Global War, Technology, and Violence History Lab

Spring 2026

HIST 590

1.000 Credit

 

Course Description

 The Global War, Technology, and Violence History Lab is a collaborative research initiative to investigate the Cold War and the War on Terror through concerted research projects. This one-credit lab will meet weekly to teach students applied research skills by participating in one of three research areas: Purdue in the Cold War, Military Service & Political Partisanship, and Mapping Hate Crime. Students will receive basic training in ArcGIS software and archival and digital source analysis, and apply acquired skills to develop public-facing, online research outputs for the GSTV website. Previous experience in digital humanities not required.

 

Learning Outcomes

 By the end of the course, students will be able to:

 

  • Identify unanswered research questions pertaining to the history of global war, technology, and violence based on secondary literature.
  • Design research projects that employ primary sources to answer historical questions
  • Apply archival and digital methods to historical
  • Connect contemporary concerns to careful, historical study
  • Transform complex analysis into scholarship accessible to a non-specialist

 

Course Materials

 All course readings will be accessible on Brightspace. Required software will be provided in the first week of class or licensed through Purdue University.

 

Technology Requirements and AI Usage

In addition to Brightspace, students will be required to access the following systems through Purdue online services:

  • Microsoft OneDrive
  • ArcGIS Online
  • ArcGIS Inisghts

 Students will be additionally required to download the following software to their Purdue student accounts:

  • Obsidian
  • Obsidian Sync
  • ArcGIS Pro

Chatbot and information aggregator services are used only for the gathering of information (e.g. finding texts) or for proofreading. However, use of such services for text generation for submission is strictly prohibited and will be treated as academic dishonesty.

 

Required Texts

 Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020

Matthew Phillpott, “Blogging for Historians,” https://bloggingforhistorians.wordpress.com/guide-to-blogging-main-index/creating-content/ Esri, “Get started with ArcGIS Pro,” https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/get-started-with-arcgis-pro/

Esri/National Government Team, “Investigate prescribed drugs,” https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/investigate-prescribed-drugs/

Esri/Software Solutions Team, “Prepare and present crime statistics for a CompStat meeting,” https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/prepare-and-present-crime-statistics-for-a-compstat-meeting/

 

Assignments

 In addition to developing applied historical research skills, this course will also teach you how to craft rigorous, yet public-facing historical scholarship. The assignments are therefore designed in service of designing a final project of your choosing. As a one-credit course, weekly attendance is weighted heavily, as most of your course work will take place within the classroom. Students are expected to produce at least one piece of public-facing scholarship resulting from their semester research.

 

Class Assignments:

Participation (60%): It is imperative that students not only attend weekly course sessions, but engage each week in collaborative, historical research. Students are required to be active participants in their research teams, contributing each week to the development and ultimate success of their team’s project. I am less interested in you always having the correct answer than I am in your work to problem solve and support your team’s efforts to answer your central research questions.

Methods (20%): As a skills-based course, students are expected to learn and develop digital and archival research methods. I will be grading the progress that you have made over the course of the semester to develop a necessary set of skills using the assigned research systems as evidenced through your weekly engagement and final project.

Public history assignment (20%): Your research output by the end of the semester will be measured in a piece of public-facing scholarship of publishable quality. Successful projects, in the form of either ArcGIS Story Maps or research posts will be published on the GSTV website (gstv-lab.com).

 

Attendance: Attendance for this class is required. Purdue’s policy regarding excused absences can be found on the following page https://www.purdue.edu/advocacy/students/absence-policies.html. Additional absences may be excused at the instructor’s discretion. Should you be unable to attend a class, please discuss with me in advance. Unexcused absences will result in deduction from your participation grade.

 

Course Grades

Taken together, the number of points you earn for both your submitted assignments and engagement will constitute your final grade in the course. Points assigned are final and assignments will not be graded on a curve. These points will translate into the following letter grades:

 

93-100 = A

90-92.9 = A-

87-89.9 = B+

83-86.9 = B

80-82.9 = B-

77-79.9 = C+

73-76.9 = C

70-72.9 = C-

67-69.9 = D+

63-66.9 = D

60-62.9 = D-

<60 = F

 

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is intellectual theft. In base terms, it involves passing off the work of someone else as your own, original material. Examples include but are not limited to: copying and pasting from a secondary source (e.g. scholarly article, news website) without the usage of proper citation; submitting work that someone else wrote, either through a paid service or otherwise; recycling your own work from previous classes; or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without proper citation. Should you plagiarize, you should expect to fail both the assignment and the course. You will also be reported to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSSR) for review at the university level.

Purdue’s University-wide academic integrity policy may be found here: https://www.purdue.edu/odos/osrr/academic-integrity/index.html

And use of copyrighted materials policy may be found here: https://www.purdue.edu/policies/academic-research-affairs/ia3.html

Both may also by found by accessing “Purdue’s Student Guide for Academic Integrity”

under Brightspace University Policies and Statements.

AI Chatbot Usage: The use of chatbots to produce writing is strictly prohibited. While this tool can be useful in historical scholarship, and we will discuss potential ways in which it can facilitate the production of original text, it is not to be used to write text for you. This is true for all assignments.

 

Freedom of Expression

In this class, students are encouraged to exercise their right to free inquiry and expression. You are welcome to express any view on the subject matter introduced by the instructor or other class members within the structure of the course. While you are responsible for learning the content of this course, you remain free to take a reasoned exception to the views presented and to reserve judgment about matters of conscience, controversy, or opinion. When you encounter ideas that you find offensive, immoral, or unwise, you are encouraged to engage them with reasons, evidence, and arguments. Your course grade will be based on your academic performance, not on the opinions you express. Our commitment to freedom of expression means that no relevant ideas or positions are out of bounds, but disruptive or disorderly behavior, threats, or harassment are strictly prohibited and will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.