Assignment: Knowledge in Action (KNAC) Project Requirements
General Research Essay Requirements
• Your completed essay must be at least 850 words. All essays must be double-spaced, using margins to not exceed 1", and using a font that is no larger than 12 pt.
• Do not include any headers with name, course, paper titles, etc. If a student wishes to include this information, it must be contained on a single cover sheet.
• The essay must include at least one primary AND one secondary source (explanation of the differences can be found here).
• The essay must include one image that is either a primary or secondary document. The image should have a caption of 50-100 words explaining its relevance to the essay project. The image can be embedded within the text essay or attached as a separate page.
• Cite all sources used for research. The preferred citation style for the essay is the Turabian/Chicago style. Common citation styles for this format can be found at the University of Chicago Press TurabianCitation Guide website.
• All KNAC projects must contain a Works Cited page, and must use either footnotes or endnotes; Works Cited and notations do not count toward required page/word count of the project.
KNAC Project Options
KNAC Project Option #1: History Turning Points
General Overview: Select an event, incident, a legislative action, or related marked historical moment in the years up until the American Civil War (Pre-Columbian Era to 1865), that marks an important transition in American History. This historical event can lead to a social, economic, or political transition that shaped the country's history. Additionally, you will conclude this research project with a supposition of how history might have been shaped had this event never occurred or of another possible outcome could have been possible.
Examples: The effect of the Salem Witchcraft Trials on the colonial religious goals of Massachusetts; The post-French & Indian War colonial taxation policies of the British government; The failure of the indentured servitude system to provide an ample labor source in the pre-Revolutionary American South; The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act & its relationship the impending crisis that becomes the American Civil War.
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay: (Incorporate these questions in the writing of your essay.)
• Why did you select this event?
• What were both the short- and long-term effects of this historical event?
• Who all were impacted/affected by this historical event?
• How was history changed by this event?
• If you were to imagine a different outcome or reaction to your event, what do you suppose might have been a different outcome in the short- and long-term?
KNAC Project Option #2: Oral History & Historical Memory
General Overview: You will read two historical personal account in relation to life in the past or tied to a specific historical event. Then your research will compare these personal accounts with the "factual" or "documented" history of the era, the proceed to compare the personal account against the historical record; and then analyze the value of oral history in enriching our understanding the historical period/event.
Examples: The testimonies of Paul Revere and Gen. Thomas Gage on the Battles of Lexington and Concord; Diaries of factory workers in Lowell, Massachusetts; Journals of migrants moving westward on the Oregon and/or Overland Trails; Narratives of slaves and their experiences, etc.
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay:
• What was the personal background of the two individuals you chose?
• How are the individuals specifically tied to the specific historical event?
• What are the similarities and differences in the accounts of the individuals?
• What elements in their narratives do you feel influenced (if it applies) they way we teach/learn that history today?
• How do you feel personal accounts either enhance or possibly detract from our understanding of the historical past?
KNAC Project Option #3: Impacts of Colonization
General Overview: This research project will examine the impact of exploration, movement, and colonization in the Atlantic world from a social, economic, technological, and/or political perspective. One aspect of the impact should be evaluated and traced over at least a century of activity. In conclusion, this research project will analyze the remnant of that impact that can still be evidenced today in the Americas, Africa, Caribbean, and/or Europe.
Examples: The development of new international law in relation to discoveries of European nations; The environmental or cultural impact of European or American commodities moved across the Atlantic (potatoes, sugar, grain crops, etc); The migration of different groups in the New World in specific places of settlement and their cultural legacy (which can include voluntary and involuntary migrants, ie: slaves, colonizers from differing nations, etc).
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay:
• What were the short- and long-term effects of the impact on various groups of people affected by your chosen topic?
• How did groups of people and/or societies behave prior to the impact?
• How were people and/or societies benefited and harmed by the impact (negative and positive outcomes)
• What are evidences of the legacy of this impact that can still be seen today?
KNAC Project Option #4: History Yesterday & Today
General Overview: This research project will start with the student examining a recent news story (reported within the last year) that reveals new information about the historical past, OR a recent news story that contributes to the longer dialogue/history of the relationship between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. The goal of this essay should be to emphasize the idea that history is a continually developing story that evolves with new information, discoveries, and/or changes in political, social, and or economic conditions. Important note; the news story should be directly tied to an event that this course covers (pre-Columbian era to the end of the Civil War).
Examples: The recent discovery of a sunken slave ship off the coast of South Africa with slaves from the east coast of Africa; The discovery of the time capsule found in a building in Boston; The issues of epidemic diseases such as Ebola, and the way epidemic diseases affected communities in the past.
Research Objectives & Questions to be Discussed in Your Essay:
• What is the topic of the news story, and what does the reporter highlight as the current historical significance?
• What is the historical context of the news story? What does it specifically relate to?
• How does the news story either add new information, expand, and/or change what we know about the historical past?
• Overall, using your news story as an example, how do recent events and discoveries illustrate that history is a dynamic and evolving study?