Education Commons^™

Limitations & Liberation: Republican Motherhood And Female Advancement In Nineteenth Century America, Hannah Russell

Graduate Masters Theses

First introduced by Linda Kerber in the 1970s, Republican Motherhood is the idea that described the role women were expected to play in the years following the American Revolution. Characterized by an expanded sphere of influence through the education of her sons to be prosperous future leaders of the nation and her daughters to be future mothers of American sons, Republican Motherhood played a significant role in the continuing development of gender relations in the early republic. To show the ways in which women utilized Republican Motherhood to reach self-actualization, I analyze the lives of Judith Sargent Murray, Catharine Beecher, …

Deconstructing Reconstruction: The Portrayal Of The Reconstruction Era In High School History Textbooks, Eleanor Katari

Graduate Masters Theses

This paper examines the persistence of Dunning School narratives of the Reconstruction Era in high school US History textbooks, despite the thorough rejection of those narratives among academic historians at the college level and above. In examining the reasons for the persistence of these narratives, this paper acknowledges some structural elements of the textbook industry before focusing on the role of white women’s parent activism in shaping textbook content and adoption, stretching backwards to the 1890s and the Daughters of Confederate Veterans, and forward to the present day and organizations such as Moms for Liberty. This paper also points out …

Popular Memory, Silence, And Trust: A Mother And Son’S Relationship To School In The Shadow Of The Prince Edward County Closures, Rory S. Dunn

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis is an oral history related to Prince Edward County’s infamous school closures from 1959-1964. It tracks the popular memory of the closures through the narrative of two natives of Farmville, Virginia: a mother and son. This thesis investigates the role of physical monuments in the development of historical consciousness related to the school closures, as well as the intergenerational effects of the closures on the son. This thesis marks that there were radial effects from the school closures that manifested within the subsequent generation, and that for this particular case study, awareness of the closures and their effects …

Hip-Hop History: Grades 9-12 Local History Curriculum, Sivia K. Malloy

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

As the founders and trailblazers mature, and sadly depart this life, a new generation is left behind with limited to no knowledge of the influence hip-hop has on current popular culture locally, nationally, or internationally. Research for this learning intervention determines what and how local hip-hop history incorporates into a social studies/history course with high school (9-12 grade) students, bridging local stories to the national and international trends and events of the past. Informal discussions took place with local hip-hop subject-matter experts throughout the northeast region of New England with ties to Massachusetts. Their recommendations were to wrestle with the …

The Boston Opportunity Agenda: A Historic Case Study Of Public-Private Partnership In Education (2007-2019), Timothy M. Lavin

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This historic case study studied the development of the Boston Opportunity Agenda (BOA), a public-private educational partnership, from 2007-2019. Despite significant prominence, influence, and investment from the partners involved, public-private educational partnerships in Boston have been understudied. The intention of this dissertation was to bring an understanding of how this urban educational public-private partnership developed; the motivations of the partners to participate; the partner perceptions of the successes and challenges of the partnership; and the extent of the partnership's influence on the Boston Public Schools.

This case study utilized qualitative methods of document analysis and semi-structured interviews of partnership leaders …

Painting The World Crimson: The Global Spread Of Graduate Management Education As Facilitated By Harvard Business School, Keshav Krishnamurty

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The growth and spread of business education worldwide is a phenomenon of contemporary interest, because it has enabled the expansion of a global managerial class that operates as social and economic elites worldwide in a time of growing inequality. I take a historic approach to this contemporary phenomenon by examining the role that Harvard Business School (HBS) played in the 1950s and 1960s in the conceptualization and launch of the now very prominent Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. Using the archival materials at the Special Collections of the Baker Library at Harvard Business School, my research uncovers which …

Multiperspectivity Through Alternative History In The Classroom, Anggita Parameswari Latif

Graduate Masters Theses

This paper aims to evaluate existing teaching approaches in middle school history classrooms that incorporate alternative history materials. Alternative history focuses on the question of what might have happened differently, or ‘what if?’ The study focuses on addressing the following question: How does the understanding of one event’s significance on the chain of historical occasions contribute to students’ engagement in discussing past and current conflicts, based on teachers’ points of view? Interviews with 10 education practitioners focused on exploring the ways students can learn to see history creatively while developing tolerance. Existing approaches are explored through the viewpoints of conflict …

Unescorted Guests: Yale’S First Women Undergraduates And The Quest For Equity, 1969-1973, Anne G. Perkins

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

“Unescorted Guests” provides a richly detailed portrait of a fundamental change at one US institution: Yale University’s 1969 transition from an all-men’s to a coed college. This study disputes several dominant narratives about the 1970s youth and women’s movements, and deepens our understanding of three core issues in higher education research: access, the experiences of previously excluded students, and change towards greater equity. I contest the myth of alumni as foes to coeducation, and show that the greatest opposition to equity for women came instead from Yale’s president and trustees. I document how women students, absent as powerful figures in …

Indigenous Women, Mother Tongues, And Nation Building In New England: A Tribal Policy Leadership Series, Amy Den Ouden, Chris Bobel

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

In collaboration with the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP), Indigenous women educators and leaders, the Dept. of Women’s and Gender Studies is redesigning WOST/WGS 270, Native American Women in North America, to incorporate a lecture series on nation building and a semester-long community engagement project fostering student leadership in a research and policy formation project focused on legislating and funding a Native American language education law in Massachusetts.

Historical Thinking: Perspectives On Teaching History In The Secondary Education Classroom, Michael Diclemente

Graduate History Conference, UMass Boston

“Doing” history can be interpreted in many different ways and this is due to the dynamic nature of history as a discipline. Doing history can be research, writing papers, working on a manuscript, putting final touches on a thesis, setting up a museum exhibit, being a tour guide, or teaching. In all these examples historians try to take their passion for the subject and make that clear to others. History needs an audience. Interest in history exists, if not, we would not have outlets like the History Channel. Dealing with an audience who wants to learn about history is one …

Working With Data In Archival Settings, Joanne M. Riley

Joseph P. Healey Library Publications

Structured data plays a vital role in archival administration, preservation and access activities. Three case studies are presented that demonstrate different applications of metadata: Medici Archive Project: Documentary Sources for the Arts and Humanities 1537 – 1743 (Relational database); The History of the Accademia di San Luca, c. 1590 – 1635: Documents from the Archivio di Stato di Roma (Text markup – TEI); Healey Library’s OpenArchives (Dublin Core Schema in a proprietary data system).

Working With Data In Archival Settings, Joanne M. Riley

Joanne M. Riley

Structured data plays a vital role in archival administration, preservation and access activities. Three case studies are presented that demonstrate different applications of metadata: Medici Archive Project: Documentary Sources for the Arts and Humanities 1537 – 1743 (Relational database); The History of the Accademia di San Luca, c. 1590 – 1635: Documents from the Archivio di Stato di Roma (Text markup – TEI); Healey Library’s OpenArchives (Dublin Core Schema in a proprietary data system).

The Forgotten Children: The Educational Demographics Of An Austrian Diocese 1848-1852, Mathew Richard Boyeson

Graduate Masters Theses

Educational demographics of an Austrian diocese in Styria were examined between the years of 1848 and 1852, to show both the importance of the data and the possibility for further research. The data was examined in conjunction with the imperial education law that directed the Austrian educational system in the nineteenth century. Both the micro and macro elements of the paper were influenced by the strong Austrian Catholic tradition and were integrated heavily into the paper to help put the data in perspective. The limited amount of research on the topic restricted specific conclusions for the research, however there are …

The Mass. Memories Road Show: Some Notes On Bridging And Bonding, Joanne M. Riley

Joseph P. Healey Library Publications

Four years ago, the Mass. Studies Project at UMass Boston launched a cultural heritage project that we dubbed the “Mass. Memories Road Show,” a real-world mashup of PBS’s Antiques Road Show (people bring their personal stuff to a local event for professional perusal) and the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project (digitize historic stuff and share it with the world). Our ambitious goal was – and still is! – to visit each of the 351 communities in Massachusetts, inviting residents to bring in photographs that reflect themselves and their families in that community. At the public “Road Show” events, we …

Higher Education In The 1960'S: The Origins Of The University Of Massachusetts Boston, Diane D'Arrigo

American Studies Graduate Final Projects

On June 18, 1964, Governor Endicott Peabody signed the bill to create the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Just fifteen months later, in the fall of 1965, the University of Massachusetts Boston opened its doors for its first class of students. Joining the more than 1200 students were 75 faculty and 10 staff people. They were pioneers in creating an institution which held enormous hope and promise of serving its urban community at a time of major change in higher education, specifically and in society, generally.

Today, the University of Massachusetts Boston is one of five campuses that make up …

Institutionalization Of Women's Studies Programs: The Relationship Of Program Structure To Long-Term Viability, Ann Froines

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the institutional viability of three interdisciplinary women's studies programs in public universities to determine whether interdisciplinary programs are marginal or fragile. The research question has three related parts: (a) What factors influence assessments of institutional viability? (b) do assessments of institutional viability vary significantly according to differences in program structure? and (c) what strategies have emerged to maintain program viability over the next ten or 20 years?

A conceptual framework of three domains was utilized in this qualitative case study: (a) program history, (b) organizational effectiveness of program, and (c) alliances built by program leaders. Organizational effectiveness …

Teaching Economics In United States History: One Teacher Shares Some Lessons, Kathleen S. Bullock

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper addresses the value and benefits of teaching economics in U.S. History at the high school level. Some of the challenges it presents such as curriculum style, teacher qualifications, assessment and accountability, pacing, and developing thinking skills for a theory-based course are discussed. I also offer activities with accompanying worksheets and graphic organizers that may assist teachers in meeting these challenges. The activities include tariffs, a run on the bank, monopolies, and recessions as an introduction to basic economic principles that are important in teaching U.S. History. A set of graphic organizers on The Civil War demonstrates how economics …

Black Women In Antebellum America: Active Agents In The Fight For Freedom, Sandra M. Grayson

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

The most prominent images of Black women in antebellum America depicted in classes across the United States are of passive victims as opposed to active agents of change. The names and deeds of Black women like Frances E. W. Harper, Maria Stewart, Sarah Mapps Douglass, and Sarah Jane Giddings are not an integral part of American education. Further, most history books overlook Black women's roles in antebellum America — oversights which can be considered suppression through historical omission. In order to reflect a more accurate picture of American history, public and private school curriculums need to include texts by and …

The Changing Nature Of Universities, Ernest A. Lynton

New England Journal of Public Policy

Excessive emphasis on research as the dominant measure of institutional as well as individual prestige and values has created a critical mismatch between the activities of American universities and societal expectations. This article traces the origins of the resulting crisis of purpose to the post-World War II surge in federal research support and articulates the urgent need for basic changes in university priorities at a time teaching and professional services have acquired both new importance and new complexity. It further describes current efforts toward a more balanced view of the components of university missions and a resulting shift in faculty …

Teaching African-American Children: The Legacy Of Slavery, Harold Horton

New England Journal of Public Policy

The pathetic state of urban public school education offered to African-American children stems from slavery, when it was against the law to educate slaves, who were regarded as chattel. This article traces the history of the blighting of their minds by stripping those slaves of their African culture, and its effect on African-American children, as well as other children of color, today. Horton offers suggestions for coping with the problems of modern schools as related to respecting and teaching these children, pointing out that the system is the problem, not the children.

"Education For Service": Gender, Class, & Professionalism At The Boston Normal School, 1870-1920, Ann Froines

Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Publication Series

"Education for Service," and “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” are two aphorisms engraved in granite over doorways of the Boston Normal School (BNS) buildings on Huntington Avenue in Boston. One can argue that the history of women in the teaching profession, its paradoxical and conflicted reality, are reflected in the complex and contradictory meanings of these two aphorisms. Young women students at BNS were moving toward greater freedom or autonomy by taking advantage of the educational opportunity available to them in this city-supported, tuition-free teacher training institution. At the same time, they were providing a crucial social service sanctioned …

Education And Community Development Among Nineteenth-Century Irish And Contemporary Cambodians In Lowell, Massachusetts, Peter N. Kiang

New England Journal of Public Policy

As cities undergo dramatic demographic changes, schools become important sites of conflict between the interests of established and emerging communities. This article presents a case study of Lowell, Massachusetts, where the second largest Irish community in the country resided during the 1850s, and which is now home to the second largest Cambodian community in the United States. Analysis of nineteenth-century Irish community dynamics, particularly in relation to issues of public education in Lowell, reveals the significance of religious institutions and middle-class entrepreneurs in the process of immigrant community development and highlights important relationships to ethnicity, electoral politics, and economic development. …