Dear
Readers:
The narrative histories for the 2008 academic year are
edited and posted to the web in this seventh edition of “Tell Me a Story.” The best narratives from the Spring 2008
class in Historiography met the standards for excellence in history set in the
course and so are presented here as a gateway to take their readers on a trip through
time.
The story of the journey that students pass through in
this class has gone national! You can
read about the learning that takes place in this class in my article “History
in the Trenches: Teaching the
Undergraduate Capstone Course” published in the April 2009 Edition of the
American Historical Association’s Perspectives. The course is based on a “tiered” process
where students practice the steps that lead to the writing, presentation, and
publication of a serious piece of historical research.
The research of the student authors at
Like historians through the ages, one of our student
authors looked at what connects soldiers in wars across the centuries in his
study of young men At Gallipoli in World War I
and in Modern Day
Three other students wrote on the theme of the
resiliency of people in the face of horrific suffering – and so we learn about
the Struggle of the Scots-Irish
in Europe and America, the Russian People and Their Battle Against Hitler, and
the Internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II . We also learn
about how a resilient young man named Charles Stuart –
a prince who had seen his own father executed by his subjects and who spent
much of his young life in exile – regained the throne of
With the standards for HST 430: Historiography set so
high, each narrative that is published in the seventh edition of “Tell Me a
Story” is an excellent one. So it makes
choosing the “Best Narrative” another tough decision. This year the award for “Best Narrative” goes
to Daniel Subleski for his thoughtful piece on “The Greatness of George Washington.”
-- Mary Stockwell
© Mary Stockwell 2009
