Assignments

Overview of Course Project
The course project connects to two related, active public history projects: Curating Cleveland and Mobile Cleveland. Both are projects of CSU’s Center for Public History + Digital Humanities (hereafter CPHDH). These projects are being debuted this semester but are ongoing, meaning that we have the opportunity as a class to add new material. Curating Cleveland is a website that features mini documentaries of people, places, and events important in the region’s history. Each is connected to a timeline and interactive map. Mobile Cleveland places the same content into an iPhone app (with its own format) and delivers it onsite to iPhone users, creating an enhanced visitor experience of specific sites in the city. Mobile Cleveland content is organized around “nodes” to enable practical walking tours. Your task this semester is to identify and research a topic that might be added to the downtown Cleveland “node.” The topic may be covered by existing films (in which case you must produce something original), or it may be a new addition. True to the nature of public history (particularly the work of a museum curator), you will have decisions to make and challenges to resolve. These will arise first in topic selection, for you will be limited to an extent by available source material. Not only must there be ample sources to enable in-depth historical research, but you must also have sufficient historical images and recorded sound to tell the story in a mini documentary. You will have access to more than 500,000 photos and 1 million newspaper article clippings in the Cleveland Press Collection, and you will be able to use any of more than 500 oral histories in the Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Over the semester you will collect, analyze, and write about a range of written, visual, and aural sources, culminating in a substantial final interpretive essay and a series of two related but standalone mini documentaries that you’ll create using iMovie. Throughout the semester you’ll receive training in the use of the necessary technological tools and will have the opportunity to engage in an exercise dubbed “crowdsourcing” by reviewing and thus shaping each other’s work as you progress toward your final “exhibit” (the mini documentaries). Thus, over the semester you will gain several skills: researching local history, working with and digitizing historical images and documents; working with digital sound files; planning (curating) your presentation of your topic as short films; and pairing images, sound clips, and digital narration in iMovie to tell a multimedia-based story. These skills relate directly to the emerging field of “digital humanities,” are increasingly vital across a range of public history workplaces, and are adaptable to many other occupations and endeavors.

Important: You will need to purchase a flash drive for this course to store/transfer large digital files.  At a minimum, I suggest a 4GB flash drive (typically $8-15), but 8GB (typically $15-25) is preferable.

Important: This is a cumulative project. Each step paves the way for the subsequent step. I will not accept an assignment prepared without your having first completed the previous one(s).

Topic Selection/Oral History Clips (10%)

Your topic for the course project should pertain to a place or event in/near downtown Cleveland (including Tremont, Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City, the Flats). It must be supported by sufficient oral history in the existing collection. I suggest that you begin by viewing the Euclid Corridor History Project online but be open to topics that may emerge from your examination of the oral histories (see below). A suitable topic might be as broad as Playhouse Square, Euclid Avenue, or Public Square, or as narrow as the Ohio Theater, the Arcade, or Herman Pirchner’s Alpine Village. Keep in mind that a broad topic will require selectivity on your part. You cannot write a general, comprehensive essay, nor can you capture the entirety of your subject in two very short films. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a narrow topic may be ideally suited for short films but will require greater contextualization (i.e. tying a narrow local topic into something broader and more national in scope) in your interpretive essay.

Step 1: Choose 5 potential topics.

Step 2: Look for commentary on these topics in the oral histories. You’ll access oral histories first via an electronic logbook that is searchable by keyword. You may have to revise your topics based on what you find. For September 9, email me a list (in rank order if possible) of your 5 potential topics, with at least 3 oral history interviews listed for each one of the 5 topics (indicated by their 6-digit code and last name of interviewee; for instance, 319003-Hemsath).

Step 3: Once you zero in on portions of oral histories that seem promising, you will obtain the oral histories in digital form by visiting Special Collections and checking out an external hard drive.  You’ll need to bring your flash drive in order to download the oral histories you want to use.

Step 4: As you listen to oral histories that pertain to your topics, make a note of compelling stories that you think may work in your mini documentaries. In this step you will also determine which topic to select from your list.

Step 5: Then, using Audacity (a free downloadable program for which I will provide in-class training), import each oral history file.  Navigate to the approximate place where you noted an interesting passage, listen carefully (and repeatedly as needed), and make a clip. You must make at least 5 clips, each of which should be 45-90 seconds (and must never be less than 30 seconds). Be thoughtful as you do this. Err on the side of capturing too much and trim it down as you review it. Try to clip enough but not too much to convey the story, and listen closely for start and stop points that create a more dramatic impact. The clips should be succinct; stand on their own without introduction, voiceover or text; and preserve the integrity of the speaker (i.e., do not take out of context).

Step 6: When you are satisfied with a clip, export it as an mp3 file and keep it on your flash drive. Name it in the following format: shortcliptitle_oralhistorynumber_yourlastname.mp3.

Step 7: Upload each of your clips (mp3 format only!) to the course blog via the “Add Media” button as part of a new post. Give the post a title that includes the topic to which it pertains. Then type a brief introduction: Who is the speaker? What’s the main idea? What might you use it to demonstrate? This is due September 21.

Step 8: After everyone has posted sound clips, visit the blog by September 23 and leave constructive comments for all clips for 4 different classmates. Be helpful, not hurtful in your approach. Comment on anything from sound quality to message to choice of start/end point.

Omeka Collection/Poster (Storyboard) (10%)

A storyboard is an outline for your mini documentaries.

Step 1: Choose 25 or more images that you intend to use to create your mini documentaries. These may include: (1) existing images on Teaching + Learning Cleveland (CPHDH’s Omeka-based image archive); (2) Cleveland Press Collection photos or clippings; (3) editorial cartoons housed in Special Collections; and/or (4) your own digital photos. At least 5 of these images must be ones that you add to Omeka, but the number of new additions will depend on how much usable material you find on Teaching + Learning Cleveland. Depending on the length of the clips that you ultimately choose for your mini documentaries, you may need to select more images either at this stage or before creating the films.

Step 2: Scan (at 300 dpi) any new images you select. Save each image to your flash drive. You must be able to provide “metadata” (or the basic facts about each image). For images from the Press Collection this means the creator, the title or subject (either as indicated or your own short description), creator (photographer), date created. For scanned newspaper headlines, articles, or images, this means the author (if given), article title, newspaper title, and date.

Step 3: Following mandatory Omeka training on September 30, which is also the due date for your collection of images, upload any new images to Teaching + Learning Cleveland. (Detailed training in Omeka will be offered on September 30, which is also the due date for your collection of images.)

Step 4: Next, following mandatory MyOmeka training on October 28, use the Poster feature in MyOmeka to offer a paragraph-length analysis of each image (historically and aesthetically, including how it connects to what your speaker says in the associated oral history clip, if practical). Try to assemble the images in the order that you would like them to appear in your mini documentaries. This is called a “storyboard.” Since you will create mini documentaries that focus on different aspects of the same topic or place, one poster is sufficient and, indeed, preferable because it will enable you to shift images between the two documentaries more freely. Be sure to indicate beside the image that begins the second documentary that this is the case. The goal is for your images to illustrate what a speaker is saying in any given clip. Your poster is due November 2.

Step 5: On the course blog, add a post in which you provide the URL (Web address) for your poster.

Step 6: Once everyone completes posters, you must comment on the posters of at least 5 classmates on the blog by November 4. Do so by visiting the URL they post to the blog and then comment on their post.

Important! You may NOT use images from books or other copyrighted sources for which we do not have permission. I will not accept your use of these materials in your mini documentaries. The purpose of this assignment is twofold: to build a collection of materials for your documentaries and to demonstrate your ability to analyze historical images. This is a two-part assignment with two deadlines. Following the first deadline, I will provide feedback, including directions for revisions. For the second deadline, you will add to or revise your collection as needed. After the second deadline, you will NOT be able to add to or change your collection, which is the basis for your exhibit.

1,500-word Primary Source Essay (10%)

For this assignment, you will write an essay that analyzes a body of appropriate primary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, maps, city directories, census data, oral histories). What kinds of information do the different types of sources convey? What broad conclusions might be supported by the sources? What specific things have you learned from these sources that might advance a compelling historically grounded narrative? Due October 14.

3,000-4,000–word Interpretive Essay (30%)

Along with your mini documentaries, this essay is the written culmination of your research project. It should be analytical, draw upon both primary sources and relevant secondary historical scholarship, and relate a compelling story with broader implications for understanding Cleveland history and Cleveland’s place in the larger American story. The first draft (which must be a complete essay that is no less than 3,000 words) is due November 18, and the revised final draft is due December 14. Each draft will be equally weighted in determining your grade for this portion of course requirements. You cannot get WAC credit if you skip the first draft, and you will get a 0 on 15% of your final grade if you fail to turn in either the first or the final draft.

Two Mini Documentaries (20%)

This is, in effect, akin to creating two labels in a museum exhibition. The key difference is that here you are conveying the information through (1) the voices of people who had reason to comment on your topic and (2) pictures that illustrate their points. The documentaries must convey a historical story that is cohesive and concise. Each will, more than likely, be a single oral history clip with supporting images and possibly a voiceover narration. They should be no less than 45-90 seconds each, and they must each contain sufficient numbers of images so that no image remains on screen for much more than 3 seconds. This means that a 45-second film will likely need about 15 images; a 60-second film needs 20; a 75-second film needs 25; and a 90-second film needs 30. The difficult part of this exercise is to figure out how to arrange the images with the sound so that the images enhance what the speaker is saying. You will be graded on your demonstrated commitment to preparing this assignment according to directions. I understand that this is a new experience for many of you and do not expect that all films will appear “professional.” Completed mini documentaries will be assessed for possible inclusion on the CPHDH YouTube channel. The most polished documentaries may be eligible for inclusion on Curating Cleveland, the CPHDH’s new online exhibition, and Mobile Cleveland, the CPHDH’s new iPhone app. Hopefully these are sufficient incentives for meticulous, thoughtful, and creative work.

Step 1: Import selected images and your sound clip into iMovie for each short film and edit as needed to produce the best effect. You’ll need to review your film at least a few times as you edit. If you leave the lab before completing your films (as is likely), you must return to the same computer to access your project. Note that you cannot save an iMovie project to your flash drive because of the architecture of the program.

Step 2: When each film is complete, export it as an mp4, saving it on your flash drive.

Step 3: Upload it with a post to the course blog in the same way you uploaded your sound clips. This is due November 23.

Step 4: Once everyone uploads their mini documentaries, you will leave comments on any 5 classmates’ 2 films by commenting under their blog posts. This is due November 30.

Step 5: You’ll revise your films based on feedback from classmates and me. When you have completed revisions, upload each film to YouTube. Assign as many tags as you wish to enable web searching, but you must include the tag “HIS311-Fall2010” or “HIS511-Fall2010.” This is due December 14.

Participation (20%)
Participation is essential in any viable community, and our community (the class) is no exception. To meet the ideal of all of us coming to each class meeting prepared to engage with the material for the day, I will assess your participation in the following ways: (1) You must be present, alert, and engaged throughout the semester; (2) You will make at least one comment (a paragraph is the my expected standard) on one or more related assigned readings per week prior to the class period for which it is assigned; (3) You will participate fully in the process of “crowdsourcing” peer review by offering your own thoughtful critiques to each other’s work at three times during the semester, as indicated under the pertinent project assignments above and in the daily schedule.

HIS 511 Assignments. I expect that graduate students will rise to a higher level and serve as models for undergraduates throughout the course. As such, the quantity and quality of your work will vary from the expectations assigned to undergraduates. Graduate students will complete the same assignments as above with the following differences:

(1) Your essays will be longer and more deeply researched. Your primary source essay must be at least 2,000 words. You will also write a more a deeply researched 5,000- to 6,000-word interpretive essay.

(2) You are also particularly encouraged to attend the brownbag lunch meetings of CSU’s Center for Public History and Digital Humanities on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 12 noon in RT 1316. The CPHDH is actively engaged not only in Curating Cleveland and Mobile Cleveland, but also other public history projects. Your engagement in discussions will offer the kind of “rubber-meets-the-road” experience that you cannot get in the classroom alone and may lead to your later, more direct involvement in CPHDH programming.