If you are looking for a semester research project for your technical communication students, consider a field project of finding, mapping, and reporting on local historic sites for the Living New Deal (https://livingnewdeal.org/teaching-resources/field-projects/). This research effort would involve identifying buildings, monuments, murals, sculptures, public spaces, etc., in your community that were created with federal funds through the 1930/40s New Deal. Students would research and compose a detailed description, map the site, insert photos or videos, and offer their materials for inclusion in the Living New Deal’s national directory. Studies of new sites and additional information on existing sites are invited.
Or students could interview individuals in their family or community who lived during the New Deal (https://livingnewdeal.org/stories/).
The Living New Deal also offers
• practical tips for researching historic sites: https://livingnewdeal.org/site-submission-research/researching-new-deal-sites/guidelines-tips-for-new-deal-research/
• a list of existing historic sites by state and city: https://livingnewdeal.org/maps-and-sites/sites-by-state-and-city/
• a mission statement and rationale for this national inventory effort: https://livingnewdeal.org/mission/
As the USA approaches its 250th anniversary, this might be the ideal time to engage TC students in the preservation of the public projects of this extraordinary period of USA history.
Sam
Sam Dragga
Professor Emeritus
Texas Tech University
sam.dragga