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History 460: Seminar in World History

Project Options

There are thousands of films on historical world events since 1500, the problem will be to narrow down to just two on the same topic. This does not mean two films on a broad event such as World War II, but two films about one narrower aspect of the war.

Also, keep in mind mass appeal films (AKA theatrical release) will have a great deal more public reaction and discussion than most documentaries. You will find much of this is subjective and opinion-based rather than thoughtful and research-based analysis. So be critical and selective with the materials you find, especially for popular films.

Example research (with some liberties with the assignment parameters), exploring the topic of Western contact with the 'Orient' in the 17th-19th centuries (feudal period)...

Shogun is a historical novel by James Clavell which was later made into a TV mini-series (1970s). The story features an English sailor shipwrecked in 17th Century Japan who finds himself in the middle of a civil war between samurai, comes into contact with the Jesuits all ready in the country, and of course has a romantic liason.

The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, is a more recent film set in a similar historical event this time in the 19th Century. The film presents a Westerner finding himself in the middle of a civil war in Japan, has contact with Japanese samurai culture, and again romance.

Questions to ask

Do either of these truly represent Western/Eastern contact events? Did any Westerner ever assimilate into the samurai culture? How likely would this be? What about the portrayal of the government/power structure, characters, types of weapons/battle techniques, customs, and gender relations?

After looking at the movies, you need to research the culture and authentic historical events for comparison.

Concepts to research

Examples:

  • Samurai culture
    • Scholarly texts such as "The taming of the samurai: honorific individualism and the making of modern Japan"
  • Feudal era Japan
  • Western/Eastern contact based on the example
    • Try a search in Historical Abstracts database using terms such as Japan* / west / contact.
    • Be sure to try variants of spelling, geographic regions, and time periods.

Yizkor texts are a specialized form of literature found in a variety of collections. Your professor has identified some of the accessible digital versions. If this is your chosen option, you are expected to locate several books. For your research project, you will find it helpful to select a topic that you can see in a number of the works (gender, resistance, a specific event or events that were similiar to each other). When you have found a common thread, that will be what you research in the scholarly literature in order to complete the assignment.

Example research is the relationship between the Jewish population and the local authorities...From The Holocaust in 21 Lithuanian Towns entry on the JewishGen site: 

From Part II of the entry on Anykščiai (Anyks)..."The local authorities at the beginning succeeded in reassuring the population, thus preventing panic."

From Šaukėnai (Shukian)..."The authorities banned the Jews from leaving their homes after sunset, from any contact with non-Jews, and from leaving the perimeter of the town."

Questions to ask

Do either of these accurately represent Jewish community life and events? How likely would events be as depicted? What about the portrayal of the government/power structure, politics, religious expression, daily life, etc?

After reading the texts, you need to research the culture and historical events for comparison.

Concepts and tools to research

  • Jewish communities (during the Holocaust)
    • Scholarly texts such as "Rescued from Oblivion: The Leyb Koniuchowsky Papers and the Holocaust in Provincial Lithuania"
    • The Holocaust in the Soviet Union: studies and sources on the destruction of the Jews in the Nazi-occupied territories of the USSR, 1941-1945
  • Jews and Lithuania (LCSH)
    • Jews -- Lithuania -- History Jews -- Lithuania -- History
    • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Lithuania -- Personal narratives
  • Sources

Graphic literature (AKA graphic novels, illustrated literature, and many other names) is a relatively recent means of portraying historical world events. For many traditional scholars, representing a historical interpretation in such fashion is merely creating comic books, but not so! This condensed form of representation can be powerful and succint, through both image and text.

An example of this genre are the Maus books by Art Spiegelman, a graphic representation of Holocaust memories using animals as the protagonists. These works have been studied and discussed in great depth since the publication of the first book in 1986 (although it had been serialized earlier) and the publication of a second volume in 1991. 

Example research exploring the topic of the Holocaust experience...

Maus (I & II) are recollections of the camps intermixed with contemporary father-son relationship issues. 

Mendel's Daughter, looks at the Holocaust with a slightly different presentation, mixing drawings with photographs and more, through a woman's eyes.

Questions to ask

How accurately do these present recorded events? Do either of these truly represent the Holocaust experience? Why would the experience be different for different survivors?

After reading the novels, you need to research the cultural and authentic historical record for comparison.

Concepts and tools to research

  • Library of Congress Subject Headings to find graphic novels
  • Subject sources & scholarship
    • Primary sources have 'signal' terms and phrases:
      • keywords such as diary, diaries, memoir, autobiography, letters, personal narratives, correspondence
      • Individuals by name
    • Critical analysis of memoirs
    • Scholarly research on the event or location depicted
  • Genre scholarship
    • Graphic Subjects: Critical Essays on Autobiography and Graphic Novels
    • Scholarly texts such as "The pedagogy of the image text: Nakazawa, Sebald and Spiegelman recount social traumas"

Video gaming is an increasingly popular form of entertainment and information transmission and engages the participants. Of course, game designers look for plot inspiration and have found history to be a source of ideas (plots are all ready started, there are lots of wars for action, characters are all ready formed.) This form communication with its use of sound, images, and interaction is finding popularity in the field of education by bringing dry topics to life.

A look at Wikipedia on historical video games lists 64 titles, covering the entire historical range. Some of them are fantasy with no real attempt at historical accuracy (Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse) but others are described as attempting to be historically accurate (e.g. Cutthroats: Terror on the High Seas.)

Option One: One historically-themed game.

Option Two: One each of a historically-themed game and film on the same topic. There are many spinoffs of movies, so you will likely be able to locate a 'matched set'.

Example research exploring the topic of the colonization of the Americas...

Anno 1602: Creation of a New World (sold as 1602 A.D. in the US) will be the example.

Questions to ask

How accurately does this present New World colonization by a European power? How are the economic, political, logistical, soclal and military aspects of colonization represented? Is this a one-sided representation or does it represent the experience of the colonized as well as the colonizer?

After playing the game, you need to research the cultural and authentic historical record for comparison.

Concepts and tools to research

Historical fiction has been written and enjoyed for hundreds of years. How can an author resist taking artistic license with a real life event (especially when the characters are long dead and not able to sue?) Representing history in such fashion can be 'dangerous' as the naive reader/researcher may not recognize the variations from the truth and assume it is an accurate representation.

In the case of a popular novel, there can be efforts to create a reality and lay claim to the story as presented. Examples of this range from fictional characters such as Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, events such as those depicted in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and license taken with the lives of real people such as T.E. Lawrence (AKA Lawrence of Arabia.)

Example research exploring the status and lives of the poor in 19th Century Paris...

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo makes claims about society and class, but this work also includes events surrounding a rebellion in Paris reflecting the tumultous times in early 19th Century France.

Questions to ask

How accurately do these present recorded events? What was life like for the poor, specifically in Paris (urban as opposed to rural life)? Compare this story to Hugo's personal experience and observations as well as other sources during the time and what actually happened.

Concepts and tools to research