HIS 112 - 20th Century U.S. History Prof. DuBose: Term Paper Topics

Greetings Students!

This guide was created to help orient you to the library and its resources, as well as to rules for citing sources for your History 112 Research Paper assignment. 

You have selected a topic around the idea of a text assigned by your professor. In the library session, we will discuss: 

1. Where to look for information on this topic and your particular RESEARCH QUESTION;
    
2. What research databases are appropriate for research in history.
    
3. How to decide what key words or terms to use in search engines on the web or in library databases; 
    
4. How to determine whether information is from a reliable, professional source; 
    
5. How to properly use sources in your annotations and essays so as not to risk plagiarizing; and 
    
6. How to use Noodle Tools to set up your WORKS CITED pages. 

You are welcome to contact me for further help at any time for this or other course assignments. 

Good Luck! 

From your Syllabus:

This semester you will be required to do individual research to contribute to a group presentation at the end of this semester. Each student will be required to participate in a group presentation.  

Freedom and equality are ideas at the center of American politics, identity, and values.  The expansion of freedom and equality has been a constant theme in American history and one we have explored throughout the semester.  What it meant to be a citizen and who was considered American was negotiated and redefined from the earliest days of our nation’s history.  Moreover, different ideas about economic, political, and civil equality also emerged. For this presentation each group should choose an individual, organization, or group of people challenging the meaning of freedom and equality between 1960 and 2000 and explain how they are working to expand the definition of what it meant to be American.

BENCHMARKS:

I. Timeline for your topic

II. Literature Review 

II. Primary Source Analysis

IV. Thesis 

V. Bibliography

VI. Presentation 

TOPICS:

• Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
• The Space Race
• Poor People’s Campaign
• Black Panther Party
• Students for a Democratic Society
• Weathermen Underground
• Sharon Statement
• Young Americans for Freedom
• The Beatles
• Hippie Counter-Culture
• Gay Liberation Movement
• Women’s Liberation Movement
• National Organization for Women
• Northern School Desegregation / busing
• Affirmative Action
• La Raza Unida
• United Federation of Teachers
• Bayard Rustin
• Cesar Chavez / United Farm Workers of America
• 1968 Mexico City Olympics Black Power Salute
• Bernard Goetz the “Subway Vigilante”
• League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
• The Young Lords
• Hip Hop Culture
• Public Enemy