Creating history, openly. A blog about a history professor trying to create better courses.
During various times in my career, I’ve stepped back from public-facing work. I attend but do not present at conferences. I organize fewer meetings. I avoid stirring up trouble. This is one such time. On sabbatical, I work reasonably hard, taking coursework, reading widely on history and pedagogy, and doing my best to self-teach myself… Read more Going quiet.
Several things struck me as I viewed the video responses. First, most of the projects were imagined to be bigger than they turned out to be. In short, the originating scholars eyes were bigger than their stomachs. That’s common amongst graduate students and newer faculty, but not always. The project on historical writing seemed realistic… Read more Reflections on others’ assignments.
For my final project, I will help the students find an article on the Lexis-Nexus database about Normandale Community College, compare that source with a book source from our college library, and blog about the two sources on a common course blog, paying attention to specific tags. The assignment will run over 4 classes, with… Read more Final project assignment.
### • How has the malleability of the past in the digital world complicated our work as history educators? • How has that malleability made it easier to teach about and help our audience(s) engage with the past? ### To respond to these questions, let me tell a short story. From the 1970s forward, some… Read more The malleable past.
Respond to the following questions in a blog post: • How well, if at all, do Cosset and Chalana incorporate ideas we’ve discussed in our work on teaching historical thinking in their essay? • Given what you’ve learned thus far, what advice would you give the National Park Service on how best to use their… Read more Reflection on public history in two National Historic Sites
Propmpt: “Given the current discussion about facts, real or “alternative”, how should we use what we know about historical thinking, public perceptions of the past, and what we can do with digital media, to promote a more accurate understanding of the past? Write a blog post that explores these questions.” I applaud Wineburg for privileging… Read more Reflection on Wineburg: historical thinking over history.
An opinion piece written in 1997 by communications faculty Willie Johnson titled “COLLEGES ARE STILL NOT ORIENTED TO SERVE STUDENTS OF COLOR” raises issues of access and belonging in college. I will use this article to teach students to use Lexis-Nexus Academic News, a notoriously fickle but enormously useful database of news. We’ll start with… Read more Learning Lexis-Nexus to understand Normandale Community College’s Past.
I am thinking about how to use images or films in history. I thought I could use the top image from this [featured article](http://www.normandale.edu/foundation/creating-futures-magazine/creating-futures-summer-2013/the-premanand-legacy) on donors to Normandale. The female in the picture was a long-time mathematics professor at my school and has contributed significant money to Normandale. The professor pictured has three degrees, including… Read more Creating part of a lesson using images.
For my film this week I reviewed the movie North Country. I settled on this movie due its availability (I could buy it) and because it addressed an issue of injustice. Most of the movies about Minnesota do not address history, especially the history of people of color. In the future, I’d like to incorporate… Read more How to teach film with historical thinking.
For my proposed assignment, I wish my audience to be a beloved high school teacher. Rather than argue for a generic disinterested but engaged audience, I want my students to have a specific figure in mind. Most of my students did some high school in MN, so a focus on a high school figure will… Read more An audience for my lesson.
