Project Guidelines and Rubric
Competencies
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
Explain how cultural and social diversity can affect the interpretation of historical knowledge
Evaluate the construction of a historical narrative
Analyze a source using a historical perspective
Overview
Your local community has decided to build a statue to commemorate an event. As part of this effort, a time capsule will be included, the contents of which will be opened in 50 years. You have been asked, as the community expert on the historical event related to this statue, to create a document that will be included as part of the time capsule that includes information about the event being commemorated. The people opening this time capsule in 50 years will then be able to reflect on your insight into the event as you have described it.
During this course, you have examined various articles and videos that shine a light on diverse historical narratives and constructions of race, gender, class, disability, citizenship, and sexuality. As a result, you have honed your critical thinking skills by taking note of information that minimizes or negates the histories and bodies of knowledge of people of color, Indigenous peoples, women, working-class people, persons with disabilities, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people. You have become more adept at determining the credibility of different sources, and you can readily identify bias in historical accounts. Through your own reflections on the problem of social inequality as mirrored in the readings in this course, you can draw connections to your own lived experience. By virtue of your critical insights, you can use your own voice and knowledge to “right” a historical narrative and empower underrepresented populations.
Directions
As a culmination of your work in this course, you will write a paper on one of the topics in the list below or a topic of your choice with prior approval from your instructor. The purpose of your paper will be to focus on a voice or perspective that has previously been overlooked or minimized. To support your topic, you should use three or more sources from the Shapiro Library. Of those sources, at least one must be a primary source. In your paper, you will address three primary components in relation to your topic: historical context and background, deconstruction of the dominant narrative, and reflection based on your own lived experience.
Specifically, you must address the following:
Part One: Introduction
In the introduction, you will identify and briefly describe your chosen historical topic.
Describe your chosen historical topic. You should address each of the following:
What historical topic did you choose?
What historical events are related to this topic?
When did the events related to the historical topic occur?
Who was involved in the events related to this topic?
Whose voices or perspectives have been overlooked or minimized?
Identify at least three sources related to your selected topic that you will use for your paper. At least one must be a primary source.
Part Two: Background of the Topic
In this section, you will examine the historical background of a particular narrative or discourse relevant to your topic, particularly voices or perspectives that have been overlooked or minimized. Here, keep in mind that your mission in the next section will be to deconstruct and critique the narrative.
Describe the types of sources that were used to create the most common narrative surrounding the topic. You should address each of the following:
What types of media were used to broadcast information about the event as it was occurring?
What types of media were used to publicize the event after it had occurred?
Describe the context of the sources you chose about your chosen topic. You should address each of the following:
Are they primary sources or secondhand interpretive accounts?
How is the content in the sources presented? Do the writers appear to “take sides” or simply give facts?
Explain the components of the narrative of your topic. You should address each of the following:
How was the topic portrayed in media as it was unfolding?
How has media portrayed your topic at different points along the historical timeline since?
What information or perspectives could have been presented about your topic but were not?
Apply a historical perspective to provide a context for your selected topic. You should address each of the following:
What other historical events were unfolding at the same time as your chosen topic?
What other sociocultural historical factors have an impact on how your topic is represented in your selected sources?
Determine the validity of the traditional historical narrative of the topic. You should address each of the following:
How does factual information about your topic affect how the historical narrative is portrayed? Do the facts reinforce the information highlighted in the narrative?
How has the narrative around your topic changed as new information has been discovered?
Part Three: Deconstructing the Historical Narrative
In Part Three, you will actively deconstruct the historical narrative concerning your topic and determine the overall validity of the narrative. Your objective here is to write a new narrative that provides a more holistic, inclusive version of history.
Determine the credibility of the sources you selected for your chosen topic. You should address each of the following:
How do you determine credibility for the sources you chose? Does it vary from source to source?
Describe potential bias in your selected sources for your chosen topic. You should address the following:
How do an author’s beliefs and agenda impact the information they present in their account?
Identify the power structures that influence the development of the historical narrative surrounding your chosen topic. You should address each of the following:
Who held the power in society when events related to your topic took place?
Who benefits from the traditional version of the story?
Explain why there are variations in the narrative of the event presented by your selected sources. You should address the following:
How do your selected sources present information about the topic in varied ways?
What information is presented in some sources but omitted in other sources?
Explain why information gaps occur in the sources you selected for your chosen topic. You should address each of the following:
Why was information included or excluded about this topic in your selected sources? What purpose does this serve?
When new information about an event related to the topic came to light, was there any opportunity for your selected sources to include or correct excluded information in what they originally presented?
Part Four: Changing the Narrative of History
In this final section, you will reflect on your own lived experience and explore various components in the interpretation of history. A successful paper will make the connections between the historical context of the event as it was taking place and how that context may have changed in the time since the event occurred.
Discuss the impact of historical context on your topic.
Explain the historical context of the traditional narrative associated with your topic.
Explain the importance of diverse perspectives in the interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following:
How were diverse perspectives included in the traditional narrative of your topic?
How are new and more diverse perspectives being incorporated?
How do incorporating these new and more diverse perspectives help you think about your own lived experiences?
Describe the role of bias in the historical interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following:
How did bias affect the interpretation of this topic at the time of the event?
How does bias affect the current interpretation of this topic?
Explain how cultural norms and values impact the interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following:
What impact did cultural norms and values have on the interpretation of an event when it first occurred?
How have cultural norms and values changed over time relating to the interpretation of this event?
Explain the connection between your historical topic and current events. You should address each of the following:
What is the connection between your topic, related past events, and current events?
What are connections between your topic and your own life experiences?
What to Submit
Submit your paper as a four- to five-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins, not including title page or headers. Use at least three sources from the Shapiro Library, remembering that one of them must be a primary source. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
Primary source:
U.S. Congress.
(1882). Chinese Exclusion Act. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act
Secondary Sources:
Pardee Atlas Journal
of Global Affairs. (n.d.). The Anti-Immigrant Movement in the United
States. Retrieved from https://sites.bu.edu/pardeeatlas/advancing-human-progress-initiative/back2school/the-anti-immigrant-movement-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=For%20as%20long%20as%20immigration,good%20relationship%20with%20Great%20Britain.
Anti-Defamation
League. (2018, November). Mainstreaming hate: The anti-immigrant movement in
the U.S Retrieved from
https://www.adl.org/resources/report/mainstreaming-hate-anti-immigrant-movement-us
