Course Description:
The purpose of this course will be to help students think historically. When historians study the past, they are invariably affected by their current moment. In turn, the study of the past enables us to see the present in a new light. The present affects the questions we pose to our historical evidence, while study of the past raises new questions about our own time.
To help you learn how to think in this way, we will study the practice of building, interacting with, and removing historical memorials and monuments. A monument is an effort to create a particular view of the past and communicate that view into the future. A monument is never neutral – it involves remembering, but also forgetting. To understand a monument one must study the person or event being memorialized, the historical moment in which the monument was constructed, as well as how present day views of the person or event have evolved. To study this issue and to share their results with others, students will research case studies of specific monuments and collaboratively build a website to host those case studies. 3 credits.
Required Texts:
- Alex von Tunzelmann. Fallen Idols. Headline Publishing Group, 2022. Paperback edition. 978-1-4722-8191-3.
- A Possession Forever: A Guide to Using Commemorative Monuments and Memorials in the Classroom.
Copies of Fallen Idols are available at the bookstore and used versions and in some cases e-versions are available via Amazon as well. A Possession Forever is a freely accessible open textbook.
Open Pedagogy
Open pedagogy is a collaborative process where students are co-creators of instructional content; content that in some cases will be used by future students! Students engaged in open pedagogical approaches may gain valuable information and develop critical thinking skills, while contributing to the improvement of teaching practices in the classroom. This course will use open pedagogy approaches and will invite your participation in the creation of course content. You will do this through the two major course projects, a case study analysis of a chosen monument and the collaborative creation of a website about historical monuments.
Ungrading
This course will also use an unconventional but increasingly studied and respected form of grading called “ungrading.” According to this method, I will provide feedback but not a traditional grade on each of your assignments. Reading and using the feedback I provide to improve your performance on future assignments is critical to achieving the course’s learning objectives and will also lead to a greater sense of accomplishment on your part. Assignments that are completed and fulfill the assignment requirements will receive full credit. Those that do not will receive no credit, but you will have an opportunity to revise your work for full credit. The purpose of this method is to focus your attention on my feedback and achieving the goals of the assignment rather than on a number or letter grade, which is a reductive way of evaluating complex work. Instead of a final exam you will complete a reflection and self-assessment in which you look back at your past work, compare your performance to the learning objectives, and assess how well you did. At the end of the course, I will have to give you a traditional grade as required by the university. This grade will be based on how many of the assignments you completed according to the requirements, the successful completion of the two major projects, and your own self-assessment.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Develop a personal view of how and why the study of history is important
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different types of sources
- Generate historical questions
- Analyze a chosen historical monument from multiple perspectives
Expectations and Assessments
Class participation and preparation
This is not a lecture course, nor a course in which my role is to convey specific content to you. Instead the purpose of this course is for me to help you learn to think historically: to help you formulate historical questions, to help you process historical writing, to help you find reliable sources, and to help you apply historical knowledge to the present-day. Thus this course emphasizes, reading, research, thinking, discussing, and writing rather than the mastery of isolated facts. Facts are important, but only if interpreted carefully and placed into a compelling historical argument.
Students are expected to come to class ready to participate in the day’s activities and discussions. This includes:
- Completing the reading assignments;
- Completing other class preparation assignments. These will include things like annotating readings, submitting discussion questions, finding information, preparing drafts of larger assignments, etc.
- Participating in class discussion and activities
The University estimates that a student should expect to spend two hours outside of class for each hour they are in a class. (For example, a three-credit course would average six hours of additional work outside of class.)
Discussion Questions (10 points each assignment)
One goal of the course is to learn to generate historical questions. A good historical question is one that we can try to answer using evidence either in the readings or via further research. Speculative questions for which no evidence exists do not make good historical questions; questions that are purely factual do not lead to good discussions. For example, ‘What were the social and cultural effects of the fall of the Roman Empire?’ is a historical question; we can examine evidence from the past to try to answer it (though we may disagree about the answer!). ‘What would the world be like today if the Roman Empire still existed?’ is a speculative question; there is no evidence on which one could base an answer. ‘On what date, was Julius Caesar murdered?’ is a purely factual question that would not lead to debate or discussion. Try to develop historical questions, not speculative or purely factual ones.
When required, discussion questions should be posted by 10am before the relevant class session. Questions must engage some specific idea, claim, or concept from the reading and include a citation to the page number or section of the reading you are referring to. If you submit detailed questions (that is, questions with specifics and citations from the readings) by the deadline, you will receive full credit. If your questions do not include specifics or citations, you will receive no credit, but you will be given an opportunity to resubmit. As you compose questions in the early weeks of the course, you might find it helpful to use the template below to craft a detailed and complex question.
- In the reading, [the author] [insert verb here, e.g., “argued,” “suggested,” “explained”] that “________” (citation with page number). I am interested in this [idea, point, claim] because _______. I wonder how/why/if _______________?
Hypothesis Annotations (10 points each assignment)
Adding notes in the margins of the texts you read (annotating) is one of the best ways to understand what you are reading, but it is hard to take notes when reading online. Hypothes.is (https://hypothes.is/) is an online annotation tool that makes it possible to add notes to pretty much anything published on the web. We will use Hypothes.is to annotate assigned texts throughout the semester. Hypothesis is Canvas compatible so you will be able to make your annotations directly in Canvas.
Hypothesis annotations are due before the class when we will discuss that reading. The module will indicate which readings need to be annotated. Your annotations can take a number of forms:
- Observations about or interpretations of the text
- Questions about the text
- Emotional reactions (explain why you feel that way)
- Links to external content that you feel would be helpful to other readers (be sure to explain the relevance!)
- Explanations of confusing terms or concepts
- Making connections between one part of the text and another
- Making connections between the text and other texts we have read
- Application of historical knowledge to better understand the text.
- Replies to comments left by other students. The reply should be substantive and add something more than a simple ‘I agree’! You may also disagree with another student’s interpretation but if you do then be sure to explain your reasons and keep the tone constructive!
- Identifying opportunities to adapt our textbook for a North American audience
- Etc.
I will be assessing the totality of your annotations for evidence of real engagement with the text or texts. One annotation for a thirty-page article is not evidence of real engagement. Neither are ten annotations all in the first paragraph. On the other hand just a few substantial annotations focused on major ideas or themes in the text would be as would thoughtful questions posed at key points throughout the text. Think in terms of engagement, not numbers. There is no penalty for ‘mistakes’ in your annotations! I am looking for thoughtful, creative engagement not the ‘right’ answer.
Students who engage with the reading in a good faith way will receive full credit. Those who do not will receive no credit, but will be given the opportunity to add to and/or revise their submissions.
Reflections (10 points each assignment)
In the reflection essays you should address the following things:
- specific moments that interested/inspired/challenged/frustrated you from the readings and/or learning experience you are asked to write about;
- your discoveries/questions/frustrations related to the in-class activities and discussions;
- (optional) any other things you want to address.
Reflections must also:
- be at least 500 words in length;
- include citations to the readings if you are asked to reflect on a reading
If you compose a thoughtful reflection addressing the required components above, you will receive full credit. If your reflection does not address all components, you will receive no credit but you will be given an opportunity to revise and resubmit.
Some students will enter this course very familiar with the task of reflective writing, but it is possible you have not yet encountered an assignment like this. For those unfamiliar, the point of reflective writing is to process new ideas and perspectives. Through writing, you discover what you didn’t know you were thinking. Reflections in this course may be informal in style and will not be graded according to grammatical correctness because the point is to use writing to make new discoveries. A common pitfall is to think that reflection is description. It is not. To reflect on a reading assignment, for example, is not to describe what the reading was about but rather to express what you think about the reading.
Reflections can be organized in whatever way you find most useful, but must contain references to specific passages in the readings, specific in-class activities, etc. Specific references to the readings must be accompanied by citations. Reflections should incorporate information and ideas from BOTH the readings and class discussion. You may also reflect on the hypothesis annotations left by your peers.
Midterm Short Answer, Reflection and Self-Assessment (50 points)
At midterm, you will be asked to answer a few short answer questions about the major concepts we have discussed and compose a reflection and self-assessment. Your reflection and self-assessment should 1) share your thoughts on what you have learned; 2) discuss any skills you think you have improved; 3) share how your thinking about historical monuments has changed from the beginning of the semester; and 4) assess your overall performance in the course. For part 4, consider the following:
- What proportion of the work did you complete (readings and assignments)?
- Did you attend class consistently?
- How often did your questions/annotations/reflections meet expectations? Review my feedback from the semester.
- Have your skills improved over the course of the semester?
- Did you make valuable contributions to discussions and/or group work in class?
- Have you consistently put forth your best effort?
- Do you feel like you are on a path to meet the learning objectives for the course? Why or why not?
- What do you need to improve in the 2nd half of the semester?
Historical Monument Case Study (100 points)
Each student will choose one historical monument and analyze it from several perspectives:
- Who or what is the monument memorializing? Give a short biography of the person or description of the event as if your audience is unfamiliar with the topic.
- Who built the monument and why? Why then?
- What message does the monument send about the person or event?
- What did people think of the monument when it was built?
- How do people think about the monument today? Have views about the person or event changed? If the monument is controversial, should it be removed? If the monument has already been removed, why was it removed?
- What resources are available to study the monument? Cite these in your references section and cite any sources you used to write about #1-#5 above. Your case study should have at least 10 sources, some of which must be primary sources.
Students will post their case study to the class website and present it at the end of the semester. A successful case study will be at least 1,500 words in length.
Final Reflection and Self-Assessment (50 points)
Your final reflection paper should 1) describe your experience researching and writing your case study; 2) share how your thinking about historical monuments has changed from the beginning of the semester; and 3) assess your overall performance in the course. For part 3, consider the following:
- Do you think you became a better evaluator of sources and researcher (via the skills workshops), critical reader (via hypothesis), improved in discussing historical evidence (by developing questions and participating in discussions)? Has your thinking about historical monuments/memorials changed? Why or why not?
- Looking back at your work over the entire semester, what grade do you feel you honestly deserve? To help you answer this question consider:
- What proportion of the work did you complete (readings and assignments)?
- Did you attend class consistently?
- How often did your questions/annotations/reflections meet expectations? Review my feedback from the semester.
- Did your skills improve over the course of the semester?
- Did you make valuable contributions to discussions and/or group work in class?
- Did you contribute quality work to the final project?
- Have you consistently put forth your best effort?
- Did you meet the learning objectives for the course?
Your self-assessment should be supported with appropriate details – i.e. information from the modules, specific passages from the readings, and/or references to your own work. Essays without supporting evidence (with citations!) will not be successful.
Course Outline
Below you will find the major topics for each class session. More complete information can be found on Canvas.
Week One
- Course Introduction
- Making History
Week Two
- Why study History?
- Introduction to Thinking about Monuments
Week Three
- Monuments and Nationalism
- Visual Language of Monuments
Week Four
- Case Study: The Wright Brothers’ Memorial
- Monumental Consequences (a game)
Week Five
- Introduction to the Final Project
- Skills Workshop #1 – Evaluating a website
Week Six
- Skills Workshop #2 – Wikipedia
- Skills Workshop #3 – Finding and using historical scholarship
Week Seven
- West Haven Walking Tour
- Skills Workshop #4 – primary sources and historical newspapers
Week Eight
- Fallen Idols
- Midterm Reflection and Self-Analysis
Week Nine
- Fallen Idols
Week Ten
- Skills Workshop #5 – finding openly licensed content
- Skills Workshop #6 – AI
Week Eleven
- Fallen Idols
Week Twelve
- Final Project Work
Week Thirteen
- Final Project Work
Week Fourteen
- Final Presentations
