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 broaden 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 components in relation to your topic: historical context and background, deconstruction of the dominant narrative, and reflection based on your own lived experience.

The project consists of multiple draft assignments leading up to a final document. You will complete the following assignments:

• Module Two Topic Proposal: You will revise your work on this proposal to form Part One (Introduction) of your project.
• Module Three Collection of Sources: This assignment will inform multiple parts of your evaluation of sources for the project.
• Module Four Discussion: This assignment will provide a summary of your chosen project topic.
• Module Five Project Draft: You will revise your work on this draft to form Part Two (Background of the Topic) and Part Three (Deconstructing the Historical Narrative) of the project.
• Module Six Discussion: You will describe your personal experience with your chosen topic.
• Module Seven Project: You will submit your revised Parts One through Three along with Part Four (Changing the Narrative of History).

You will use the Project Template linked in the Supporting Materials section below to complete all drafts and the final document.

Specifically, you must address the following:

Part One: Introduction

In the introduction, you will identify and briefly describe your chosen historical topic.

1. Historical Topic: Describe your chosen historical topic. You should address each of the following questions:
2. What historical topic did you choose?
3. What historical events are related to this topic?
4. When did the events related to the historical topic occur?
5. Who was involved in the events related to this topic?
6. Whose voices or perspectives have been overlooked or minimized?
7. Three Sources: 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. While writing Part Two, keep in mind that your mission in the next section, Part Three, will be to deconstruct and critique the narrative.

1. Types of Sources: Describe the types of sources that were used to create the most common narrative surrounding the topic. You should address each of the following questions:
2. What types of media were used to broadcast information about the event as it was occurring?
3. What types of media were used to publicize the event after it had occurred?
4. Context: Describe the context of the sources you chose about your chosen topic. You should address each of the following questions:
5. Are they primary sources or secondhand interpretive accounts?
6. How is the content in the sources presented? Do the writers appear to take sides or simply give facts?
7. Components: Explain the components of the narrative of your topic. You should address each of the following questions:
8. How was the topic portrayed in media as it was unfolding?
9. How has media portrayed your topic at different points along the historical timeline since?
10. What information or perspectives could have been presented about your topic but were not?
11. Perspective: Apply a historical perspective to provide a context for your selected topic. You should address each of the following questions:
12. What other historical events were unfolding at the same time as your chosen topic?
13. What other sociocultural historical factors have an impact on how your topic is represented in your selected sources?
14. Validity: Determine the validity of the traditional historical narrative of the topic. You should address each of the following questions:
15. How does factual information about your topic affect how the historical narrative is portrayed? Do the facts reinforce the information highlighted in the narrative?
16. 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.

1. Credibility: Determine the credibility of the sources you selected for your chosen topic. You should address each of the following questions:
2. How do you determine credibility for the sources you chose?
3. Does it vary from source to source?
4. Bias: Describe potential bias in your selected sources for your chosen topic. You should address the following question:
5. How do an authors beliefs and agenda impact the information they present in their account?
6. Power Structures: Identify the power structures that influence the development of the historical narrative surrounding your chosen topic. You should address each of the following questions:
7. Who held the power in society when events related to your topic took place?
8. Who benefits from the traditional version of the story?
9. Variations: Explain why there are variations in the narrative of the event presented by your selected sources. You should address the following questions:
10. How do your selected sources present information about the topic in varied ways?
11. What information is presented in some sources but omitted in other sources?
12. Information Gaps: Explain why information gaps occur in the sources you selected for your chosen topic. You should address each of the following questions:
13. Why was information included or excluded about this topic in your selected sources? What purpose does this serve?
14. 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.

1. Role of Historical Context: Discuss the impact of historical context on your topic.
2. Explain the historical context of the traditional narrative associated with your topic.
3. Role of Diverse Perspectives: Explain the importance of diverse perspectives in the interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following questions:
4. How were diverse perspectives included in the traditional narrative of your topic?
5. How are new and more diverse perspectives being incorporated?
6. How does incorporating these new and more diverse perspectives help you think about your own lived experiences?
7. Role of Bias: Describe the role of bias in the historical interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following questions:
8. How did bias affect the interpretation of this topic at the time of the event?
9. How does bias affect the current interpretation of this topic?
10. Cultural Norms and Values: Explain how cultural norms and values impact the interpretation of this topic. You should address each of the following questions:
11. What impact did cultural norms and values have on the interpretation of an event when it first occurred?
12. How have cultural norms and values changed over time relating to the interpretation of this event?
13. Connections: Explain the connection between your historical topic and current events. You should address each of the following questions:
14. What is the connection between your topic, related past events, and current events?
15. What are connections between your topic and your own life experiences?

What to Submit

Use the Project Template to create your paper and submit it for grading. Your submission should be a 4- to 5-page Microsoft Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, 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 both throughout and at the end of your paper.