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The Project Formerly Known
as the Capstone: MAPs Take Off
Several students have undertaken Mentored
Advanced Projects in the History Department this semester. The
projects, which are the current incarnation of what began two
years ago as Capstone Projects, are undetaken as a 397 independent
study between a student or students and an advising professor
or professors. The projects are advanced in nature, are the culmination
of work in different classes in one or more disciplines, and
have a final project which is shared with the larger acadmic
community.
Professor Smith
is teaching an interdisceplinary capstone on Alexis de Tocqueville,
the great French commentator on, anong other things, the unique
social institutions in early 18th century America. Thirteen students
are in the class.
John Aerni ‘01 is working on a MAP with Professor Drake. The two
are writing a history of the Midwest Athletic Conference. He
reports:
"We got a good deal of work done this summer and are hoping
to have the project completely finished sometime within this
year."
Dan Rothschild ‘02 is working on a MAP entitled "British Political
Attitudes Towards Homosexuality, 1951 to 1970," which seeks
to examine the causes of the great change in elite British opinion
during this time on the subject of male homosexuality. These
attitudinal changes led to the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 which
legalized adult male homosexuality after a ban of over 350 years.
Rothschild researched in the Library of Congress in Washington,
DC over the summer and is going to London from October 13 to
October 25 as a Mohrman Fellow to research in the archives of
the Homosexual Law Reform Society and the British Public Records
Office, as well as to interview key players in homosexual law
reform. He hopes to continue to refine his work after the end
of the semester and present his findings on campus as well as
at an appropriate conference.
Catherine Nisbett ‘01 is working on a top secret MAP with Professor
Doolittle that will taker her to the Harvard University archives
over Fall Break.
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What I did on my summer vacation
quote of the month:
"I spent the summer in St. Paul utilizing
Marxist historical analysis. Actually I just worked in a factory
that built solar powered traffic control signs and diesel engines."
-George Carroll ‘02
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