Advanced American History
After a brief continuation of the class overview/syllabus, we began a discussion of America as both a nation and an idea. In order to properly understand the history of the American people, we must first analyze who we are as a people, and what ideas hold a large and diverse nation together. After answering some of the questions in the brief slideshow below, we also examined the thoughts of John Steinbeck in his essay America and Americans.
Assignment: Complete Steinbeck Reading and Questions for Thursday.
American Studies
After a brief continuation of the class overview/syllabus, we began a discussion of the purpose and function of studying history. In doing so, we defined what history is, and how and why historical inquiry is conducted. Essentially, the true meaning of history is not contained in the pages of a textbook, and historical events are interpreted by those in the present and meaning is attached to past events.
To test this, we examined pictures from different eras in the slideshow below. For the average person, pictures constitute much of our historical record, and we analyzed these pictures to try to interpret the time period they were taken, what broader events may have been impacting those in the image, etc.
Assignment: Complete Oral History Interview Questions for Friday!
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