Michigan History - Strictly Writing

Project Objective:
This project is designed to give you an understanding of communities that are diverse in nature (comprised of individuals with varying identities, experiences, backgrounds and worldviews) and engaged in an issue of conflict in our state’s past. You will do this through researching and writing about four events/moments in time from a cultivated list of events/subjects that occurred around the state (see the list of events on our D2L site). Upon completion of this project, you will identify the diverse groups involved in the event, the choices they made, the consequences of those actions, and analyze the effect of that change. You will show how people used their voice and actions to engage in civic life and may have created change through their civic engagement or, if they didn’t participate in civic engagement, you hypothesize how they could have used it to create meaningful change.
Time Expectation:
Successfully completing Michigan History (HIS 237) in its entirety fulfills the graduation requirement for the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees; therefore, it is important that you meet all the objectives of the project. The “Civic Engagement” graduation requirement depends on fulfillment of a civic engagement project. The time spent on the project constitutes the time of one credit of this three-credit class (approximately 15 hours of work); the remaining two credit hours will make up the rest of the weekly course work. I hope this project allows you to take an active role in the community and to analyze how Michigan’s history plays a part in the lives of its citizens…and vice-versa.
Expectations and Directions: Overview:
This assignment involves diving deep into history through historic research and exploration of points of conflict at specific times in Michigan’s past. You will see how local actions have broader consequences and through your research demonstrate an understanding of how a person’s background and demographics affects and shapes how they interact with others and society. By looking at points of conflict or times of competing visions in history, you will be able to see how individuals used their voice to engage in the public realm to advocate for their own interests or for the interests of others. You will analyze how civic engagement was used to effect change or how it wasn’t used (and maybe could have been).
To summarize, you will analyze four historical events where you look at the diverse people who were involved, their competing interests, their visions for the future, how they became civically engaged (or did not and could have been), and what can be learned from the events.
To have this deep historical research journey, you will:
• Research four (4) historical events (see the historical events list for the exact events you should be researching). You must choose your four events from the “List of Historical Events” I created on our D2L site so they meet the outcomes for this course as outlined above.
• Complete a minimum 4750-wordpaper (broken into sections of introduction, site reports, concluding report, and bibliography) analyzing the choices and consequences that occurred at these four moments in

time, discussing civic engagement for each event, with an introduction for the entire paper, a conclusion for the entire paper, and a bibliography.
Before you get started:
• Before you begin your historical research voyage around the state, you need to jot down a paragraph or two that outlines your initial beliefs about historical education and about civic engagement. What is civic engagement? How important is it to stand up for what you believe? How important is it to be civically engaged? What role does history play in the education of people and their engagement in the community? How useful is history in creating civically minded individuals? Is it important for citizens to understand the past?
• Set this information aside. In the end, you will reflect upon these same questions again for your conclusion and see if anything has changed, but you will want to keep this “initial beliefs” paragraph so you can include it when you write your introduction to the paper at the end of the project.
Requirements for Written Paper
• Typed, Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1.5 spaced.
• All writing should be collegiate in nature, grammatically correct and spelling-error free.
• Upload your work in Microsoft Office Word (.doc or .docx)—other file formats are not accepted.
• Write a minimum 4750-word paper (without bibliography) that includes:
o an introduction of minimum 250words
o four event reports of minimum 1000words each
o a concluding report of minimum 500 words
o bibliography of at least 12 academic secondary sources
Introduction
• Write an introduction of a minimum of 250words that:
o includes your “initial beliefs” paragraph you jotted down at the start of the assignment (see
introductory paragraph requirements above)
o introduces the rest of your paper. Your introduction should be an introduction for the entire
paper.
Four Event Reports
• Research four (4) historical events from the approved “List of Historical Events” on eLearning and analyze the event for site/date listed.
• Write a report of a minimum of 1000 words for each of the four events. Analyzing the history of each event makes up a good part of your grade for the project. I will be looking to see that you analyze the event/subject and show critical thinking about what happened, who was involved and their diverse nature, how the people involved interacted with their society, what else was going on at the time (historical context), how civic engagement was involved (or could have been), why it was important then, why it’s important now, and how it relates to broader aspects of US history or other factors.
• Each report should have a minimum of 1000 words that includes:
o Name of Event, Location City, Date of Event in bold print at top of report.
o Description (this should be a paragraph or two): Give a brief overview of the event and where it
occurred. What was going on? Who was involved? What were their demographics (race, ethnicity, religion, employment, gender, language, age, etc.)? How did they interact with society?

Conclusion
o Analysis (this should be the bulk of your report): Research and analyze the subject/event. Talk about the diverse people who are involved. Get into the story. The following questions should help you frame your analysis. You should answer all the questions below for each report and really analyze the choices made and the significance of those actions. The goal is to show how local (maybe individual) actions have bigger consequences (like in the case of civic engagement) and, if no civic engagement occurred, to think critically about why that was and hypothesize about how civic engagement could have been used.
▪ What conflict existed? What were their competing interests/stories?
▪ What diverse factors were at play? Did the person’s background affect their experience
and how they interacted with others at that time?
▪ What were conditions like at the time? What else was going on at that time in US/world
history that may have played a role in this subject?
▪ Was one group trying to change something? If so, what kind of change were they
attempting to achieve? How would this change affect the other side?
▪ What were the choices available and what choices were made? What were the
consequences of those choices and effects of the actions taken?
▪ How did individuals use their voice and/or actions in the public realm to try to make
change? If they didn’t use their voice/actions, why do you think this was? How might
they have been civically engaged to address a matter of public concern?
▪ What can be learned from this event? Was there change? Was one group successful or
not successful?
▪ Why was this event important then? Why is important now? How does this event fit into
our history—the story of us?
▪ Give your final thoughts on the event that played out. What does this event symbolize to
you? You may want to ask family/friends if they are aware of the event that occurred at that site and see what they know of its history.
• Write a concluding report (minimum 500words) after all four events have been analyzed that is a conclusion for the entire paper. The concluding report should:
o explain how your research advanced your knowledge of Michigan history
o reflect upon the experience of researching and writing the Civic Engagement paper
o addresses civic engagement in history.
o reassess your beliefs about the role historical education plays in society. What role do historical
places where historical events happened play in our society, our educational process, and our community engagement? Should we make a diligent effort to ensure history is taught formally and informally (like through historical sites)?
o discuss civic engagement, how have individuals stood up for a principle or a belief? What were the challenges/risks involved when someone actively engaged in the public realm? How important is it to stand up for what you believe? How important is it to be civically engaged? Lastly, have your assumptions about civic engagement changed since you undertook this project?
Bibliography& Citations
• Each event should be thoroughly researched and analyzed using academic research comprised of secondary sources. You should strive for at least three secondary sources (articles or books) that analyze the larger historical topic represented for each event (please note that the academic sources are not for the specific events themselves they are for the broader historical subjects/context of the site). For each event, you are given an event and then a broader subject to help you know what to research. You are

also provided with at least one keyword search for each event to help you start researching. To do academic research, you will use works written by scholars. You should be looking at articles or books, not websites. Websites are fine to know more about the event itself, but not for historical analysis. You will likely want to use the Jstor database first since this resource is what historians around the nation use to get academic research. Secondly, I would use the Michigan Historical Review database. Thirdly, I would use Michigan History magazine database. The Delta library has made a research guide for Michigan history where you can find these databases (which have the types of articles I’m looking for) and books; there is also a link to this Civic Engagement Project. See this link: https://library.delta.edu/HIS237/projectoverviewfor the research guide.
• Provide a bibliography of all the research that you conducted. All works consulted should be included. Bibliography must be in Chicago Manual of Style. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
• Any information that needs to be cited, should be cited in a footnote using Chicago Manual of Style. Make sure you are avoiding plagiarism at all costs.
• If there are primary source documents or other information that you think will enhance your paper, please include them in the bibliography. Your research requirement is for secondary sources, not primary though. You should focus your research on secondary sources.
Sample Project Layout
I. Title Page: Title of Paper, Author Name, Name of College, Course Name/Number, Professor Name, Due Date
II. Introduction (minimum 250 words)
III. Event Reports (minimum 1000 words for each of four historical sites/events) Each report should start
with name of event and date of event/subject in bold print then writing should follow in essay format, Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 spaced. Here are examples of how the start of a site report should look:
a. Packard Hate Strike, June 1943
b. 1885 Saginaw Valley Lumber Strike, Summer 1885
c. Walk for Freedom, June 23, 1963
d. Annie Clemenc and Copper Strike, 1913/1914
IV. Conclusion (minimum 500 words)
V. Bibliography in Chicago Manual of StyleProject Objective:
This project is designed to give you an understanding of communities that are diverse in nature (comprised of individuals with varying identities, experiences, backgrounds and worldviews) and engaged in an issue of conflict in our state’s past. You will do this through researching and writing about four events/moments in time from a cultivated list of events/subjects that occurred around the state (see the list of events on our D2L site). Upon completion of this project, you will identify the diverse groups involved in the event, the choices they made, the consequences of those actions, and analyze the effect of that change. You will show how people used their voice and actions to engage in civic life and may have created change through their civic engagement or, if they didn’t participate in civic engagement, you hypothesize how they could have used it to create meaningful change.
Time Expectation:
Successfully completing Michigan History (HIS 237) in its entirety fulfills the graduation requirement for the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees; therefore, it is important that you meet all the objectives of the project. The “Civic Engagement” graduation requirement depends on fulfillment of a civic engagement project. The time spent on the project constitutes the time of one credit of this three-credit class (approximately 15 hours of work); the remaining two credit hours will make up the rest of the weekly course work. I hope this project allows you to take an active role in the community and to analyze how Michigan’s history plays a part in the lives of its citizens…and vice-versa.
Expectations and Directions: Overview:
This assignment involves diving deep into history through historic research and exploration of points of conflict at specific times in Michigan’s past. You will see how local actions have broader consequences and through your research demonstrate an understanding of how a person’s background and demographics affects and shapes how they interact with others and society. By looking at points of conflict or times of competing visions in history, you will be able to see how individuals used their voice to engage in the public realm to advocate for their own interests or for the interests of others. You will analyze how civic engagement was used to effect change or how it wasn’t used (and maybe could have been).
To summarize, you will analyze four historical events where you look at the diverse people who were involved, their competing interests, their visions for the future, how they became civically engaged (or did not and could have been), and what can be learned from the events.
To have this deep historical research journey, you will:
• Research four (4) historical events (see the historical events list for the exact events you should be researching). You must choose your four events from the “List of Historical Events” I created on our D2L site so they meet the outcomes for this course as outlined above.
• Complete a minimum 4750-wordpaper (broken into sections of introduction, site reports, concluding report, and bibliography) analyzing the choices and consequences that occurred at these four moments in

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