Skip to Main Content

HIST 2154 - Minorities in US History (OER): Getting Started: Exploring History through Primary Sources

This guide is designed to share teaching resources and OER materials for HIST 2154: MInorities in US History, created under an ALG Continuous Improvement Grant

Module Overview

This module is designed to introduce students to the historical profession and historical methodology. The focus is distinguishing between primary and secondary sources and exploring the analytical use of each in historical research.

Module Outcomes

After completing this module, students will be able to:

Distinguish between primary and secondary sources
Explain the basic methodology of the historical profession
Identify the key principles of "historical thinking"
Use the advanced search function in a major primary source database to identify primary sources that would help answer research questions

Teaching Materials: Videos

What Does it Mean to "Think Like a Historian?"

How Do Historians Know About the Past? [Open Learn from The Open University, CC-BY]
What is a Primary Source? [Open Learn from The Open University, CC-BY]
What is a Secondary Source [Open Learn from The Open University, CC-BY]
Thinking Like a Historian [Khan Academy, CC-BY]
How to Read a Document: Source Identification [Khan Academy, CC-BY]
How to Read a Document: Analyzing a Historical Text [Khan Academy, CC-BY]

What is a Minority/Subordinate Group?

Cultures, Subcultures, and Counter Cultures [Crash Course Sociology, CC-BY]
Theories of Gender [Crash Course Sociology, CC-BY]
Gender Stratification [Crash Course Sociology, CC-BY]
Race & Ethnicity [Crash Course Sociology, CC-BY]
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination [Crash Course Sociology, CC-BY]
Race, Ethnicity, & Society Structure [Khan Academy, CC-BY]
Prejudice & Discrimination [Crash Course Psychology, CC-BY]

Teaching Materials: Readings

Introduction to The American Yawp (What is History?) [The American Yawp, CC-BY-SA]
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources [Lumen Learning, CC-BY-NC-SA]
Getting Started with Primary Sources [Library of Congress, Public Domain]
The Library of Congress Is Your Library [Library of Congress, Public Domain]
Analyzing a Primary Source [Library of Congress, Public Domain]
Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups [Lumen Learning, CC-BY]
Race and Ethnicity in the US [Lumen Learning, CC-BY]
Women as a Minority [Lumen Learning, CC-BY]
A Brief Guide to Writing About Primary Sources [Florida State College at Jacksonville, CC-BY]
History is a Process, Not a Pile of Flashcard Facts [The Conversation, CC-BY-ND]
California Vetoed Ethnic Studies Requirements for Public High School Students, but the Movement Grows [The Conversation, CC-BY-ND]

Primary Source Collections Used in the Course

Collections & Databases

Open Textbooks Used in this Course

Sample Lesson Plan (Using these Materials)

Teaching Materials (CC-BY)

Other Teaching Material (CC-BY)

Stanford History Education Group (SHEG)
requires free account to download teaching materials

The Lowdown [Licensing & Statement]

Fear of Foreigners: A Cartoon History of Nativism in America (Lesson Plan)

Guiding Questions

The Historical Profession and Ways of Knowing

What is history?
What do we mean by historical thinking? What are the key skills of historical thinking?
How (and why) do historians make arguments about the past?

Explain the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in the study of history.

Minority/Subordinate Groups in US History

What is a minority group? What are examples of minority groups in American history?
Why is it important to study the history of minority groups as well as that of the majority?
Why do you think the term “minority group” has persisted when “subordinate group” is more descriptive?
Which minority or subordinate groups will we be studying in this course?

©2023 Georgia Highlands College | ask@highlands.libanswers.com