Like Robert Olwell, Jacqueline Jones assigned video essays in her US History survey this year. Her assignment asked the students to enact debates between real historical figures on opposite sides of controversial issues. These four paired Betty Friedan and Phyllis Schafly, Emma Goldman and A. Mitchell Palmer, Andrew Carnegie and Eugene V. Debs, and Victoria Woodhull and Anthony Comstock. The debates are lively and well-researched. The reenactments are creative and entertaining.
BettyxPhyllis
by Janet Russell, Steven Swank, Jacqueline Juengst, and Jessica Resco
Goldman meets Palmer
by Kathryn Anderson, Rory Fulton, Damon Freitag, and Garrett Wilson
Carnegie vs. Debs
by Nic Cool, Paola Sigala, Nathalie Audrey, and Amrita Chopra
Woodhull v Comstock
by Ally Triolo, Julia Aikman, Leigh Alice Clark, and Katie Bott
More student video essays can be viewed here: Show & Tell
You can read more about teaching history at UT Austin here:
Penne Restad & Karl Miller on Teaching History
Robert Olwell on reenacting history in the classroom: “You Say You Want a Revolution?”