Miami in the World: The Miami University Dolibois European Center
Assignment Example
Faculty preparing to lead students to MUDEC or Miami faculty-led study abroad programs are encouraged to review this of sample assignment to brainstorm possible exercises for their own courses.
MUDEC Archive Dive (shorter form, appropriate for HST 296)
Select one document from the archive from the period 1968-1989 (the period that corresponds with the Cold War--you can extend to 1991 if you like).
For this primary document analysis, please follow the following formula:
- Identify the source. Include as much of the information as can be known: date, author, type of document (receipt, letter, pamphlet, official decree, newsletter, etc.).
- Describe the contents. You may take direct quotes from the document, describe its format and content. Also, if relevant, include observations about the physical document itself. Are there insignia, illustrations, images, hand-written corrections or amendments, meaningful damage, or other meaningful content that is not described in the text alone?
- Analyze the contents. This is the fun work of "doing" history: reading between the lines and making meaning of the past. What features of the document reflect a past that is strikingly similar to, or different from, the present? What conclusions can you draw about social relations, political realities, generational differences, technological differences, societal values, intercultural connections, or historical events from a close, critical reading of the document? What might have seemed normal to the authors/creators of the document that seems foreign to us now?
- Evaluation and reflection. This is the part of the analysis that allows you to bring the document into the larger context of history. How does this reflect a particular historical moment? It's a good idea here to bring in specific references to our course readings and class discussions to contextualize these documents in the moments in which they were created.
- Image. Please include an upload of an image of the original document.
- Feel free to conclude with a personal reflection on how a close reading of this document enhances your appreciation of MUDEC life, the past, and/or the present.
Learning Outcomes
- Describe how Miami students have grappled with complex questions from multiple points of view.
- Develop sense of historicity through exposure to the experiences and perspectives of historical peers.
- Identify and Interpret a primary source to understand another person’s perspective.
- Reflect on Miami’s imprint on the world, and the world’s imprint on traveling Miami students.