HHS 312: Technology and Society in America
Review Essay on Digital and/or Oral History

Students in HHS 312 will investigate an existing digital or oral history project and write a review essay of the project. The review essay should include an analysis of the project itself, an assessment of how the project fits within the existing literature on the subjects it explores, and new questions that arise from the project.

Project reviews may draw on the following (or other projects to be determined in consultation with Dr. Russell):

- IEEE Global History Network (electrical engineering)
- National Institutes of Health (Pregnancy Testing)
- Computer History Museum (marketing)
- FW Taylor Collection (engineering management)
- Business Plan Archive (dot-com entrepreneurship)

Deadlines:

Week 8 (March 9):
Review Essay topic and bibliography due

Week 10 (March 30):
Revised Review Essay topic and bibliography due via email no later than 8 pm, Tuesday March 29 (MS Word or PDF attachments preferred).
You should include the following:

- Review Essay title
- url for the project you are reviewing
- brief paragraph describing the scholarly questions that you will address in your review of the project
- bibliography of scholarly works (minimum 4) that you will draw upon, with brief annotations if possible
- draft outline for your review essay, including major topics and questions you will address.

Week 13 (April 20):
Review Essays due; Presentation and discussion of Review Essays.

Your Review Essay should be 1400-1800 words, not including the bibliography. Your essay should include an analysis of the project itself, an assessment of how the project fits within the existing literature on the subjects it explores, and new questions that arise from the project. You should also comment on these questions: what is the value of the project under review as a scholarly project? How does it compare to the existing scholarly literature found in books, journal articles, documentaries, and/or other websites?

Due to the size of the class, you will have no more than 5 minutes each to discuss your project. You should focus your remarks on how your project uses oral history and/or digital history to contribute to our understanding of technology and society in America.