This week, two History seniors’ Independent Study research projects have made the news!
Sandy MacKay wrote a profile for this week’s Voice titled “Free the Hops: The Roots of a Senior I.S.” In the article, Sandy describes her journey from a personal interest in the craft beer movement to historical research on the relationships between consumption and identity in American history. She received generous support from the Copeland Fund to travel to California and Colorado to interview brewmasters over winter break. Sandy will feature these oral histories in a documentary exploring the history and politics of American craft brewing. Stay tuned for a departmental screening after I.S. Monday!
For his Independent Study research, Jake Dinkelaker (double major History & Archaeology) is creating a multimedia public history website analyzing four architectural landmarks at the College of Wooster. Jake has made very good use of social media tools to network with local and national public historians. He connected with Lawrence Biemiller, Senior Writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education and invited him to visit Wooster as part of his tour of American college towns. Mr. Biemiller wrote two posts on his visit to the College. “A Century Later, A Fire’s Legacy Defines the College of Wooster” describes’ Mr. Biemiller’s campus tour with Jake, and their discussions of Jake’s research into campus planning after the destruction of Old Main in 1901.