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Why Conduct History Research as an Undergraduate?

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When I first enrolled in History 2800H, Introduction to Historical Thought with Dr. Susan Lawrence, I wasn’t completely sold on becoming a History major. I had a vague idea of what I thought the discipline meant academically, but I hadn’t completely evaluated whether it was something I wanted to dedicate four years of my life to. Throughout the course we worked on developing a precise writing style, ability to extract information from primary sources, and how to establish historical frameworks. But the key aspect of the course was writing a research proposal. We had been compiling sources and information for a ten-page proposal from the beginning, and this was the longest I had ever worked on developing a single paper.

The constant changes to my thesis and area of focus constituted a major learning curve. This ever-changing nature of the research is something that, while at first intimidating, became something I love about research in this discipline, allowing for flexible projects and new influences. I started out with a regional focus, Germany, and a focus on the history of integration policy during the Gastarbeiter (guest worker) influx in the 1960s and 1970s.  Based on sources I found and new paths they led down, I had to adjust my proposal. I ended up narrowing my field to the impact of urban planning on religious expression in 1960s and 70s religious expression in the Berlin immigrant community of Kreuzberg 36.

Initially I had a lot of difficulty locating sources that were helpful, but after getting more comfortable using online databases and searching the stacks, I located archival, primary, and secondary sources. A lot of these sources were in German, so translating them was time consuming and often frustrating. In the end though, the project not only improved my ability to conduct research but also confirmed by interest in the discipline of history. I now hope to conduct more research in the next year or so and hopefully work towards an honors thesis in History.

I found the process very grounding and wound up asking a lot of questions about the research I was conducting. Why had I chosen this particular topic? Was I the right person to research this, and was my own bias visible in the product? While I hope to change the focus of my research slightly in the future, I know that I will use the work I have done so far as a basis on which to build. I am looking forward to hopefully researching in Germany in the future, where the sources I would need to complete my project would be more readily available. After getting a taste for what the process is like, I know that writing an undergraduate thesis here at Ohio State will be worthwhile in itself, but also as valuable preparation for graduate school of any kind.

 

Year in Review: My Second Year at Ohio State

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Global Awareness

Much of what I do at Ohio State has an international focus, from my majors in International Studies and German to my co-curricular activities. One of my main aims when selecting coursework is to gain a wider worldview and challenge my preconceptions. Taking courses ranging from a history of African diplomacy to modern German politics have really informed my global awareness. Outside of the classroom, I participate in the Collegiate Council of World Affair’s Model United Nations team, which involves discussing and debating world events both with my peers at Ohio State and with students at other universities. This year, this club allowed me to travel to a Model UN conference at McGill University in  Montreal, the first time I have been to Canada since I was a kid. Looking ahead, I plan to spend the Spring of 2019 studying abroad through Ohio State’s program at Bonn University. Living and learning in Germany will not only improve my fluency, but will allow me to experience educational and cultural differences first-hand.

Original Inquiry

While I am studying abroad in Germany, I also plan to work towards the completion of my Honors Thesis in the discipline of modern German History. My project discusses the impact of urban planning on the physical manifestations of religious expression by Turkish immigrants to Germany in the 1960s and 70s. I have drafted a proposal, and am lucky enough to be working with Ohio State’s Dr. Robin Judd on this project. I am also fortunate enough to have received funding from the History department to complete my research next year. Working towards the completion of this thesis, in addition to my internship at Ohio State’s Thompson Library Special Collections Description and Access Department, has already taught me so much about the process of sorting through hundreds of primary and secondary sources as well as honed my ability to conduct research in German. I look forward to building on those skills next year, while developing a solid basis for graduate school studies.

Academic Enrichment

My majors in History, German, and International Studies and my minor in Philosophy came to be by exploring coursework that I am passionate about and that will challenge me. There is no doubt that this has been the case over the past two years, and I have studied a wider range of topics than I imagined possible. I love studying across disciplines, and my coursework in the Humanities and Social Sciences and my range of majors and minors have made this possible. My work in the Humanities in particular has developed skills like critical thinking, developing and argument, and strong writing and research abilities. Surprisingly, my General Education courses have been some of my favorite to date, as topics like ethics and Art History have pushed me outside of my comfort zone and led me to new experiences – I might not have had a Philosophy minor if that first Semester of ethics wasn’t so amazing, and I never would have interned at the Columbus Museum of Art without my Art History seminar. Above all, I truly value pushing myself and taking discussion-based coursework in a wide range of disciplines, and I believe this is reflected in my Honors Contract selections.

Leadership Development

Since joining the John Glenn Civic Leadership Community during the Fall of my freshman year, I have gained a new understanding of public service and policy through collaborative seminars and workshops. I have carried these experiences into what I am involved in to this day, from the Model Arab League to the Collegiate Council on World Affairs. My experience interning in the administrative and development offices of the Columbus Museum of Art this semester has also improved my ability to work collaboratively with an office and contribute to community outreach initiatives. I hope to build on this background as a member of the Summer 2018 Washington Academic Internship Program cohort, as I increase my leadership abilities in a professional workplace and develop a clearer understanding of my future career path.

Service Engagement

As a member of the John Glenn Civil Leadership Community, service has been part of my Ohio State experience since week one, when we volunteered at the Columbus Early Learning Center. Since then, participating in service projects with this group of peers has made me feel especially connected to the Columbus community. This summer, as part of the WAIP program, I hope to build these ties once again in Washington DC by volunteering in the surrounding community. One of my central goals for next fall is to increase the frequency of my service engagement in Columbus, and I hope to dedicate my time to an educational volunteer program in lieu of another internship or workplace development experience.

 

Model UN in Montreal

 

One of my favorite paintings from a William Hawkings exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art, where I interned this semester.

 

WAIP Summer 2018 Cohort

Why I’m Still Learning German

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Ever since I can remember, I have been taking German classes. In Kindergarten, they revolved around animals and colors. In the sixth grade, we had graduated to mathematics. And now at Ohio State, I have taken courses about German history and the current political climate in Europe. Throughout all of this time learning German, it was my time living in a tiny Bavarian town that solidified my interest in the language and the country.

My best friend Annika’s father was from Germany, and her grandparents still live in a tiny, rural town called Taufkirchen. The summer after the tenth grade, we both decided to go stay with them for a month and attend the local high school. Living in Bavaria was a bit of a culture shock. It is extremely isolated and homogenous, and unlike most cities in Germany, there were a lot of people who didn’t speak any English. Including her grandparents.

Attending the high school was also unlike any experience I had ever had in Germany. Unlike the previous time I had studied there, I had no exchange student whose job it was to show me the ropes and walk me around places. Nobody to tell me how the cafeteria worked or where my next class was. I was separated from Annika, and we were both assigned a course schedule for the next couple of weeks. It was definitely nerve wracking to jump head first into a German high school and German courses, and in retrospect I wish I was more open from the very beginning. But once I got over the feeling of always being lost, it was an incredible learning experience about the education system in Germany and it definitely improved my confidence in my German speaking ability.

Next Spring, I want to be challenged again in a similar way by spending a full semester in Germany. There is no equivalent to being pushed this far outside my comfort zone, and I know that participating in real German courses, hopefully at Bonn University, will both improve my German fluency and provide important new takes on the disciplines I am studying. Because so much of education is about perspective, especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences, there is no doubt in my mind that learning about the past and how to interpret the present in a different country will greatly improve my critical thinking abilities. Having experienced all of this on a smaller scale in Taufkirchen, I am looking forward to this new experience living in Germany next year.

History Outside of the West

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When I signed up for a Middle Eastern History course the summer before my freshman year, I was completely outside of my comfort zone. It was my first college level history course, and it was also the first time I had ever taken a history class that focused on countries that weren’t in the West. There was definitely an initial roadblock: in middle school and high school curriculums there is little to no focus on MENA’s history.

Once I got to Ohio State, I signed up for History of U.S.-Africa Relations. Once again, there were large initial challenges to taking in the material, as I had little to no background on any of the countries we were discussing. It meant that the course had to move more slowly than the professor would have liked, and that lots of details about the international politics and developments went over my head.

Experiencing history at the college level has definitely increased my awareness of these huge gaps in essential background information in the U.S.’s education system – this has become one of my main policy interests over the last couple of years. The history curriculum in elementary and high schools in the U.S. is definitely lacking in breadth, and looking back it would have been more helpful to have an introduction to the colonization of Africa or the 1948 Arab-Israeli war than to examine the War of 1812 on repeat.

In the end, taking the college courses that I have has definitely been worth it. It’s rewarding to leave a course feeling that I have a more comprehensive understanding of the way the world works, and also that I have so much more to learn. But I can’t help but wonder about the people that don’t take those courses at the college level (because let’s face it, most people don’t go to college and major in History). Because education, especially during elementary school, does so much to shape one’s world view, I would love to potentially find some outlet to get involved in education policy in the future. Being better informed about history outside of the West early on certainly can’t hurt, and it could make all the difference.

 

I have attached my final papers for my History of the Middle East and History of U.S.-Africa Relations courses below.  My U.S.-Africa Relations paper wound up focusing on the connections between media, U.S. public opinion, ad humanitarian aid during the Biafran War. The shorter paper for the Middle Eastern History course was about the role of women in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The Role of Women in the Iranian Revolution – History of the Middle East

War of Words – History of U.S.-Africa Relations

 

Columbus Community Kitchen

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to volunteer with some of my fellow John Glenn Leadership Council members at the Community Kitchen in Columbus. Although our group has worked with organizations like the Columbus Early Learning Center and the Mid-Ohio Foodbank for several years, we didn’t know what to expect from this experience as it was our first time working with the Community Kitchen.

We arrived early enough to prepare for the breakfast service, and we all piled into the small kitchen to be greeted by Clarence, who directs volunteers and does most of the kitchen preparation and service. Because of our numbers, he delegated jobs around the building including cleaning walls, organizing the freezer, and doing the dishes. I was lucky enough to work on the food line during both breakfast and lunch services, which allowed for some direct interaction with the kitchen patrons and the ability to completely take in the atmosphere of the dining room. What stood out most to me about the organization was its open and welcoming policy, which allows for food service to anyone “no questions asked.” The result was an open dialogue between the staff and the regulars, but also a steady stream of new faces.

One of the main reasons I am thankful to be a member of the John Glenn Civic Leadership Council, which I joined through my Learning Community in my first year here at Ohio State, is that it provides opportunities to interact with the Columbus community at large. Because the campus is so big, it is very easy to become completely wrapped up in this university bubble. I think it’s essential to remember that Ohio State is a part of a larger community, and that as students we have a responsibility to participate in it as a whole.

 

Arriving in Washington D.C.

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As a member of the John Glenn Civil Leadership Community, I was lucky enough to travel to Washington D.C. in the spring of my first year at Ohio State. On a Wednesday, we got straight on a bus after classes were over and headed to D.C. Although I had been once before for a couple of nights, I had never had time to truly explore the city, and I was looking forward to seeing it in a new professional light. We had visits scheduled with State Representatives, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and myriad Ohio State alumni.

Although these experiences did leave impressions on me, and helped me better gauge what it is like to live and work in D.C., one of the most memorable times I had on the trip was the first night we arrived. When we got there, it was already late, and we had an early and packed day ahead of us. But a group of Learning Community members who I was with wanted to go out and explore the city. At first I was hesitant, but eventually I gave in and we walked from our hotel in Georgetown to the White House.

We got there right before they turned the lights off for the night, and it was a truly breathtaking experience seeing the White House without all the crowds and noise, and it wound up being one of the highlights of the trip. Above all, it was a good reminder that, more often than not, saying “yes” to more opportunities pays off.

 

 

About Sarah

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Sarah Stradling is a history major working towards her Bachelor’s Degree with honors research distinction at the Ohio State University. She is majoring in History and International Studies with minors in German and Philosophy. Here on campus she combines her interests in politics and history by serving on the Executive Board of Model Arab League and participating in the Collegiate Council on World Affairs. She also serves on a committee for her learning community, the John Glenn Civic Leadership Community, which develops and runs policy simulations for her peers. One of her other main interests is linguistics, and she keeps up with German and Spanish through conversation tables and the German Club on campus. While Sarah is unsure of her postgraduate plans, here at Ohio State she wants to prepare for graduate level education by writing an honors thesis in the discipline of History. She hopes to conduct research abroad in Germany in the next few years. Although she has done some archival work in the past, including some translation between German and English and extensive uses of online databases, she is always looking for new opportunities to gain more research experience in hopes of aiding her own original work in the future.

My Experience as a Delegate from Yemen: Model Arab League Conference 2017

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I raised my placard into the air, unsure about what I was going to say if the chair of the Social Affairs Council called on me. Despite the practice I had in the Model Arab League club, there was no way to simulate the feeling of sitting on my council during the actual conference.  Joining MAL was far outside of my comfort zone.  First, there is the Arab League aspect.  I am not a Middle Eastern politics expert by any means, so there was a huge learning curve when it came time to memorize leaders, political parties, and religious affiliations. The hardest aspects of this were working within realistic alliances during the unmoderated caucuses as well as being appropriately deferential in the moderated caucuses (OSU was the delegation from Yemen, so this involved a lot of “deferring to the honorable opinion of Saudi Arabia.”)

Additionally, before joining Model Arab League and going to this conference at Miami University, I had never had public speaking experience. In fact, public speaking was something I avoided at all costs. Before attending the conference, I doubted my ability to speak up in my council. And once I was there in the room, surrounded by seasoned upperclassmen who used MAL as their Model United Nations off-season practice, I was certainly intimidated.  Representing a country like Yemen, it would have been easy to stay quiet and let other countries take control of the committee. I was afraid that what I said would be uninformed or just plain wrong. That I would confuse parliamentary procedure and speak out of turn. However, after watching how the other delegates operated, I felt more confident and was able to contribute to the committee dialogue and resolution writing. After a long couple of days of debate and cooperation, my fellow delegate and I won the distinguished delegate award for representing Yemen in the Council for Social Affairs.

During the conference I gained confidence in my ability to speak in front of groups of people, a greater understanding of a part of the world that I did not learn about in high school, and relationships with students from other Ohio colleges who have similar interests to me. For me, participating in the MAL conference was stepping outside of what I was used to and comfortable with, and I will remember this experience as I continue to challenge myself throughout the rest of my time at OSU.  I know the practical skills I learned will be useful, both for other MAL conferences and other future academic endeavors, but more than that I know that what I learned about myself will be far more important.  While I found that most of my strengths were in the unmoderated caucuses, which focus more on informal relationship building, resolution planning, and direct debate, I also learned that I could make my voice heard in the more organized aspects, like formally addressing the council.  Speaking up in front of that committee was one of the scariest experiences that I have had in my first year here at OSU, but it was well worth it.