A Digital History Project Proposal
Jennifer Lansbury

Introduction

Certainly the last ten years has established that web sites can be used as valuable resources in teaching. Less clear is whether sites can be designed not merely as teacher resources but primarily to teach. This proposal outlines a plan to develop a site that will capitalize on the strength of the web as an interactive classroom to enhance students’ American history knowledge base and develop their critical thinking skills. The subject matter – African American women in sport– has been virtually unexplored through new media. The proposed site will draw on the stories of mid-twentieth-century athletes to examine social constructions of race and gender of the 1940s and 1950s. This project proposal includes the following elements: a statement of the scope and genre of the site; an explanation of the site structure; a rationale for the use of new media; a review of existing sites similar in both topic and genre; a discussion of the technical plan for the site; and a proposed home page, which can be referenced at anytime by clicking on the banner appearing at the top of each page of the proposal. In sum, the purpose of this proposal is to not only define these elements in order to justify the proposed project, but also to demonstrate how this site seeks to expand the existing boundaries of teaching history on the web.

Next >