07-30-2010, 06:35 AM
Quote:If it's any consolation, from the U.S. Side:
From doing School and College/University visit programs portraying a Roman soldier, as well as public demos at Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA over the years, I can say the response from the "Academia" side has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive of what 'we reenactors' "do". I've actually found myself 'correcting'...Umm not a good term, at least mentioning different theories and discoveries as a reenactor to a Classics scholar or researcher on topics or specifics they may not have known about, or had 'older' information. (Although I think some of this lingers because of 'older' textbooks and information, and even misinformation)
Now I'd argue Jeffrey and the other guys at the Higgins were convinced before you guys came along; they are exactly the sort of Museum that thrives on reenactors. Great people, with some great people in their reenactment circle: Bill Short is The Man for U.S. Viking reenactment.
I have had mixed receptions of my hobby. Some academics have been very positive and some have used our information in their work. Some plan to do so. Some have been quite rude, snobbish and unpleasant. Some have been indifferent. I think it depends on how open the academic scene is, and whether we're talking about academics working outside of "proper" academia - i.e. not at a big university or the Ivory Tower folks, who can often give off a rather inpenetrable attitude...
