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Suggested Activities

Now that we recognize some of the probable causes of historical illiteracy, we can design activities for
students to help them develop at least some understanding of their history and culture. Students can be
given various writing assignments that will enable them to move from simple forms of abstraction to more
complex forms while increasing their levels of cognition as well as their awareness of how historical
perspectives evolve. These assignments can be used to improve historical literacy in college classes.

1. Students can focus on a recent historical event (the policies of FDR, the McCarthy hearings, Bay of Pigs
invasion) by interviewing people to obtain their views and perceptions of the topic, by researching how
the event was originally presented by the mass media, and by researching how the event is now
viewed from an historical perspective. This type of assignment will lead students to discover
information in the social sciences that enables them to become cognizant of historical parameters.

2. Students can focus on the use of symbols in history. This assignment will enable students to discover
the significance of semiotics in history and will result in students’ developing an understanding of
semantics. Students should begin with a pre-writing workshop in which they discuss symbols and
recognize how important symbols are in historical movements and events. Then they can write an
essay on the history and meanings of a particularly fascinating symbol. This symbol can be from any
historical period or event and may include religious symbols (lotus flowers and swans in Hindu; Star of
David), national flags and standards (the significance of the French tricolor), political symbols (hammer
and sickle; swastika), or musical symbols (Dixie; La Marseillaise). They need to explain the following in
their essays: what a symbol is, the symbol they have chosen to discuss, what this symbol means, the
historical significance of the symbol, the social importance of the symbol, and why this symbol is
fascinating to them.

3. Students can analyze a particular aspect of the local newspaper. This assignment utilizes several
approaches to the development of historical awareness. Students must read, analyze, synthesize, and
interpret information that, although current, illustrates various levels of the historical, ethnological, and
literary origins evident in a particular event. Students might consider focusing on one of the following:
political cartoons—their history from Thomas Nast to the present; the origin of the editorial, and
historical editorials on past events, such as World War I or Viet Nam.

We also recommend these "short" ideas that instructors may incorporate into existing assignments. (1)
Students can develop the historical background of all topics used in essay assignments. In a literature class,
for example, students should be aware of the historical contexts in which famous authors were writing; in a
sociology class, students should research the history cf modern social problems, such as domestic violence or
poverty; and in political science, students should research the history of civil rights. (2) Students can explore
histories of foreign lands, especially those in the news, in order to understand how history has a bearing
upon today’s events. (3) Students can establish historical relationships and continuity through their
responses on essay exams.

The purpose of these suggested exercises and strategies is to provide students with an increased
perception of time and the interrelationship of events. Their diversity suggests that the instructional attack
on historical illiteracy need not be limited to the history classroom.

LeRoy Allen Furr Mark S. Wilburn Pam Besser
History Department History Department History Department

For further information, contact the authors at Jefferson Community College, Downtown Campus, 109 East
Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, belie

May 6, 1988, Val. xX, Ne 15
INNOVATION ABSTRACTS Is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512)471-7545. Subscriptions are avaliable to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in
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The University of Texas at Austin, 1988
Further duplication Is permitted only by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106X