Public History & Memory

Final Project Written Reflection & Analysis (7 pages)

Scenario to approach this assignment:
As a requirement for receiving a supporting grant from the Marshall Fund at Holy Cross, you must write a report detailing your experience working on the Worcester World War II Homefront Project. In seven thoughtful and articulate pages, please reflect on and analyze your findings about the three components of this project: what you learned about public history questions and methodologies (oral histories and web issues) as connected to the central questions of this course; what you learned about historical memory and Worcester during WWII; and, finally, what you learned about public history by working collaboratively with your peers and with Worcesterites through community-based learning.
This is an opportunity to reflect deeply on your semester-long efforts. Take time to think and outline your ideas before you begin writing. You need to maximize the quality of what you discuss in the space you have.


Student Presentations and Community Gathering:

During our final class meeting, each student will discuss some aspect of their research for the web site. I envision this as a kind of mini-academic workshop during which we will reflect on both the experience of the project and the themes of the class in general. This will be not only an opportunity to showcase your scholarly findings, but to learn from each other and to gain useful public presentation skills. At the end of the term, we will invite your interviewees to campus for a breakfast gathering to thank them for their participation and to demonstrate your site. This gathering will be our grand finale - the culmination of a rigorous and hopefully rewarding term.