Email: jworonow@gmail.com
Website: www.thejauntycrow.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_jaunty_crow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ajauntycrow/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_jaunty_crow
Twitch: https://www.Twitch.tv/the_jaunty_crow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferworonow
1. How and when did you get hooked on history?
I didn’t truly become interested in history until about my junior year of college. Before that, high school was a lot of memorizing dates, completing worksheets, and regurgitating information for exams. As an art student studying illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, I had a certain number of art history and humanities credits I had to fulfill. One of my favorite classes was an art history course called “Art and Totalitarianism.” The course focused on the propaganda techniques, primarily poster art and film, of regimes such as Nazi Germany, Stalinist USSR, Mussolini’s Italy, Maoist China, and McCarthy “Red Scare” era America. This was such a fascinating subject taught by a great instructor. I was also taking a Third Reich history class the same semester to further my understanding of totalitarian control techniques.
Another course which got me hooked on history was an English elective on modernist poetry. It was the first time I was exposed to the work of Wilfred Owen and I remember “Dulce et Decorum est” giving me chills when I read it. Owen was really my gateway into the cultural history of the first world war. His poetry also got me interested in the art of the post-war period depicted in German Expressionism and New Objectivity, a movement largely founded by WWI veteran painters like Max Beckman, Otto Dix, and George Grosz.
2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
History plays an important role in my personal life. I enjoy watching documentaries about WWI, WWII, and counterterrorism related topics. I’ve spent many weekends visiting historical sites and museums. My most recent favorite was visiting Ottawa, Ontario to experience my first Remembrance Day ceremony and see the Canadian War Museum. Over a year ago, I decided to merge my interests in international security, military history, and art into my own digital humanities and social science brand. I frequently blog about the places I’ve visited and concepts they inspire. It’s one of my decompressing, after work activities.
A hugely unexpected outcome of my interest in history and personal branding was meeting the love of my life. During the very nascent beginnings of The Jaunty Crow, I was also regularly tuning into live streams by John Heckman, better known as The Tattooed Historian. I admired his boldly innovative way of thinking and humble authenticity. We got to talking and the connection was practically instantaneous. Nearly one year after our first date in a historic cemetery, John asked me to marry him and I said yes! Never in a million years did I expect to find a life partner during a pandemic by pursuing my nerdy interests!
3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?
History featured prominently for my graduate degree research in International Security Studies, sometimes called Defense and Strategic Studies, depending on the program. I read many background cases for various conflicts as a means of contextualizing contemporary issues and thinking about possible policy recommendations for them. In addition to the typical class readings, I accessed primary sources containing first-hand accounts as well as unclassified government documents. I intended to start a career as a Target Analyst in the US Intelligence Community at the time. Having knowledge of what came before, what exists now, and what may come next is important in that field.
Instead of working for the IC, I ended up employed at the National Institutes of Health as a Program Analyst in 2016. Although my job duties don’t specifically draw upon historical knowledge, the NIH is a historic place. Their National Library of Medicine is an excellent resource of medical history and has a wonderful digital humanities collection. I was recently invited to contribute to their blog, Circulating Now, as a guest blogger as a way to put my historical knowledge to use. I’m very excited for the opportunity and look forward to writing something in the new year.
4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
I come to history as someone with an interest in conflict and force. I am someone who studies war between state and non-state actors such as armed militant groups. From that I have learned that in order to create a world without war, we must first understand what causes it as well as the human and cultural toll of war itself. It’s necessary to rigorously investigate why ordinary people are capable of doing unthinkable things. What compels neighbors to take up arms against neighbors?
In my opinion, everything operates within a contextual framework. In other words, conflicts are not a fixed historical point but instead operate along a continuum often rooted in various kinds of systemic, structural violence. I want people to know about historical events while also considering that larger context containing those systems.
5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
I tend to bounce around between research topics but if I had to pick the few that I go to most often, they’d be WWI, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan, and post-9/11 Global War on Terror conflicts. WWI gave birth to much of the art and culture which inspires me. The advent of the atomic age interests me because it was such a crucial lynchpin in history. The development and detonation of the atomic bomb opened the Pandora’s Box of nuclear armament and proliferation which we’re still dealing with today.
I was 18 on the terrible day two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. I personally know people who served in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. They will never be the same because of that. September 11th and the Global War on Terror defined my later teen years as well as my adulthood. But for a younger generation, this has little relevance. It lacks a meaningful context. They don’t remember the before times. They don’t understand why a series of terrorist attacks significantly impacted a whole generation. This is why I must help tell that story. The US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan may have ended, but the Global War on Terror never really did. A major paradigm shift is still playing out in the present.
6. How did you become the Jaunty Crow and what’s your focus?
My brand is made to bridge the divide between art and military studies, past and present, civilians and service members. I talk about the human side of The Global War on Terror and conflicts which came before it. Why The Jaunty Crow? Crows are highly intelligent creatures that work together to form a network of information. They are adept problem solvers and tool users. Like crows, we can learn and have fun doing it. It’s also worth noting that my last name which is Woronow, Voronova in the original Russian, means crow or raven. My family crest even has two crows on it! Aside from all that, The Jaunty Crow was just silly enough to suit my personality but just relevant enough to capture the main ideas of the brand.
7. What do you hope audiences and followers of your social media take away from their interactions with you and your work?
I want to promote trans-disciplinary discussion between fields and people that don’t typically interact. The overlap between counterterrorism studies, military history, and art is my way of humanizing past and present conflict. There’s so many people who approach history from a tactical perspective. I wanted to do something different, especially since my education and career trajectory has been different.
My hope is for people to engage with the content by seeking out one particular field or topic and discovering something they weren’t expecting. Perhaps someone visits my brand looking for information on WWI and comes away knowing about an artist or musician they never knew about. In doing so, they broaden their understanding about how they view conflict. I mostly want to make people think. I want people to come away asking themselves interesting and important questions.
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