Eight History majors spent Block 5 at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where they conducted hands-on, in-depth research on their thesis topics in preparation for Block 6, when they will head back to campus to complete their theses using the materials they gathered in Chicago. The first block, taught by Professor of History Dr. Carol Neel is a senior seminar class, which will give students an introduction to the thesis project and allow them to finalize a research question and write a literature review.
Students chose a wide variety of research topics, from the image of the Soviet Union in Chinese popular culture to the history of comedy in Chicago.
“What I love so much about the History Department and how I ended up with my thesis is the department really wants you to find something you are passionate it about,” says Olivia Garg ’24. “History final essays are so freeing because you can really choose what you want in that class.”
Garg, a Chicago native, researched the history of comedy in Chicago. Her topic, though broad when she originally pitched it, was approved immediately once she shared how she was inspired by her time growing up surrounded by the city and its comedy scene.
“I knew I had to go back to a piece of Chicago’s history that I actively want to look into and have a voice in. I love comedy and Chicago has an abundance of comedy. I went to Second City, an improv comedy club, all the time. In the spirit of the department, I just realized I have the opportunity to do a project on something I love, and a history I want to understand and share.”
Emma Logan ’24, a History-Political Science major and Education minor, looked at the history of displaced and re-homed children in the United States. She was inspired to pick this topic after taking Neel’s Women, Children, and Men: Families in Historical Perspective course, which focused on the role of domestic life within the study of history to learn about concepts of gender, education, and childhood itself.
“This was my all-time favorite class at CC thus far and I really wanted to connect concepts of American domestic policy with the lives and stories of young children,” says Logan.
Gabriel Hao ’24, a History major and Asian Studies minor, selected his topic, the image of the Soviet Union in Chinese popular culture from the Sino-Soviet split to the end of the Revolutionary Era, for three primary reasons. First, Hao is from Xi’an, a city in northwest China, and has always been fascinated by modern Chinese history.
“Second, we cannot see China during that period as an example of an isolated subject from the globe,” says Hao. “The revolutionary ideology can affect its diplomacy, and among all the diplomatic relations, Sino-Soviet relations are one of the most important ones. Third, I selected pop culture as the mirror to see through, because it was the most effective way to deliver political messages to all ages, including children reading comics, youths reading novels, and elders listening to revolutionary songs.”
Hao picked this topic last summer when he was working on a project translating comic books with Dr. John Williams, Associate Professor and Chair of the History and Asian Studies Departments.
While in Chicago, the class examined traditional and new methods of studying history. Students worked closely with Newberry Library staff, including Dr. Nora Epstein, Instruction and Outreach Librarian, and Dr. Keelin Burke, Director of Fellowships and Academic Programs. Neel accompanied several students to other libraries and institutions, including the Joseph Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago, based on what students needed for their specific research topics.
“Going to the Newberry is so exciting, and, as one of her advisees, I am so happy Carol is bringing us,” Garg says. “Libraries are the most underrated tool in education, both its facilities and the librarians. Through this class we also get a glimpse into the world of libraries and archives with assistance from professionals. Usually grad students use the resources, so the staff has been known to be excited to have ‘the youngins’.”
“The Newberry is a major research institute with a thick posse of scholars on staff and also as fellows,” Neel says. “Teaching this class at Newberry, first of all, enables students to deal with primary source materials. They can look at the very old book and notice how it is bound and imagine whose hands have touched it. They can work with a fantastic maps collection, as Newberry has the most distinguished maps collection in this hemisphere. Additionally, the people around our students at Newberry are cutting-edge scholars who are also very interested in undergraduates. The Newberry works very hard to find ‘study buddies’ among its distinguished group of fellows who will be interested in having lunch with a student whose interests are related. This connection fosters an atmosphere of collaborative scholarship.”
While the students conducted individual research, the class also worked together in many ways. Students shared ideas about potential research questions, and discussed and presented scholarly articles related to their topic. Students were asked to critique each other’s research and writing, meaning that in addition to professors and Newberry staff members, students could use each other as resources.
“Because we’re away from campus in Chicago, we really spend a lot of time with each other and we encourage a culture where students are very committed to reading and supporting each other’s work, offering constructive critiques,” Neel says. “The Newberry models that on a professional, scholarly level, and then we try to do that among ourselves.”
The Newberry Library was founded in 1887 and is a non-circulating library. It is open to the public for research purposes, but books remain in the library at all times.
“We can do many things through the wonders of modern technology, but one thing we can’t do online is hold a sixteenth-century book in our hand, or a handwritten family history from the nineteenth century, or an alchemical handbook from the Middle Ages,” Neel says.
Both Neel and CC have an extensive history with the Newberry Library. The Newberry has hosted many CC classes of various departments over the years and staff in its Wing Collection for the history of printing were instrumental in the development of The Press at Colorado College.
Neel was the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) full-year fellow and her husband Dr. John Horner, Professor of Psychology, was the ACM six-month fellow in 2004-5. During that year, they worked at the Newberry with both CC students and students from different ACM campuses. Since then, Neel and Horner have worked closely with the Newberry in different capacities. Neel has been a Newberry short-term fellow several times.
The History Department has taken a group of students to the Newberry Library for their senior seminar thesis production since 2015, when Neel first went with six students. Neel was supposed to go again in 2020, but the class was moved online due to COVID, though Newberry Library was still very helpful and supportive when Neel taught the class remotely.