ASRC 1899

FWS: The 1619 Project: Controversy and the Writing of Public History

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023.

When the "1619 Project," a special edition of the New York Times Magazine was released in August 2019, few could have anticipated the controversy that ensued. Leading U.S. historians circulated a petition outlining its perceived inaccuracies; and the project even earned a presidential rebuke resulting in the founding of the 1776 Commission, an advisory designed to challenge the project's key arguments about the nation's founding. In both instances the critiques were not merely about the content of "1619," they were also about who gets to write history and for what purpose. Reading the "1619 Project" alongside historical writing published in both academic and popular mediums, this seminar will explore how issues like audience, interpretation, and evidence shape the process of historical writing.

When Offered Spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

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