Horizons of History: The Selected Viewpoint
A proposed curriculum redesign of the Georgia Southern University History Department by MA StudentsIntroductions
Hello! We are history graduate students working on a redesign of Georgia Southern History department's World History survey courses. We have seen, in our collective education experience, all the various ways to teach history to students. This curriculum re-framing emphasizes two concepts important to us as students, professionals, and life-long learners: specialization and conceptualization of history.
We hope you look forward to the new horizon as much as we enjoy seeing it from the various viewpoints (and making metaphors for studying it).
--Alyssa Windsor, Jessica Forsee, and Will Somers
The Historical Problem
So far, there's a cacophony of ideas, people, and locations mentioned in the HIST 1112 World History II course offered at Georgia Southern. With wild expectations of covering the history of world since 1400 CE to the present period, HIST 1112 World History II leaves out historical moments and viewpoints related to the individual student experience or the History faculty's own area of expertise.
What do we get when we sacrifice the quantity of time span over quality of content? We get a mandatory core class on the brick of university system extinction in the form of HIST 1112: World History II.
Georgia Southern is changing and World History II must change with it.
The Proposed Solution
A New Course HIST 1112 Horizons in History: The Chosen Viewpoint
Synthesizing student interest and instructor expertise by making Horizons of History a modular, expandable, simple, and fun alternative to traditional World History courses.
You take a viewpoint in history and teach its view of the horizon. Are you an instructor who specializes in gender history? Are you a student interested in the STEM field? There's a class for both! Instructors and students, by offering various survey level courses with a specialized viewpoint on history, brings analytical expertise and renewed student interest back to the general survey course!
How it Works
From the Student Level
- Students register for a chosen Viewpoint based on their interests, degree plan, or career path
From the Department Level
- The History Faculty decides on who and which Viewpoint offered throughout the semester (ideally 5-6 different Viewpoints offered per
semester) - Cross Viewpoint requirements include a guest lecture from a faculty member teaching a different Viewpoint to visit the course and a final paper of 3-4 pages for students to discuss a historical event from the Viewpoint of the class, using skills gained from the class.
From the University Level
- New Registrar and University Catalog implemented that requires a HIST 1112 Horizons of History: The Selected Viewpoint with "Selected" being a placeholder for which viewpoint the student registers for.
- This would mean a student who registers for a Viewpoint on Medical History would have a transcript that reads: Horizons of History: The Medical Viewpoint
Visual Explanation
