Homework from Week 3, due by Noon on February 6:
- WordPress – Customization/About Me
- Blog Post Comments for Blog Post #1: Read two to three posts by other folks in the class on their website and add comments.
- You can locate your classmates’ websites on the sidebar of our course website.
- Browse History Bizarre and pick two entries that interest you – post a brief explanation on Slack #history-bizarre as to why they interest you and what are some ideas you want to look into deeper. Consider this a start on deciding your research project. OR Provide 2 examples of potential research topics of your own choosing – post a brief explanation on Slack as to why they interest you and what are some ideas you want to look into deeper. OR a combination.
If you have not done your class prep from 1/30 (see Week 3); make sure you have it done for Tuesday, 2/6
In Class (February 6):
- Workshop: Flesh out your own site as you deem appropriate and explain your choices. As you think about your own website, take a look at your classmate’s (listed under “Websites” in the sidebar) website and design choices – what did they do that was successful? areas for improvement? how about yours?
In Class (February 8):
- Lecture: Doing Digital History
- Watch: Ryan Cordell on ‘What is digital history?’
- Only 2 minutes, 15 seconds long
- This video helps you to understand the motivations of digital history. You will hear him talk about a few of the tools you will use in class.
- Watch: Ryan Cordell on ‘What is digital history?’
- Class Discussion: Using the readings and lecture, let’s come up with a working definition of DH
- Begin Exercise 1: We will work together to explore the following DH projects:
- What topic, period, and place of history do they cover? What arguments or interpretations do they make? What is the audience for the site? What sources are they based on? Who created them, and who did what work? Who funded them? What technologies do they use?
- World Trade Center Memorial Elevator
- Histories of the National Mall
- Wearing Gay History
- Valley of the Shadow
- Enchanting the Desert (Chrome or Safari browser required)
- Using the questions above, which site did you like the best and/or think is the most successful? Why? MIRO
- What topic, period, and place of history do they cover? What arguments or interpretations do they make? What is the audience for the site? What sources are they based on? Who created them, and who did what work? Who funded them? What technologies do they use?
After Class (due by Noon, February 13):
- Sign up for MIRO
- To prep for using MIRO on Tuesday, review the websites we started in class today (including the ones we did not get to) and take brief notes on them (DO NOT POST IN MIRO – nothing fancy, just to jog your memory on Tuesday) – What topic, period, and place of history do they cover? What arguments or interpretations do they make? What is the audience for the site? What sources are they based on? Who created them, and who did what work? Who funded them? What technologies do they use?
- World Trade Center Memorial Elevator
- Histories of the National Mall
- Wearing Gay History
- Valley of the Shadow
- Enchanting the Desert (Chrome or Safari browser required)
- Go to #history-bizarre and see what other people have proposed and comment on their ideas, remembering to thread your comments using the “start a thread” icon, which you will find by the original idea post.
- You should consult the Organization of American Historian’s guidelines for reviewing digital history projects. In your review be sure to identify the kind of digital history project (it could be more than one type) and address the five areas outlined in the OAH review guidelines. Include screenshots and examples where appropriate to support your review.
- OPTIONAL: Weekly Sprint Review
Class Prep (by Noon on February 15):
- Read: Jim Cullen, “Good Answers Begin with Good Questions,” and “Search Engines, Research Ingenuity,” Essaying the Past, 14-43. (Full book is available online at library.gmu.edu)
- Read: Sam Wineburg, “Thinking Like a Historian,” Teaching with Primary Sources Quarterly 3, 1 (Winter 2010).
- Review: Mason Librarians have put together very useful Info Guides. Pay particular attention to “History & Primary Source Research” and “Art History”
- OPTIONAL: Heavy Metal Umlaut by Jon Udell on YouTube (approx. 8.5 min)
- OPTIONAL: Cohen, Dan. “Is Google Good for History” Last modified January 7, 2010
