HIST 717

HistoryLab:  Collaborative Research with the Crafting Democratic Futures Project, Comparative Histories of Reparations – US, Germany, South Africa

Instructor:  Professor Earl Lewis 

Course Description

Reparations have become an urgent issue in contemporary American society and politics. This course seeks to situate current discussions of reparations within a historical and comparative context, asking students to engage with the question of how “reparations” has been defined, understood, and handled both domestically and globally over time.

The course is being offered as a HistoryLab, a graduate-level seminar that seeks to guide students through the process of research, critical analysis, synthesis, and writing in a collaborative framework.  This mode of instruction is designed 1) to provide hands-on, faculty-led training in historical research methods and practice; and 2) to offer students experience working with non-academic institutional partners.  Reading, conceptualizing debates and issues, research, primary source analysis, writing, and disseminating the fruit of this work will take place in teams.  

Instead of a traditional primary source-based research paper, the final products of this course will take a variety of shapes (podcast, case book, online learning materials, digital map), written and compiled for the community leaders and documentary filmmakers to understand the broader, global context of reparations and to provide documentary evidence for the reparations plans of the Crafting Democratic Futures Project.

Currently, there are 3 very different projects that have been identified by the Crafting Democratic Futures Partners, and students will be able to choose which project to work on, depending on their own interests. The projects include:

  • Investigating the Federal Highway Act of 1956 and its impact on black communities. The focus of this project will be the construction of I-375 and destruction of the Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods in Detroit. This work will use historical maps to reconstruct Black businesses in these areas and assess the loss to the community. It will be done in conjunction with CDF community partner in Detroit, Lauren Hood.
  • Developing a historical synthesis of reparations movements across the globe. The focus of this project will be to develop a case book that creates a set of working definitions for “reparations” and other key terms, identifies important examples of reparations across time and space, and analyzes pros and cons of different approaches to the problem. This work will be done in conjunction with CDF partner, Darryl Ford and WQED filmmakers.
  • Examining state and local efforts across the US to address reparations. The focus of this project will be to understand the nuts and bolts of reparations work, who has been involved, the role of individual communities, sources of funding, decision making processes, and models for evaluation and assessment. This work will be done in conjunction with CDF community partner in Washtenaw County, Alize Asbury-Paine.

Participation does NOT require specific historical expertise in reparations.  In the vein of all methods courses, deepening knowledge of one’s own intellectual fields is not primary goal.  Rather, students will learn how to define a research problem, assess scholarship, identify and analyze primary documents, manage a project, work on an expedited timeline, and present their work to non-specialists.

Readings

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” The Atlantic, June 2014.

William Darity and Kirsten Mullen, From Here to Equality, 2020

Elazar Barkan, The Guilt of Nations, 2000

John Torpey, ed., Politics and the Past: On Repairing Historical Injustices, 2003

Christian Pross, Paying for the Past, 1998

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid, 2003

Course Schedule

Before classes begin, please read Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” The Atlantic, June 2014. Please also peruse the Crafting Democratic Futures website, as well as the description of the three proposed projects to be worked on by HIST 717 teams.

Part I: Background and Historical Examples 

Week 1:  Introductions and Course Objectives

  • Reading: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” The Atlantic, June 2014.
  • Preparation:  Everyone reads and comes prepared to discuss Coates
  • In Class:
    • Hour 1:  CDF team introduces their work
    • Hour 2:  Discuss reading and outline the case for reparations
    • Hour 3:  Form teams, agree on projects, discuss team management
  • After Class: Each team meets to discuss team dynamics, logistics, and division of labor

Week 2:  No Class (Labor Day)

Week 3: Definitions and Comparisons

  • Reading: William Darity and Kirsten Mullen, From Here to Equality, 2020

Elazar Barkan, The Guilt of Nations, 2000

John Torpey, ed., Politics and the Past: On Repairing Historical Injustices, 2003

  • Preparation:  Everyone reads and comes prepared to discuss Darity & Mullen, Barkan (?), and Torpey
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-2:  Discuss readings collectively
    • Hour 3:  Discuss projects, begin to define research questions, look at digital databases
  • After Class: Each team meets to discuss research questions and develop research plan

Week 4: Global Cases

  • Reading: Christian Pross, Paying for the Past, 1998

Pumla Godobo-Madikizela, A Human Being Died that Night

  • Preparation:  Everyone reads and comes prepared to discuss Pross and Godobo-Madikizela
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-2:  Visit Bentley Library to look at archival material for team projects (3:00-4:30)
    • Hour 3:  Discuss readings collectively (4:30-6:00)
  • After Class:  Each team meets to formalize proposal for its project, including statement of research questions and first principles, sample documents, and work plan (500 words to be turned in 9/26)

Part II: Begin Work on Team Projects

Week 5:  Project Proposal Presentations

  • Reading: Recommended reading according to team, based on each team’s project
  • Preparation:  Each team prepares presentation of project proposal for stakeholder meeting
  • In Class:
    • Hour 1:  Collective discussion of each team’s project proposal (3:00-3:30)
    • Hour 2:  Each team presents proposal to CDF stakeholders (3:30-5:00)
    • Hour 3:  Collective debrief on presentations and discussion of next steps (5:00-6:00)
  • After Class:  Each team meets to revise proposal based on stakeholder feedback, divide up tasks for project, begin to conduct research

Week 6:  Looking for Sources and Documents

  • Reading: Recommended reading for each team, based on project
  • Preparation:  Continue to read literature as necessary, each team meets to search for primary documents for their project
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-3:  Each team presents documents they have found; class discusses sources collectively and decides (based on project first principles) which ones are promising; search for more sources as a class using Reuther and Detroit City Archive databases
  • After Class:  Each team meets to share primary documents members have found and discuss them

Week 7:  Looking for Sources and Documents

  • Reading: Recommended reading for each team, based on project
  • Preparation:  Continue to read literature as necessary, each team meets to search for primary documents for their project
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-2:  Field trip to the Reuther Library, look at source materials together, discuss sample documents
    • Hour 3:  Visit Black Bottom neighborhood with Lauren Hood
  • After Class:  Each team meets to continue hunting for useful documents and materials

Week 8:  No Class (Study Break)

Week 9:  Reading and Research for the Project

  • Reading: Recommended reading for each team, based on project
  • Preparation:  Continue to read literature as necessary, each team meets to search for primary documents for their project and begin to identify patterns in research (preliminary arguments)
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-3:  Videoconference with CDF community leaders and staff to get feedback on each team’s research
  • After Class:  Each team meets to digest community leader feedback, begin to make decisions on documents that align with community leaders’ priorities, and flesh out project arguments

Week 10:  Reading and Research for the Project

  • Reading: Recommended reading for each team, based on project
  • Preparation:  Continue to read literature as necessary, each team meets to develop the intellectual arguments that will form the basis of their project
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-3:  Each team presents documents they have found; collective discussion of potential arguments based on sources and what teams are finding in research
  • After Class:  Each team meets to decide how best to present project research based on community leader priorities and strategize work plan for creating outputs (digital maps, podcast, case book)

Part III: Develop Final Products

Week 11:  Pitch Would-Be Products to Clients

  • Reading: As necessary to contextualize and interpret documents or frame project
  • Preparation:  Each team finalizes full description of project product, decides on speaking roles, and prepares slide presentation of what the project’s product outcome will look like
  • In Class:
    • Hour 1:  Team 1 presents project to Lauren Hood and CDF staff  
    • Hour 2:  Team 2 presents project to Darryl Ford and WQED documentary filmmakers
    • Hour 3:  Team 3 presents project to Alize Asbury-Paine and CDF staff
  • After Class:  Each team meets to incorporate CDF stakeholder feedback and explore skills necessary to realize project output, may involve meeting with CDF staff or partners for digital skills

Week 12:  Create Final Products

  • Reading: As necessary to contextualize and interpret documents or develop historical interpretations
  • Preparation:  Continue to read literature as necessary, team members work on developing skills to create final product
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-3:  Each team reports on skill acquisition and current status of intellectual arguments that will be made in final products; class provides feedback to each team
  • After Class:  Each team meets to continue crafting final products, including writing, creating digital maps, drafting podcast script, etc.

Week 13:  Create Final Products (No Class Meeting)

Week 14:  Finalize Products

  • Preparation:  Each team meets to continue working on final product
  • In Class:
    • Hours 1-3:  Each team presents current status of final product for feedback; class provides collective editing
  • After Class:  Each team meets to complete project output and decide how to present final product to CDF community partners and staff

Week 15:  All Teams Presentations 

  • Preparation:  Each team meets to prepare project presentation
  • In Class:
    • Hour 1:  Team 1 presents project to Lauren Hood and CDF staff  
    • Hour 2:  Team 2 presents project to Darryl Ford and WQED documentary filmmakers
    • Hour 3:  Team 3 presents project to Alize Asbury-Paine and CDF staff
  • After Class:  Each team meets to make final edits on project product based on feedback from CDF stakeholders

Week 16:  Final Debrief

  • In Class:
    • Hour 1:  Collective discussion of history of reparations and history in the service of reparations
    • Hour 2:  Collective discussion of history methods and transferable skills

Crafting Democratic Futures Project Descriptions

  • Investigating the Federal Highway Act of 1956 and its impact on black communities. The focus of this project will be the construction of I-375 and destruction of the Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods in Detroit. This work will use historical maps to reconstruct Black businesses in these areas and assess the loss to the community. It will be done in conjunction with CDF community partner in Detroit, Lauren Hood. Research will involve:
    • Identifying Black businesses lost after I-375 was built
    • Geotaging Black businesses and creating a digital, interactive map of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley
    • Determining if any Black businesses survived
  • Developing a historical synthesis of reparations movements across the globe. The focus of this project will be to develop a case book that creates a set of working definitions for “reparations” and other key terms, identifies important examples of reparations across time and space, and analyzes pros and cons of different approaches to the problem. This work will be done in conjunction with CDF partner, Darryl Ford and WQED filmmakers. Research will involve:
    • Defining “reparations” and related terms
    • Deciding on which cases to include
    • Learning about how reparations worked in each key case
    • Identifying anchor primary documents that will be used to exemplify each case
    • Curating a case book of global reparations and possibly producing a podcast
  • Examining state and local efforts across the US to address reparations. The focus of this project will be to understand the nuts and bolts of reparations work, who has been involved, the role of individual communities, sources of funding, decision making processes, and models for evaluation and assessment. This work will be done in conjunction with CDF community partner in Washtenaw County, Alize Asbury-Paine. Research will involve:
    • Cataloguing reparations efforts started and completed
    • Understanding how reparations efforts were organized – their goals, where the effort came from, who was involved
    • Investigating how communities were brought into process or not
    • Detailing funding, implementation, and assessment plans