Course Description
Put today’s news in historical perspective! Learn the practical skills needed to conduct historical research. Each semester, the instructor will choose three or four issues that have made headline news in the past year and lead students on a quest to determine the historical roots of each issue.
Athena Title
History Behind the Headlines H
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in HIST 3777
Non-Traditional Format
This course differs from the non-Honors version by requiring more intense reading (several full-length historical monographs), more writing (a longer term paper in addition to the shorter essays), and more discussion (25% of the final grade is based on discussion).
Prerequisite
Any HIST course or ENGL 1101 or ENGL 1101E or ENGL 1101S or ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1102S or POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S and permission of Honors
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about how history shapes our perception of current events by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays about selected topics of contemporary significance. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of current events shaped diverse social and cultural attitudes toward a wide variety of topics, including ethnicity, race, gender, politics, ethics, and morality, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and their reading of secondary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
- 1. Major Issues in the World Today
- 2. Journalism and History
- 3. Identifying the Historical Parameters of a Contemporary Issue
- 4. Library Research Tutorial
- 5. Visit to the Russell Special Collections Building
- 6. Visit to the DigiLab
- 7. Issue #1: Finding and Evaluating Secondary Sources
- 8. Issue #1: Finding and Evaluating Primary Sources
- 9. Issue #1: Connecting the Historical Record to the World Today
- 10. Issue #1: Symposium
- 11. Issue #1: Oral Presentations (Pitching a Newspaper Article)
- 12. Issue #2: Finding and Evaluating Secondary Sources
- 13. Issue #2: Finding and Evaluating Primary Sources
- 14. Issue #2: Connecting the Historical Record to the World Today
- 15. Issue #2: Symposium
- 16. Issue #2: Oral Presentations (Pitching a Documentary Film)
- 17. Issue #3: Finding and Evaluating Secondary Sources
- 18. Issue #3: Finding and Evaluating Primary Sources
- 19. Issue #3: Connecting the Historical Record to the World Today
- 20. Issue #3: Conference
- 21. Issue #3: Oral Presentations (Pitching a Podcast)
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
