As a teaching assistant in America, the New West, and the Frontier, I designed three Experiential Learning days into my section. During these modules, I led students through analysis of primary historical materials that highlighted themes from the readings and lectures.
Our first experiential learning session was built around our reading of
The Frontier in American Culture by Richard White and Patricia Nelson Limerick. Arranged during the third week of classes, I organized our admission to the
Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. I led students through a tour California history wing. Drawing attention to paintings depicting the American West, I prompted students to connect exhibits to our conversations regarding the role of the frontier in the popular imaginary. Following the tour, we met with the archival staff of the
Seaver Center for Western History Research. I had prearranged for staff to pull materials related to El Pueblo Historic Monument, which would connect to the next week's reading of Phoebe Kropp's exploration of Olvera Street in
California Vieja. Archival staff further introduced students to the ways historians use of maps, posters, and photographs in the process of historical research.
Module 2: Union Station and El Pueblo
I built the second experiential learning module around Phoebe Kropp’s California Vieja. Kropp's analysis of the Spanish Fantasy Past as exhibited in Olvera Street in Los Angeles provided the foundation for a tour of cultural heritage tourism in Downtown Los Angeles. I used the format of a tour to introduce students to field work and to guide them through analysis of the built environment. In particular, I prompted them to think about the historical continuities between Kropp's work and the rise in ethnic tourism in Downtown revitalization campaigns. I asked students, how does tourism work to illuminate or to hide aspects of frontier society or the history of the U.S. West? How are education and entertainment balanced? And, how do visitors interact with this site? In doing so, I sought to build a skill set which would serve students in their upcoming paper: an analysis of a heritage site.
Module 3: Black Power and Community Archives
In the last of our experiential learning sessions, I invited the Executive Director Yusef Omowale of the
Southern California Library, an archive focusing on the history of south Los Angeles and social justice movements. Building on our reading of Robert Self’s
America Babylon: Race and Struggle for Postwar Oakland, Omowale shared highlights from their collections related to the Black Panthers. The process of handling these primary materials created a tangible connection to our discussion of the Black Power Movement in California. Specifically, I asked students to consider the portrayals of the American West we had discussed at the Natural History Museum alongside those produced by the Black Panthers.
