History 2710    MacKay    Fall 2008

Project Topics

You must complete 10 of these by writing short formal papers during the semester.

Instead of one of the projects you may choose to summarize and comment on one lecture:

  1. George C. Rable, "Was There a Religious History of the American Civil War?" Sept. 17, 1:30, Hetzel-Hoellein Room, Stewart Library.
  2. Donald Worster, "The True Wealth of Nations: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Conservation Ethic," October 22, 7:00, Hetzel-Hoellein Room, Stewart Library.

Project #1: Peruse the materials at the  Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia; write a short paper commenting on the helpfulness of the site to increase your understanding of the failure of Reconstruction.

Project #2: Choose one:

Project #3: Chose one:

Project #4: In 1911, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Until 9/11, it was the largest single-cause disaster in New York City, Explore the Triangle Factory Fire exhibit from Cornell University. How does this site help you understand some of the issues for workers during the Gilded Age?

Project #5: Choose one:

  1. Explore Jim Zwik's site Anti Imperialism. How do you understand the debate in the 1890s-1910s over U.S. potential for international influence--should the U.S. be an imperial power, or should it fight to eradicate colonialism?
  2. Review the PBS site in support of the documentary series The Great War. Consider particularly the section "The Shaping of the 21st century."  How do you understand the evaluations presented by the scholars?
  3. Read "Lessons From The Philippines Insurrection and Our Overthrow of Mossadegh," posted by  Lawrence R. Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, own his blog, 2007,
     and comment based on your understanding of the issues in the rise of the American Empire, 1890s-1910.

Project #6: Chose one:

  1. Harlem Renaissance. What do these expressions of African American culture tell you about the legacy of Reconstruction and our failure to achieve the equity under law promised in the Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution?
  2. Explore "The Clash of Cultures, 1910s-1920s" site from Ohio State University. Read the Introduction and any one of the 4 sections. Comment.

Project #7: Choose one:

  1. The Michigan Historical Museum posts Depression News. Review this material. How is the Great Depression presented in these exhibits?
  2. Studs Terkel collected interviews about people's experiences during the Great Depression which he published in Hard Times. Listen to at least 8 of these recordings. How do these first person accounts help you understand the personal issues in the Great Depression?

Project #8: Choose one

  1. Work with some of the maps selected from newspapers of the times. How helpful do you think these maps were in helping the public understand events? How helpful in understanding this war are they to you?

  2. View the film Saving Private Ryan; consider the materials "Behind Saving Private Ryan." How does the film help you understand some of the issues for humans involved in that war. Do you agree with Paul Fussel's analysis?

Project #9: One of the dynamics of the Cold War was McCarthyism. Consider this article comparing McCarthyism to our current suspension of due process of law as part of the war on terrorism. What do you think of Rothschild's argument?

Project #10: Work with the materials about 1950s Fashions. Use at least 5 contemporary images of women in advertising to talk about the changing expectations about women from the 1950s to present day. Do we expect women today to be more independent of men? more sexually available to men? to assume roles not available to men?

Project #11: Choose one:

  1. Interview someone who grew up in the 1950s or the 1960s (in high school during the decade) for about 30 minutes; focus on they concerns about the world changing around them? Did they feel hopeful? worried? excited? Did they get involved in efforts to bring about changes--political/social/economic? Report.
  2. Peruse the web site Race and Place: An African American Community in the Jim Crow South. The project intends to connect race with place by understanding what it was like to live, work, pray, learn, and play in the segregated South. Does the site fulfill those intentions for you? How?

Project #12: Viet Nam Generation: A Journal of Recent History and Contemporary Issues was founded in 1988 by Kalí Tal. It has been the journal of record in Sixties and Viet Nam war studies since its inception. Do to lack of funds and understaffing there have been no new issues of the journal produced since 1996. However the issues are on line  as part of The Sixties Project. Read an article, summarize and comment.
 

Project #13: Interview a recent immigrant to the U.S. for about 30 minutes. Have they become a U.S. citizen? What issues do they face as an immigrant? Has life in the U.S. been worth the difficulties of immigration? Report.