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ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE Base Security US Navy Needs Civilian Aircraft Mechanics Getting High Patriotic Images Salute To Veterans An Ear to the Past Chancellor's Column Development News Factoids Newsmakers Accomplishments by faculty and staff… |
An Ear to the Past Pardon David Bouchey if he speaks to ghosts. It’s his job, after all. Bouchey’s apparitions are not those that haunt homes and ships — though San Diego claims plenty of those — but the true memories and choice occasions of the city’s past. Bouchey teaches Oral History of San Diego, a free class offered from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Saturday from Feb. 2 through March 2 at the San Diego Historical Society in Balboa Park, and from 9 a.m. to noon for five Thursdays starting Feb. 7 at the Point Loma campus. The class is not only held at the San Diego Historical Society building in Balboa Park, it is also a cooperative effort between the society and the Centers for Education and Technology (CET), Bouchey said. “It’s a good course, particularly at a time when we [in the college district] are trying to promote ourselves as an integral part of the community, which we have truly been for decades,” he said. “The society provides the classroom and we provide the instructor, while grant money helps with some of the equipment.” Bouchey has an interesting history himself. He’s celebrating his 20th year as an instructor for the district, the bulk of those years as an auto body shop teacher. Bouchey grew up working in his dad’s auto body shop in Northern California. He went on to graduate from college, then served two tours of duty in Vietnam, before returning to the U.S. ”I essentially went back into the auto business, but approached it in a different way,” he said. “I was an insurance adjuster, and had an ownership interest in body shops. I was always looking for ways to learn more.” Bouchey earned his MBA, began teaching at Palomar and MiraCosta colleges, then settled in as a full-time instructor with the San Diego Community College District. “My interest is in the technology that can be used for researching history, as much as history itself,” he said. “I’m a shop teacher, not a historian. But my love for history has grown, and I’m a fan of San Diego history.” The oral history class will be taught this year under the banner of CET’s consumer education department, and Bouchey expects it to take off after a small but promising start last semester. The intention of the class is to help preserve San Diego’s cultural heritage, to provide both scholars and everyday citizens an opportunity to learn more about the city’s history — and perhaps their own family history, especially if they are second- or third-generation San Diegans. “The main purpose of the class is to learn how to preserve San Diego’s history, and build on the society’s archives,” Bouchey said. “There are so many fascinating topics, like the changes in San Diego during World War II, and the housing situation following the war. From there, people might use the resources they have acquired to look into their own family histories. Genealogy has obviously become a huge activity as the Internet has grown.” As a follower of technology, Bouchey is interested in turning analog archives into digital, and upgrading any tool that can be used for uncovering history. “The potential for upgrading historical research is phenomenal,” he said. “We are entering a new era.” Committed to the value of noncredit programs, Bouchey is also the president of CET’s academic senate. “I
like to get other faculty involved in the decision-making process,”
he said. “Once you get involved, especially in something like valuable,
noncredit courses, it helps you to reenergize and refocus on your primary
interests. There are so many challenges that lie ahead, and we are fortunate
here that we are allowed the flexibility to participate in facing those
challenges.”
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David
Bouchey illustrates the process of preserving oral history by "interviewing"
Charles A. Lindbergh at the San Diego Aerospace Museum.