Object Lessons
History doctoral candidate Krista Grensavich reports on her research project on the use of objects to teach historical information. The project is sponsored by the Chipstone Foundation and involves the UWM Library’s Archives and Special Collections.
Video Description: This video traces a semester-long assignment series in an Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies course taught in the Fall of 2018 by Krista Grensavitch at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). The assignment series, titled Object Lessons, asked students to learn through, and with, material things, by continually pursuing a central question: “where do texts fail us, and how are objects uniquely suited to both identify and fill these silences?” In collaboration with Special Collections at UWM’s Golda Meir Library, students drew upon their knowledge of women’s and gender studies to investigate the idea of consent. Considering both curricula from Milwaukee Public Schools as well as dolls meant to teach young children about sexual violence and consent, students utilized lenses like intersectionality and privilege in their investigation of creating and maintaining consent.
Make It Gendered, Make It Global: Retelling the Reformation
Distinguished Professor Wiesner-Hanks presented at UWM’s inaugural “Short Talks, Big Ideas” event in February 2018. The event featured eight powerful lectures with the potential to reshape how we see and understand the world in 2018.
Video description: Early modern history has traditionally been told as the story of European men: men in ships discovering new lands, male merchants and investors expanding capitalism, male rulers creating nation-states, and a very male Martin Luther. The research of UWM Distinguished Professor of History Merry Wiesner-Hanks challenges all of these narratives, helping to create a history with a wider range of actors, including European women of all classes and indigenous people of all sexes.
The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee
The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee is a project in development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, under the director of History faculty Amanda Seligman and Margo Anderson. When completed, it will include approximately 740 entries on Milwaukee history topics ranging from arts and culture to philanthropy and nonprofit organizations to business and labor. The digital site will also feature maps, historic photographs and paintings, digitized primary sources, stories about the research, and comments from readers.
The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project
The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project, a digital collection organized by many faculty and students in history, presents primary sources from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries and the Wisconsin Historical Society that provide a window onto Milwaukee’s civil rights history. During the 1960s, community members waged protests, boycotts, and legislative battles against segregation and discriminatory practices in schools, housing, and social clubs. The efforts of these activists and their opponents are vividly documented in the primary sources found here, including photographs, unedited news film footage, text documents, and oral history interviews. This website also includes educational materials, including a bibliography and timeline, to enhance understanding of the primary sources. The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project seeks to make Milwaukee’s place in the national struggle for racial equality more accessible, engaging, and interactive.
Milwaukee Polonia
Members of the History faculty are key advisors on Milwaukee Polonia, a digital collection of tens of thousands of negatives and prints from the photographer Roman Kwasniewski, who captured important events in the lives of thousands of Polish-Americans in Milwaukee over many decades.