Where Historians Work:

CLAC Infuses the U.S. History Classroom

Dr. Suronda Gonzalez, Binghamton UniversityDr. Barbara Reeves Ellington, Siena College

Cultures + Languages Across the Curriculum, 2008October 15-17, 2008 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Where Historians Work

Part I: Background

CLAC Infuses the U.S. History Classroom

Where Historians Work

• A word on our title– Where Faculty Live: Internationalizing the

Disciplines, ACE, 2006.

• American Historical Association• American Political Science Association• American Psychological Association• Association of American Geographers

Where Historians Work

2000: La Pietra ReportProject on Internationalizing the Study of American History

– Comprehensive recommendations for the field– Spurred scholarship on U.S. embedded in context

of global change• “hour glass” phenomenon

Historians’ Work

200220062007

The History

Teacher Series

2002-2004

2005

Where Historians Work

Not so much a matter of if internationalization is happening,

but rather on the practicalities of how it is happening.

2004

Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC)– Georgetown University, LAC (Linked)– Binghamton University, LxC– St. Olaf, FLAC (linked, single instructor, & reading enhanced)

Thomas Adams, “Beyond Language & Literature Departments” (2007)

CLAC Reinforces USE of “Foreign Language” Materials to

• Exercise latent language skills for meaningful academic use.

• Engage in historical analysis.

• Strengthen research skills and critical thinking abilities.

• Broaden conceptual frameworks of U.S. history – Interrogate inherent cultural

components of U.S. history narrative (ex: the usual divide at 1877)

• Situate local & national in transnational context recognize the global forces shaping national history.

Where Historians Work

Historians underestimate the far-reaching consequences CLAC strategies

can have on their students and the field of U.S. history.

Additional Outcomes of CLAC strategies

• Democratizes learning by creating a collaborative learning environment for all (including the instructor).

• Underscores the need for revamping graduate education & professional training.– Faculty and TA exchanges

• Connects faculty research agenda (often international) into their undergraduate courses.– University of Iowa study

• Fosters continued language study & use.

• Emphasizes study abroad as an part of of the larger academic endeavor.

Where Historians Work

• How do CLAC ideas work in practice? What are students saying?

• How does CLAC serve the learning outcomes of the U.S. history classroom?

• How can CLAC strategies provide structure to student assignments to internationalize U.S. History?

Where Historians Work: CLAC Infuses the U.S. History Classroom

Part II:How can CLAC strategies provide

structure to student assignments to internationalize U.S. History?

CLAC Support at Siena

• No college-wide language requirement• Globalization Studies

– two semesters language– study abroad required

• History– two semesters language– study abroad encouraged

CLAC Builds Student Skills in History

• Build an incremental, multi-level program to improve student skills in awareness, research, analysis, language

• Focus on the C of CLAC: Few students have the skills to work with foreign-language sources

• Begin with international history to encourage students to gain transnational perspective

Level Two: American ImmigrationTransnational Perspectiveson U.S. History

• Improve information literacy skills to locate non-American primary sources

• Incorporate non-American sources in research paper

• Gain confidence evaluating transnational perspectives

Objective: Nuanced Consideration

Student/Faculty Assessment

• Highly motivated, above-average students – Appreciated multiple viewpoints– Uncomfortable using research databases– Frustrated by search failures– Failed to recognize appropriate “non-American”

sources– Lacked confidence assessing located sources

CLAC Solution

• Develop partnership with Information Literacy Specialists to create “scenario approaches”

Level Three: U.S. Foreign RelationsMultilingual Scholarship

• Objectives• Engage with evidence from

foreign-language sources• Assess new interpretations of

U.S. History• Use foreign-language sources

in research paper

• Challenges

Future CLAC Initiatives at Siena

• Interdisciplinary programs in History– Area Studies– Linked Courses

• Globalization Workshop– Modern languages– Information literacy

Where Historians Work:

CLAC Infuses the U.S. History Classroom

Dr. Suronda Gonzalez, Binghamton UniversityDr. Barbara Reeves Ellington, Siena College

Cultures + Languages Across the Curriculum, 2008October 15-17, 2008 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill