Relatable World History Project

Project Description

This project is a case study of “relatable world history” as conceptualized by Tiffany Trimmer. According to Trimmer, “Case studies may be relatable because a similar historical process or dynamic affects several distinct times and places. Yet why they are affected (historical causes and dynamics) and the end results (historical consequences) can vary slightly or significantly.¹ 

Topics

As student of Cleveland and the World, you will  choose a case of relatable world history for your semester project. You get to choose the case study and how it will be presented. For example, you might choose to focus on the stationing of Nike Missiles in Cleveland as an example of nuclear proliferation during the Cold War as your case study with high school students as your audience (if you are or are planning to teach in a high school). Alternatively, you might take the same case study and adapt it to appeal to a public history audience in a museum or digital project.

Product

Your case study will be presented in the format of your choice. Do you want to create a podcast that will be a resource for a local museum or collection? Is a digital project with visualizations of your argument the best way to share your conclusions? Perhaps a lesson plan or open educational resource is a useful product for you and your students. It is up to you as the author to choose an effective product.

Guidelines for your product

Choose a venue for your project and tailor your product to this venue. Some examples:

• Academic Blogs: such as Black Perspectives, Contingent Magazine, Nursing Clio, Midstory, Clio and the Contemporary, Cleveland Teaching Collaborative
  • Find the guide to making a pitch on the blog, submit the guide as part of the frame for your project
• Podcast
  • Demonstrates your historical thinking through a written and referenced script, show notes, audio episode, and any supplemental material you might need (historiography background) to meet the requirements of the project rubric
• Visual Narrative
  • Includes StoryMaps (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/), Timelines (see https://knightlab.northwestern.edu/projects/ for Timelines and StoryMaps) and other visualizations of global narratives.
• Academic Article
  • Similar to an academic blog, you will find an academic journal, locate the submission guidelines and tailor your project to those instructions. World History Connected is just one example https://journals.gmu.edu/whc/submission-guidelines
• Digital Exhibit
  • Demonstrates use of content management systems to create digital exhibits, usually for a public history audience
    • Examples are Contentdm – Cleveland Memory Project
• Lesson Plan or Pedagogy Essay
  • Brings relatable world history to PK-12 students. You will need to construct a comprehensive lesson plan that includes both a background section with citations for educators and then planned activities targeted to your grade level. You may also consider submitting the lesson plan to a blog or journal like Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy

Outcomes

As author of your case study you will

• focus on the relationships between local history and global history
• present a clear understanding of how your case study fits in the historiography
• demonstrate how historians, educators, scholars, and others can engage audiences in world history through Cleveland history.
• Uses appropriate tools (digital or analog) to publish the project that matches your goals and audience (we will work on these skills throughout the semester)
  • you will choose the main final product of your project. It could be a digital exhibit, podcast, video, visual narrative etc.

Rubric

RUBRIC Relatable WH Project

Resources

Cleveland & the World Resource Guide 

References

1. Tiffany Trimmer, “Relatable World History: Local-Global Migration Histories of La Crosse, Wisconsin, the Malay Peninsula, and Barbados (ca 1620s-1930s),” World History Connected October 2018. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://journals.gmu.edu/whc/article/view/3790.