Finding Purpose Within Suffering: An Exploration of the Intended and Uninten...Sofia Horenstein
Through the analysis of five photographs of war and suffering I have closely examined each photographer's individual purposes for their photograph and the ultimate public purpose these images served. I also wanted to call attention to the power an image can have in molding people’s opinions and, consequently, shaping reactions to atrocities—whether in a positive way, such as increasing anti-war sentiment, or negatively, by fueling prejudice and hatred. .
Blum demonstrates how US policy, under the banners of freedom and human rights, has led to barbarous criminal acts, how the world's force for peace has acted in the most belicose form. An eye-opener for students of national security policy. -- Saul Landau, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC
Bravo Blum! A vivid, well-aimed critique of the evils of US global interventionism, a superb antidote to officialdom's lies and propaganda. -- Michael Parenti, author of History as Mystery and To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia
Critics will call this a one-sided book. But it is an invaluable corrective to the establishment portrait of America as the world's greatest force for peace. Even confirmed opponents of U.S. interventionism can find much in this important book that will both educate and shock them. -- Peter Dale Scott, former Professor at UC Berkeley, poet, and author, Deep Politics and The Death of JFK
Rogue State forcibly reminds us of Vice President Agnews immortal line: The United States, for all its faults, is still the greatest nation in the country. -- Gore Vidal, author of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
CAMBRIDGE A2 HISTORY: TRUMAN'S CONTAINMENT POLICY. Content: Truman's containment policy, key policy, key terms, containment definition, George Kennan, USA's presidents and the containment policy, human rights vs anti-communism, the X-Article, countering soviet pressure, controversy, Dulles and Nitze, expansion of US military budget.
Finding Purpose Within Suffering: An Exploration of the Intended and Uninten...Sofia Horenstein
Through the analysis of five photographs of war and suffering I have closely examined each photographer's individual purposes for their photograph and the ultimate public purpose these images served. I also wanted to call attention to the power an image can have in molding people’s opinions and, consequently, shaping reactions to atrocities—whether in a positive way, such as increasing anti-war sentiment, or negatively, by fueling prejudice and hatred. .
Blum demonstrates how US policy, under the banners of freedom and human rights, has led to barbarous criminal acts, how the world's force for peace has acted in the most belicose form. An eye-opener for students of national security policy. -- Saul Landau, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC
Bravo Blum! A vivid, well-aimed critique of the evils of US global interventionism, a superb antidote to officialdom's lies and propaganda. -- Michael Parenti, author of History as Mystery and To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia
Critics will call this a one-sided book. But it is an invaluable corrective to the establishment portrait of America as the world's greatest force for peace. Even confirmed opponents of U.S. interventionism can find much in this important book that will both educate and shock them. -- Peter Dale Scott, former Professor at UC Berkeley, poet, and author, Deep Politics and The Death of JFK
Rogue State forcibly reminds us of Vice President Agnews immortal line: The United States, for all its faults, is still the greatest nation in the country. -- Gore Vidal, author of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
CAMBRIDGE A2 HISTORY: TRUMAN'S CONTAINMENT POLICY. Content: Truman's containment policy, key policy, key terms, containment definition, George Kennan, USA's presidents and the containment policy, human rights vs anti-communism, the X-Article, countering soviet pressure, controversy, Dulles and Nitze, expansion of US military budget.
In today’s digital social world, with our identity crossing various social networks it can be a challenge to decide on, and keep a consistent brand identity that crosses platforms and channels. This D.I.Y. guide will help you to overcome this challenge.
for educational purposes only
sources: http://www.slideshare.net/dmccorkleporter ; www.pbs.org and for additional sources download the file and look in the notes section.
How to re-frame business problems to customer-centric opportunity spaces that drive value. Design thinking is your shortcut to customer empathy. A good understanding on how this method could help you identify real customer problems and unmet needs is essential. Moreover we will share techniques and tools that you can implement directly after this crash course. Start inventing the future.
Você encara a negociação como uma disputa? A vitória está em como você lida com essa situação.
A arte de negociar passa batida pela maioria das pessoas. Para alguns gestores comerciais, só importam 2 habilidades em seus vendedores: a da prospectar e a de negociar.
Infelizmente, nem todos os vendedores têm igual talento para negociar com seus clientes.
Design Thinking: The one thing that will transform the way you thinkDigital Surgeons
What's the one thing that will transform the way you think? Design Thinking. The startups, trailblazers, and business mavericks of our world have embraced this process as a means of zeroing in on true human-centered design.
Design Thinking is a methodology for innovators that taps into the two biggest skills needed in today’s modern workplace: critical thinking & problem solving.
Of course, if you ask 100 practitioners to define it, you’ll wind up with 101 definitions.
Pete Sena of Digital Surgeons believes that Design Thinking is a process for solving complex problems through observation and iteration. At its core, he describes it as a vehicle for solving human wants and needs.
Minds are like parachutes; they only function when open. Thomas Dewar was a Scottish whiskey distiller.
Communicating ideas or insights is often the hardest part of the design process. And PowerPoint and Excel spreadsheets are limited in their ability to do this. But the communication tools used in Design Thinking—maps, models, sketches, and stories—help to capture and express the information required to form and socialize meaning in a very straightforward, human way.
The Five things that all definitions of Design Thinking have in common:
1. Isolating and reframing the problem focused on the user.
2. Empathy. A design practitioner from IDEO, the popular design and innovation firm strapped a video camera to his head and it was only then that he recognized why the ceiling is such an important factor when working with hospital patients. As a patient you lay in bed and stare at it all day. It’s these little details and true empathy that can only be realized by putting oneself in the user’s shoes.
3. Approach things with an open mind and be willing to collaborate. Creativity with purpose is a team sport.
4. Curiosity. We have to harness our inner 5-year-old here and really be inquisitive explorers. Instead of seeing what would be or what should be, consider what COULD be.
5 - Commitment. Brainstorming is easy. It’s easy to want to start a business or solve a problem. Seeing it into market and making it successful is not for the faint of heart. We’ve all read about big “wins” (multi-billion dollar acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp). What we don’t read about are people like Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, who work for years before becoming industry sensations.
Pete describes what he refers to as the “Wheel of Innovation” as a process that continuously focuses on framing, making, validating, and improving on your concept. Be it as small as a core feature in your product down to the business model and business idea itself.
Design is about form and function, not art.
What are the business benefits for Design Innovation?
IDEO started an idea revolution when they coined this phrase DESIGN THINKING. Organizations ranging from early-stage startups up to Fortune 50 organizations have capitalized on this iterative appr
This is a short talk and workshop (30' + 90') to give a first introduction to design thinking. Gives theory foundation, notes a few different approaches, and then dives into one of them.
This presentation was first done at ImpactON / StartupChile evening in 2015.
"IDEO의 디자인 Thinking"
(Design Thinking from IDEO)
"왜 IDEO는 혁신적인가?"
혁신의 상징, 거대기업들이 끊임없이 배우고자 하는 창의적 사고.
그 중심에는 'Design Thinking'이 있습니다.
IDEO의 사례들과 디자인Thinking의 프로세스를 알아보세요!
창의적인 1%의 비밀노트, Beecanvas 페이스북페이지에서 만나보세요!
- http://facebook.com/beecanvas
슬라이드쉐어에서도 만나보실 수 있습니다.
- https://www.slideshare.net/BeeCanvas
모든 아이디어 발상 테크닉들을 페이지에서 만나보세요!
사진 출처 : https://flic.kr/p/jKqgHD
- Stilte na de brainstorm Impact Hub Amsterdam
원작자 플리커 : https://www.flickr.com/photos/mvonederland/
- MVO Nederland
참고 : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_thinking, OPENIDEO
I gave a talk on the role of Design Thinking to leaders in the financial industry. The focus was on user centric thinking to innovate financial products and digital services. (all case material is removed)
An immersive workshop at General Assembly, SF. I typically teach this workshop at General Assembly, San Francisco. To see a list of my upcoming classes, visit https://generalassemb.ly/instructors/seth-familian/4813
I also teach this workshop as a private lunch-and-learn or half-day immersive session for corporate clients. To learn more about pricing and availability, please contact me at http://familian1.com
Arc 211: American Diversity and Design: Ia-Je TsaiIA-JE TSAI
The following pages document my responses to the online discussion questions in the Spring 2017 version of ARC 211 American Diversity and Design at the University at Buffalo – State University of New York.
This book is a collaborative project of Peter Pappas and his ED 424 ~ Computers and Educational Technology - a spring ’18 course at the University of Portland’s School of Education ~ Portland Ore. For more http://edtechmethods.com/publications/students-publish-tech-tips-for-teachers/
Six engaging World and US history lessons with historic documents empower students to be the historian in the classroom. Free at iTunes and as a downloadable PDF.
Holocaust Losses: Jewish Population before and after WWIIPeter Pappas
Jewish population by country before and after the Holocaust
Data from Simon Wiesenthal Center
For more see the Oregon Holocaust Memorial project ohm.edmethods.com
Collectivization and Propaganda in Stalin's Soviet UnionPeter Pappas
An interactive DBQ by Clarice Terry explores Stalin's and his use of propaganda. A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
an interactive DBQ by Scott Hearron explores the question: Education for political participation, or indoctrination for political power? A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
Imagination innovation space explorationPeter Pappas
An interactive DBQ by Mollie Pettit explores the question: What is the relationship between imagination and innovation within the context of space travel? A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
The Real Romanovs: How media affects people’s perception of eventsPeter Pappas
An interactive DBQ by Kelly Marx explores the last days of the Romanovs and the mystery of Anastasia. A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
An interactive DBQ by Anna Harrington explores the human costs (death, injury, etc.) of war on soldiers during World War I. A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
An interactive DBQ by Sam Hicks-Savage explores the question "What do Historians do when the Written Record is Missing?"
A chapter excerpt from Exploring History Vol IV. http://bit.ly/2iyHMaX
This is an excerpt from a student-designed multi-touch iBook. Designed by students in my Educational Methods class. http://edmethods.com
A fully functional version is available free at iTunes http://apple.co/1Y8gAhI
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp Network
The New Deal and the Art of Public Persuasion by Kari VanKommer
1. THE NEW DEAL AND
THE ART OF PUBLIC
PERSUASION
Designed by Kari VanKommer
2. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the WPA (Works
Progress Administration) into existence by executive order on May
6th, 1933. One of the more well known programs contained within
FDR’s “New Deal” federal relief package; the foundational purpose of
the organization was to simply get unemployed Americans back to
work during the height of the Great Great Depression. The WPA is
traditionally remembered for building thousands of roads, bridges,
public parks and buildings throughout the United States many of
which still remain and serve the public today. But In addition to it’s
impact on the American infrastructure, an often forgotten contribution
of WPA workers is the organizations promotion of arts and humanities
throughout the United States.
The Federal Arts Program or the FAP was one arm of the WPA solely
dedicated to the creation and promotion of the arts in America. One of
it’s major undertakings were the creation of promotional posters,
today known as the WPA Poster Collection. Between the years 1935
and 1943, the WAP and FAB collectively created and printed more
than 2 million posters on more than 35,000 unique subject matters. Of
those 2 million around 2,000 remain today. The largest singular
collection of these posters, around 900 in total, have been
purposefully collected and curated by the Library of Congress for
future preservation.
Between the years 1935 and 1943, the WAP and FAB collectively
created and printed more than 2 million posters on more than 35,000
unique subject matters. Of those two million produced during that
time, only around two thousand remain today. Many of these have
been purposefully collected and curated by the Library of Congress
for future preservation.
The WPA Posters created by the WPA and the FAP between 1933
Image Credit - courtesy of the US archives: Link to image.
3. Essential Question: How
did the WPA use art to
influence public opinion?
Propaganda is often
defined as a derogatory or
negative term describing
biased material intended to
persuade. There is also
often an element of
dishonesty or hidden truth
interwoven within the
definition. This DBQ would
argue that the WPA posters
should not be solely viewed
as government propaganda
because their overall intent
was not a sinister one
shrouded in secrecy or
dishonesty. The vast majority
of the posters are focused
on the promotion of good
health, travel and arts
promotion. However, some
would argue that the WPA
posters are “propaganda”
simply because they were
created with the intention to
persuade Americans from a
singular pro-government
point of view and that in and
of itself may classify them as
being a form of propaganda.
Regardless of the debate over whether these posters should be
considered propaganda or not. There are several key techniques
academics used when analyzing materials that is created to persuade
and in this DBQ these techniques will be helpful to use as well. The
most import questions to ask yourself when looking at all of the posters
in this collection are below.
I. What is the ideology and purpose of the propaganda?
II. What is the context in which the propaganda occurs?
III. Who is the propagandist?
IV. What is the structure of the propaganda organization?
V. Who is the target audience?
VI. What techniques for persuasion are being used?
VII. What audience reactions are the techniques hoping to elicit?
Image Credit - courtesy of
the Library of Congress: Link
to image.
4. As we know from modern examples, in order for a political concept
or program to be truly effective, the people must believe in the
concept. Upon its founding, the New Deal faced steep opposition
both in the political and public realms. In order for the employment
relief programs to work, the public needed to be convinced they
were serving a valid purpose and to subscribe to the ideals of
earning a wage instead of accepting charity. Some argued at the
time and to the present day that it would have been better and
cheaper for the country to simple give people the federal money
instead of having them work for it. Harry Hopkins, director of
the WPA, fiercely believed providing people the
opportunity to earn a wage did much less to destroy
their soul and the fabric of American idealism than
simple handing out the badly needed resources.
Many WPA Posters were initially dedicated to promoting the New
Deal programs and the opportunities they provided. Let’s look at a
couple examples of how the art attempted to sway public opinion in
this way.
Image Credit - courtesy of
the Library of Congress: Link
to image.
Selling the New Deal to
Americans
5. Directions:
Use the source information, your knowledge of history, and the
poster to answer the questions below.
Source: This poster was published by the Federal Art Project, in
1938.
Questions:
Who do you think is the audience for the poster?
Do you consider this poster to be propaganda?
Why or why not?
5
Image credit: ‘Forging ahead Works Progress Administration’
artist: Harry Herzog, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Link to image.
6. Directions: Use the source
information, your knowledge of
history and the poster to answer
the questions below.
Background Information: In
order for the WPA jobs programs
to work, the state services
controlling many of the
employment relief needed healthy
able bodied people to apply to
those jobs and to be motivated to
have them. This was important for
the programs to serve their
purpose, but also for them to be
perceived by opponents of The
New Deal as being successful.
Questions:
What techniques are the
creators of this poster
using to persuade?
Would you consider one
more persuasive than the
other?
Why or why not?
Image Credit - Courtesy of the
Library of Congress: Artist Bender,
Albert M, Link to image.
Image Credit - Courtesy of the Library of
Congress: ‘Ready to serve - trained,
efficient workers--Household Service
Demonstration Project, W.P.A.’ artist:
Sara, Cleo, artist, created 1939 Link to
image.
7. Promoting American Ideals:
Literacy, Health and Safety
Directions:
Use the source information, your knowledge of history and
the poster to answer the questions below.
Source:
This poster was created by the WPA in 1940.
Questions:
What is this poster wanting people to do?
How is it attempting to persuade?
What does this tell you about 1940 in the
USA. What were some values this poster
reveals?
What would be different if it was created
today?
Image Credit - Courtesy of the Library of Congress: Link to
image.
8. Directions: Using the background and source
information, your knowledge of history and the
photograph to answer the questions below.
Background Information: These posters were created
between 1937-1940 by artists in the WPA to promote public
health in America.
Questions:
What techniques is the creator of this poster using to
persuade the audience?
Do you find this poster compelling?
Why or why not?
Encouraging Public Health
Image Credit - Courtesy of the Library of Congress: Link to
image.
9. Directions: Use the source
information, your knowledge of
history and the poster to answer the
questions below.
Sourcing Information: This image
was created in November of 1938 by
an artist in the WPA.
Questions:
Which is more powerful in
this poster- the images or
the words?
How do each of these
posters attempt to
persuade public opinion
either similarly or
differently?
Why is good parenting
important in a functioning
society?
Image Credit - Artist: Krause, Erik Hans Courtesy of
the Library of Congress: Link to image.
Encouraging Good
Parenting
Image Credit - Courtesy of the Library of
Congress: Link to image.
10. Expanding Horizons
Several of the most iconic posters in the WPA collection depict
American tourist destinations and encourage the observer to travel.
This subsection of the collection is often referred to as the WPA
National Parks Collection.
Contextualizing the National Parks Posters:
Much of the WPA work on American infrastructure focused on the
improvement of roads and facilities servicing National Parks and
recreation sites throughout the country. These posters bent on
persuading the public to explore the continental USA served several
purposes. They encouraged Americans to take advantage of the new
facilities and money being put into these parks thus raising the overall
perception of WPA project validity. By encouraging Americans with the
extra income to travel, they also hoped to affect the economic recovery
of the areas and regions supporting the tourist areas. A healthy
economy is one where people travel and spend their extra earnings
near and far. This is ultimately what the poster campaign hoped to
achieve. As a bonus the beautiful creations revealed America's natural
treasures to many who had never seen a picture of the Grand Canyon
or Yosemite National Park before the era of Television.
Image Credit - Courtesy of the Library of Congress:
link to image.
11. Questions:
How do these posters appeal to reason vs. emotions?
In your opinion are these posters effective?
What do you find most striking about the images presented?
Image Credit(s) - courtesy of the Library of
Congress: Image one, Image two.
12. 12
Compare these three images:
Questions:
Does this section of posters try to influence or
inform the public in any way?
What stylistic tools are used to connect with
the posters’ intended audience?
Which poster in this group do you think is the
most persuasive? Why?
Encouraging the
Protection Wildlife
Image Credit(s) - courtesy of the
Library of Congress: Image one,
Image two, Image three
13. Art is a powerful
medium. It can affect people
in ways that no other form of
persuasion can. Visual
stimulation can excite and
convince, amuse and anger
us.
Some may argue that the WPA
posters were a waste of
resources and materials,
created only to give desperate
people something to do. This
chapter’s intent is not to
challenge the political opinions
revolving around the New
Deal, but instead to provide an
opportunity to look back at
these posters that now serve
as an amazing resource into
our collective past. They
reveal a great deal about what
Americans thought a
functioning society would do
and how it would act. Brush
their teeth, read, take care of
their children, travel etc. The
WPA Poster project also
served as a start for many
artists who would later be
added into the cannon of great
American artists. Artists such
as Jackson Pollock, Thomas
Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, and
Grant Wood.
Regardless of the motivation
or context of creation for art.
To create as an act unto itself
is a noble endeavor, and when
Americans create, they
produce wonderful things, as
proof by these posters.
As the world changes and
continues to become more
globalized the power to
persuade public opinion
through various mediums
becomes even more
important, today on an even
larger scale. In the meantime
the WPA poster collection will
continue to serve as a time
capsule of information on the
political mechanics of that
period in American history as
well as the testament to the
American ability to create
things of great beauty and
originality even in the bleakest
of times.
To view the full WPA Collection
at the Library of Congress
please click here.
14. This project was such a great opportunity to try my hand at creating
the type of relevant history lesson that I want to include in my
curriculum as a future social studies teacher. Unfortunately, I did not
fully take advantage of it as I wish I had. Initially I struggled
narrowing down a subject, I wanted to land on something I felt a
strong personal connection to which would also be relatively simple
to construct a DBQ project around. Quickly settling on the topic of
communism and the Red Scare, I felt confident, perhaps a little too
confident. When I realized that someone had focused on that topic
last year for this project, I decided that topic would no longer work
for me. I could have carried on with the communist angle and
perhaps focused more specifically on one aspect of it such as the
Rosenbergs or the Cuban Missile Crisis, but my internal drive to be
as close to original as possible forbid me from this. Instead I
decided to switch gears entirely.
After debating various topics in my head from Civil War
Reconstruction to the often forgotten historical figure of Noah
Webster, of that dictionary we refer to from time to time (who I
discovered in my preliminary research may have been a thoroughly
unlikable fellow which is why his contributions to the founding of the
USA have largely been forgotten…) but I digress. After bouncing
around a variety of ideas after the Red Scare topic fell through, I
finally settled on focusing my DBQ on the New Deal and the various
forms of propaganda and art that came out of that time period in
American life.
This period in history is complicated and filled with difficulties and
political initiatives that mirror our own times to such a degree it is
almost unsettling. Much as President Obama has needed to sell his
ideas for recovery and change in the last six years such as the
Affordable Care Act, so FDR needed to sell his plan for getting
America out of the Great Depression. The poster collection created
by the WPA and FAP between 1933-1943 is one of the first things I
re-discovered when researching this topic. They are beautiful,
modern and striking. The have an agenda, often times more than
one and they have much to tell us about what art can do to shift
public opinion, and what those responsible for creating those
posters believed needed to be shifting.
Once I settled on a topic my drudgery through this project was not
alleviated. I did not have a focused point of view or purpose for the
posters though I know I wanted to use them. Peter Pappas helped
me collate my thoughts on what things could be asked of students
in relation to the artwork and what conclusions or inferences could
be drawn that might be helpful. My resulting DBQ project is not the
best thing I have every produced, but it is definitely a place to start.
As one of my favorite authors Elizabeth Gilbert has said “You must
be very polite with yourself when you are leaning something new.”
If I could do it again I would get started much sooner, put my head
down and find a topic I felt was original and interesting. I might have
focused on maps or the layout of cities in America or something
closely related to that. The good news is I hope to be at this for a
while and I think the benefit of DBQ questions can not be
understated, so I might just get me do-over shot after all. For now it’s
about doing the best you can and learning that procrastination does
not a stellar project make.
~ Kari VanKommer Twitter/@MissKVK | email
14
17. This eBook is a collaborative project of Peter Pappas
and his Fall 2014 Social Studies Methods Class
School of Education ~ University of Portland, Portland Ore.
Graduate and undergraduate level pre-service teachers were assigned the
task of developing an engaging research question, researching supportive
documents and curating them into a DBQ suitable for middle or high
school students.
For more on this class, visit the course blog EdMethods
For more on the assignment and work flow tap here.
Chapters in chronological order
1. The American Revolution by Scott Deal
2. The Pig War by Andy Saxton
3. Cesspool of Savagery by Michelle Murphy
4. Chemical War by Erik Nelson
5. Americans’ Perceptions of Immigration
in the 1920s by Ceci Brunning and Jenna Bunnell
6. The New Deal and the Art of Public Persuasion
by Kari VanKommer
7. Combat Soldiers in Context by Kristi Anne McKenzie
8. The Marshall Plan: Altruism or Pragmatism?
by Sam Kimerling
9. Little Rock Nine: Evaluating Historical Sources
by Christy Thomas
10. First Ladies as a Political Tool by Emily Strocher
EXPLORING HISTORY: VOL II
xvii
Engaging questions and historic
documents empower students to be
the historian in the classroom.
18. Cover image: Replica of old French globe
Date:1 January 1, 2013
Petar Milošević
Peter Pappas, editor
School of Education ~ University of Portland
His popular blog, Copy/Paste features downloads of his instructional
resources, projects and publications. Follow him at Twitter @edteck.
His other multi-touch eBooks are available at here. For an example of
one of his eBook design training workshops tap here.
CC BY-NC 3.0 Peter Pappas and Kari VanKommer, 2015
The authors take copyright infringement seriously. If any copyright holder has
been inadvertently or unintentionally overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to
remove the said material from this book at the very first opportunity.
xviiiSource