thinks "bumblingness" is a word.

It's time again, the members of the Senior Seminar are going to present their papers. Sunday and Monday nights, at the Hjemkomst Center of Moorhead. Check it out! Here's a poster listing the presentations.