Blog Prompts
This page was last modified: Fri Apr 5, 2019
Blog 1
Due: January 29th.
Comment By: January 31st.
Prompt:
- As you set up your blog/website think about how you would like to portray yourself online. The design and appearance of your site, how you describe yourself, what other pages or links you include should all reflect the digital identity you want to create for yourself.
- Once you’ve finished building your site, write a “hello world” blog post that introduces yourself to the class. In the post you should discuss how you chose to set up your blog and your approach to building a digital identity for yourself. Using the readings as evidence, discuss the importance of cultivating a digital identity and how your approach fits (or doesn’t) with what Cordell et al. discuss.
Blog 2
Due: February 5th.
Comment By: February 7th.
Prompt:
- Write a blog post that reviews one of the digital history projects listed below. You should consult the Organization of American Historian’s guidelines for reviewing digital history projects. In your review be sure to identify the kind of digital history project (it could be more than one type) and address the five areas outlined in the OAH review guidelines. Include screenshots and examples where appropriate to support your review.
- Projects for Review:
- Mapping Early American Elections
- Digital Harlem
- Geography of the Post
- Wearing Gay History
- Histories of the National Mall
- Hurricane Digital Memory Bank
- Language of the State of the Union, Mapping the State of the Union, and The State of the Union in Context
- September 11th Digital Archive
- Mining the Dispatch
- Valley of the Shadow
- Visualizing Emancipation
Blog 3
Due: February 12th.
Comment By: February 14th.
Prompt:
- Find five (5) primary sources from at least 3 different collections. Write a blog post that cites the items (including the databases they came from) in Chicago format. Summarize each source and discuss what you learned by reading it. Include a paragraph that discusses what you learned about searching for and finding primary sources on the internet?
- George Oberle has put together a useful subject guide on using library resources and databases to find primary sources. In particular, these two pages contain useful links as you search for primary sources:
- You may also wish to look at:
Blog 4
Due: February 26th. Comment By: February 28th.
Prompt:
- Write a blog post that discusses the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. What happened and how is the fire reflective of the Progressive era themes that you’ve read about and we’ve discussed in class. If you choose, you can discuss one element of the fire such as the role of unions, the relief organizations, or the trial. Be sure to use evidence from the readings to support your discussion.
Blog 5 (canceled)
Due: April 2nd Comment By: April 4th
Prompt:
- Find a map or an image of a map online and post it to your blog. Write a short blog post that discusses the map. What kind of map is it and where did you find it? What is its purpose and what can you learn from it? How do you know? Be ready to discuss your map in class.
Blog 6
Due: April 9th Comment By: April 11th
Prompt:
- What is spatial history and does White think it is useful for digital historians? How could it be useful for studying segregation?
Blog 7 (Now Extra Credit)
Due: May 9th Comment By: No comments for this one.
Prompt:
- How secure is your digital life? Who has access to your information? What kinds of things might hackers, corporations, political parties, or states be able to figure out about you from that information? What is the significance of government surveillance? What can you do to improve your digital security?
Blog 8
Due: May 6th Comment By: May 9th
Prompt:
- This week we read about big data and algorithms. Using the readings and the videos we watched by Cathy O’Neil and Safiya Noble, what is an algorithm? What is big data? What are the challenges that these two scholars outline? Do you think digital redlining the next civil rights issue of the 21st century?