HISTORY MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

Clear (thesis) statement of research question – Very clearly state what you will be studying. Be sure that this is understandable to someone who doesn’t know much about your field of study. If needed, define terms. To test your explanation – give this to a friend not in your major. If he/she doesn’t understand, try again! Background/Significance of the Project – Be succinct. A discussion of present understanding and/or state of knowledge concerning the question/problem or a discussion of the context of the scholarly or creative work. What has been missing in this subject matter’s delivery to history readers or what has been misunderstood? Why is it important for you to present knowledge on this subject matter. This section presents and summarizes the problem with this historical research that you intend to present and your creative solution to revealing that historical knowledge. What is the question that you want to explore in your research and why is this an interesting and important question? In thinking about the significance, try to take the position of an educated newspaper reader. If she or he were to see an article about your research in the paper, how would you explain the importance of your project? Goal – Not only do you need passion for a project, but you must also be able to communicate to others what it is that you want to do. A goal statement is all about communicating information about your proposal. Indicates the importance of the project, what you hope to accomplish. Student’s personal statement – Include why you want to do this project, what got you interested in the subject matter, how it has meaning for you. HISTORY PROPOSAL EXAMPLE…(from a CHIS202 course subject matter) Preliminary project title: The Aesthetics of Modernism: São Paulo and New York City in the Twentieth Century For my multimedia project in history, I will conduct a comparative research study of New York City and São Paulo with regards to their respective processes of modernization, particularly with a focus on the aesthetics of modernization in the early twentieth century. While similarities are drawn today between the two megalopolises due to the critical roles they play in global and national economics and politics, the similarities that exist in the histories of development have been overlooked. My study will emphasize the integral role of marshaling a modernist urban image and how these two cities respectively used aesthetics to craft an identity that epitomizes urban modernity nationally and globally. In analyzing this process, I hope to expand the project to explore the internal effects on the inhabitants as caused by a projection of a superficial façade. I am interested in studying whether there exists a disconnection between the idealized vision of urban development by cultural elites and those who physically occupy the spaces in question. Choosing a topic to research is possibly more difficult than writing the proposal. Below are the overarching themes of the 15 chapters you are covering this semester. They correlate with your text. You are NOT to select a broad thematic topic, they are only listed to help you select a range or region of research interest. For example, should you have an affinity for pottery…you could perhaps examine the similarities and differences between the drinking vessels in ancient Greece to that of ceremonial tea bowls in China and present food storage vessels from the Inca that can be compared to those of the Maya. Maybe you wish to look at how sculptures have changed over time in China. Maybe you wish to look past the text book and investigate African masks from the time of the Bantu migration (3000BC- 1000AD) and how they compare to other cultural groups’ masks on the continent in the same time period – looking at symbolic nature, traditional spirituality and gender significance. There are countless ideas and options for you to create and choose, so use the themes to help guide you to a region, culture and/or time period then work it out from there. The Broad Thematic Topics African Origins of Humanity, Migration & Adaptation Agriculture, Writing and Society Indian Society, Culture and Religion The Environment, the Mandate of Heaven and Ancient China The Environment, Geography and Migration in the Americas & Oceania The Environment, Geography & Migration in Africa & the Americas Persia, Greece and Rome Empires & Visionaries in India Isolation & Cross-Cultural Experiences in Imperial China Islamic Civilization and Byzantium Western Christian World India, China and the Silk Roads Patterns of State Formation in Africa The Rise of Empires in the Americas