STANTON SHARP TEACHING SYMPOSIUM

Saturday, February 9, 2008

8:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Sponsored by the Clements Dept. of History

Southern Methodist University

9:00-10:30 a.m.          SESSION  I

"Using the World Wide Web to Teach U.S. Cultural History"
  Professor Alexis McCrossen

  156 Dallas Hall

The World Wide Web has opened up the horizons for teaching and researching U.S. cultural history.  Today we can, among many possibilities, tour a virtual version of P.T. Barnum’s “American Museum,” investigate the nooks and crannies of the 1893 World’s Fair, read theater reviews in hundreds of newspapers, listen to audio-clips of early radio broadcasts, pour through vast collections of photographs, watch the earliest television broadcasts, let alone read millions of pages of popular literature.  Possibilities for exciting and deep learning, as well as original, well-researched papers, abound.  This teaching session is designed to share tactics for teaching U.S. History, particularly cultural history, using materials available on the World Wide Web.  
 

Alexis McCrossen has been incorporating materials available on the WWW into her courses on the history of cultural institutions, consumer culture, and twentieth-century U.S. history since joining SMU’s faculty in 1995.