Teaching Local History Using Digital Humanities

Abstract

This article shares lessons learned from teaching two related undergraduate courses, History of New Jersey and History of Newark, both at Rutgers University-Newark.  Students in these courses have completed several assignments that asked them to find and analyze primary sources using online databases and repositories.  I share an overview of the assignments, highlight students’ best finds in the course of their research, and assess what aspects of the assignments worked well and what needed improvement.  Overall, this article finds that online primary sources are ample and easily accessible, though their abundance means that students may need assistance in determining what will best fit their projects.