Hello,

(If you invited any guests who joined us at the Spy Museum, please forward this to them.)

Now that we've all had some time to recover from our marathon trip, would you please help me draft a report to our dean in appreciation of the funding he provided. Your candid evaluations will help us improve the course next Fall. If you took any photos that you’d like to share, especially if you clandestinely took some inside the Spy Museum, please email them to me or bring them in to class. I have some good photos from the NSA Museum.

I would be grateful if you would write a review of the trip. Was it relevant to the course? Did each of the two museums meet your expectations? In other words please evaluate each museum. What did you like about each one? What could they have done better? What did you find to be most memorable or important? Did you learn anything you hadn’t previously known? Did each help you understand the history behind the history of the past? What insights did each give you about the unfolding of world events today and in the future? Were the museums hospitable? Was it too much to include both museums in one trip? How could we improve upon the experience? Please give us your candid observations.

What did you think of the food? A few of us experienced some aftereffects, so we would like your opinion.

Were the movies appropriate to the visits?

Next Fall, I will see if we can offer the trip in the first weeks of the course, and on a Saturday or Sunday. At the beginning of the semester, I think we all have the self-deception of more free time. I also think that an early visit to these museums effectively sets the stage for the readings, videos, challenges, presentations and discussions in the course. I think they also lend authority to the subject matter which they introduce as an immersive tour-de-force. I like what both institutions have to offer in their own, and quite distinctive, ways. The National Cryptologic Museum’s staff is more personally involved, admission is free, and is funded by the NSA and charitable donations. It has more cryptographic artifacts on display, and provides background to major global events that changed history. The International Spy Museum’s staff seems less knowledgeable, admission is substantial, and it is a profit-making enterprise. It has more spy gadgets on display and provides thematic experiences of the lives of espionage agents at the local level. Consequently, the two help to sketch a larger picture of how local individual action influences global world events.

Thanks in advance for your help in making this course better.

Best wishes,

Nick