Chris Love, '06

"In the Middle Ages, a journeyman became a master only when he had become proficient enough at his trade to create a masterpiece. The masterpiece was something unique, an achievement likely never to be produced again." (Dr. Richard Smith) At Ferrum College, there is a similar rite of passage through which every history major must travel before graduating. Known as the Senior Seminar project, it is the capstone achievement in the history major's education, and in its process, a historical thinker is often born out of a history student.

In previous history classes, students took the knowledge that was given them and accepted it at face value. In senior seminar, the students have the chance to use their cumulative knowledge acquired to this point of their academic life at Ferrum. "The Senior Seminar course is basically a course in research methodology and writing history." (Smith) By now, students have already taken the class Historiography 398 in which they were exposed to the patterns of thought that a historian uses to find the reasoning behind an occurrence in history. Now in Senior Seminar, the student has the chance to research and write about a historical topic using an original thesis question which has never before been formally expounded upon. While the information necessary to answer the thesis question does exist, no one has published its findings as of yet. In essence, the student is creating an original piece of history using primary sources of information such as interviews, old records, and newspapers as well as books and other sources related to the subject. When the student finally reports on his/her findings s/he has often become an expert on the topic as much as is possible on an undergraduate level.

In the Senior Seminar, students are taught how to do first-hand research with an objective in mind. A teacher and faculty advisors work with each student, helping them develop the capacity to synthesize information into a model relevant to their thesis. In addition, the students now get the opportunity to use their critical thinking skills, which they acquired in Historiography 398 as they do research and write about their findings. At the end of the course, the students present their findings to a small audience of interested people from the college community. As the project is engaged and finished, an even more important education is occurring at a deeper level in that the students are becoming familiar with the research process itself - a process which they may see again later in life.

"[In the senior seminar] we are trying to get the students to be historians… not simply to teach them history [and the researched opinions of the day]" (Dr. Daniel Woods) The goal of the Senior Seminar is to have each student pose a question on an interesting subject and then to have the student find the answers to his/her question by researching the subject, putting together the findings, and finally presenting the answer. This much resembles the projects one would do in graduate school.

"When people sign up for a history major here [at Ferrum], they are told about the senior seminar from the start. They know that in their senior year they will be expected to do this project. They think about it; they plan; they edge closer to the semester in which they will take the class as yet not quite knowing what to expect. Somewhere in the course of their four years here they find a topic that strikes them as interesting - something they want to research." (Smith) The thing that makes the Senior Seminar so different from other classes is that the work done in Senior Seminar is not based entirely on the printed word. The individual theses of the Senior Seminar projects have never before been published - thus they are made of information with which the general public is not yet fully knowledgeable. In doing the research, students are free to use any source of published and secondary information they can find.

The senior seminar runs the course of a semester and, like any other class, an instructor leads it. At the beginning of the semester, each student declares which topic s/he will research. "We try to get them to follow their interests," says Dr. Woods. Once a topic is chosen, each student decides on a thesis in which s/he will research his/her topic. The student is then assigned a faculty adviser who knows a good deal about the topic. The faculty advisor is available through the whole process to aid the student in their research and writing. The student writes an outline of how s/he expects to go about researching the topic, and the research begins.

In the classroom itself, the students talk among themselves about their progress. The teacher is there to provide insight and direction. The classroom itself is a forum in which the students help each other and provide constructive criticism as each of them seeks ways to direct their project for the better. The students read their writings among themselves; and in doing so each individual paper is improved. In essence, the entire class helps in bringing each research paper to a near professional level as much as can be obtained by a student. At the end of the semester, each student presents their findings in a brief seminar to the class and anyone else who is interested. By this time, each student has become somewhat of an expert on their topic more so than anyone else in the room. The student truly owns the information s/he has researched. The Senior Seminar is like a journey; it is not about repetitious learning or endless research. It is more of a search for a historical account which exists but has not yet been formally accounted for in its historical context.

In the process of doing the Senior Seminar project an even more important academic experience is gained - the students learn how to do independent research while their skills of organization and information synthesis are developed. By the end of the project each student has come to be able to defend his/her findings with historical fact. In being a historian, the student must learn to delve into the matter of the historical event which s/he studies. In doing this type of research and then presenting the findings a student often moves from the realm of "history major" to that of "historical thinker."

At the completion of the semester, many in the class feel a great sense of accomplishment at the new piece of historical research which they themselves have produced. Thinking back to the beginning of the semester, many were apprehensive about what would be expected of them in senior seminar. When the project is done, many in the class come to the conclusion that the senior seminar was "not so bad after all." In addition, some may find that the research they've done in Senior Seminar becomes important to them again later in life if the need for their research arises.

"Senior Seminar is either the end or the beginning of your carrier as a history major." (Smith). To the graduate who does not plan to attend graduate school and thus will not be using his/her understanding of history on a daily basis, the senior seminar is the capstone achievement of his/her career as a history student. To the graduate who does go on to graduate school, the Senior Seminar is the beginning of a new kind of education involving many projects of a similar nature. "We want [our students who enter graduate school] to have a little bit of an edge, or at least not be behind the people they'll be competing with in graduate school, and having gone through the process of writing a thesis paper will certainly better prepare them for the graduate school experience in history." (Smith)

While the majority of students who take the Senior Seminar class are, in fact, history majors, the class is open to any student who has some historical background and would like to engage in the process of first hand research. While a history major may approach a topic from one angle, a criminal justice or sociology major may approach it from a completely different angle. As stated, the course is a wonderful opportunity for anyone looking to learn the process of independent research, and it is almost essential for the history major.

It has been roughly ten years since Ferrum professors Dr.'s Richard Smith and Daniel Woods set the Senior Seminar and Historiography courses into motion. Dr. Smith brings to Ferrum a talent for writing history and teaching others how to write history. He contributed a lot to the senior seminar class before passing the course on to Dr. Michael Trochim two years ago. Dr. Trochim, with his energetic style and inquisitive mindset, tends to inspire students in the research itself. In addition, Dr. Trochim is fairly well versed in using the Internet to teach this course. The mission here at Ferrum College involves the desire to implant students with skills that will be useful to them in their future. The senior seminar can be said to be an outstanding example of a class that stands by this mission. The history department here at Ferrum does not simply grant diplomas with the assumption that by hearing alone a student can ease into the post-graduate ranks with everything needed for success within a field. Ferrum offers the Senior Seminar course knowing that a student who learns skills of organization, synthesis, and research writing will be better equipped with skills needed in life. "I think they surprise themselves sometimes." - Dr. Woods.

Listing of some of this year's senior history majors, their project topics, and a brief explanation thereof:

Patrick Angle:
Image of the Nationalist Chinese in the US Press in the 1940's. Patrick explores the US media's
perception of Chiang Kai-Chek as a Democratic leader.

Michael Beno:
The Ouster of Noriega. Michael examines the end of the regime of the 1989 Panamanian president.

Cornelius Burroughs, III:
The Roman Empire and the Spread of Christianity. Cornelius explores the Roman persecution of early Christians and how it actually aided the spread of Christianity.
Mark Hatcher:
Japanese Internment during WWII. Mark examines the impact of US internment on the lives and families of Japanese Americans.

Brandi Kent:
Female Immigrants in the Early 20th Century. Brandi explores the adaptations of cultural norms by female Italian émigrés.

Jennifer Lopez
Marriage Among Blacks and Whites in Antebellum Virginia. Jennifer's research focuses on the adaptations in lifestyles needed for both partners of a white/slave marriage in the culture of the day.

Wesley Martin
North or South: Civil War Generals' Decisions. Wesley's paper explains the lines of thinking among Northern generals who came to side with the Confederacy and vice versa.

Mischelle Mason
Southern Belle in Medical Work. Mischelle examines the manner in which Southern ladies kept their dainty image while working in the medical field and in other ventures during the Civil War.

Michael Milton
Art Between the Wars. Michael investigates the changes in thought patterns following WWI as evidenced by the art of the day.

Trekeyta Niblett
Martinsville 7. Trekeyta explores the local implications of a criminal act and trial of seven African Americans accused of rape in a small Virginia community.

David Shakibnia
William Byrd II as Patriarch. David's paper examines the personal life and role of the early Virginia landowner as a figurehead in his day.

Jonathan Vermillion
Altamont & the Counterculture. Jonathan explores the implications of the downfall of the 1960's youth counter-culture as evidenced by the fiasco at the Altamont Music Festival.