HIS 222: Canadian History: Post-confederation: Digital History Project

HIS 222 Winter 2022
Digital History Project

The goal of this project is to introduce some of the principles and practices of digital humanities to students. Digital humanities involves a group of convergent practices that enhance and expand the work of the humanities through the intersection of digital tools and technologies with humanities practices and pedagogies.[1] Digital history specifically addresses the question: How do research and writing about history CHANGE when there are millions of primary and secondary sources such as texts, photos, drawings, maps, artifacts, video and audio sources available through both academic and public digital spaces? Increasingly, historians have been using digital media, tools and technologies to evaluate, interpret, and present historical content.

My hope is that project will give students an opportunity to use digital technology to enhance meaning-making – that is, using technology to develop your own skills in critical thinking, doing, and communicating.

IMPORTANT DATES

January 19: Introduction to Digital History, project overview

January 25: Sign up for groups and topics (in class)

February 2: Group work time (in class, approx. half of period)

February 7: Digital History Project Planning Sheet due

March 2: Group work time (in class)

March 14, 16: Presentations

March 21: Reflection on Digital History Project due

DIGITAL HISTORY PROJECT PLANNING SHEET

Groups will need to submit a completed project planning sheet on February 7. This will help groups to determine the shape and path of their project, and also allow me to provide feedback early in the process.

THE PROJECT

Each group needs to create an online exhibit, based on their chosen topic. This digital exhibit is meant for an audience of generalists (i.e. not experts in the field), and its purpose is to educate and inform the audience about both the history and current state of the topic. Exhibits are meant to be interesting and engaging, and they must address the following questions:

1. What is the topic/issue? Why is this important in Canadian history? Why is this important in indigenous history?
2. Who are the major players in this issue, both historically and in the current day?
3. What has been the Canadian government’s perception and/or response to this issue?
4. What has been the general public’s perception and/or response to this issue?
5. What are the most important primary source materials (documents, photos, artifacts, audiovisual sources, etc.) related to this issue?
6. What are the most important secondary source materials (books, journal articles, popular media articles) related to this issue? (another way to think about this question: what have/are other historians saying about this issue?)
7. Where can the audience go to find out more about this issue?

Ultimately, your group needs to take the questions above into consideration when planning your exhibit, and the plan out your exhibit similarly to how you would plan an essay. You should develop a central research question for your exhibit, and the content and flow of your exhibit should “answer” this question (the thesis of your exhibit).

For example:

Question: Why do drinking water advisories still exist on First Nation reserves in 2022, and how long has this been a problem?

Answer/Thesis: Potable drinking water has been an issue on First Nation reserves for many decades, due to a lack of effective information and publicity about conditions, historical deficits in legislation governing the provision of drinking water in First Nations communities, and a fragmented construction industry.

Your exhibit should include:

• An “About” page that clearly describes the purpose and parameters of your exhibit
• Citations (footnotes) with embedded links where possible
• Embedded multimedia sources (images, maps, audio files, video files, etc.)
• One “extra” element that your group has created (see the list below for ideas)

EVALUATION

This project is worth 25% of your final mark. Together, the Digital History Project Planning Sheet and the Digital History Project Reflection exercise make up 5%, with the remaining 20% based on the project itself. Please see the attached rubric for more details about evaluation.

FINAL NOTE

Digital history is a fairly new field, and it is constantly changing. However, it is fascinating and exciting, and I want to give us all an opportunity to learn through experimentation. That being said, new technology can be difficult to learn, and this might be a very different type of project for you. THIS IS OKAY. I’m most interested in the experience, and the experiential learning that you will engage in while you’re working. I expect there to be some elements that don’t work out as planned, and some ideas you may need to drop, or pivot away from during your process. This is also okay. You will need to submit a short reflection to me the week after the projects are presented, and this will be your opportunity to share what went well, what your learned, and what you would do differently next time. I will take your reflection into consideration when assigning grades, and I’m MORE interested in seeing what you’ve learned than a perfect project.