all day
American Exposition
Every year, the end of the first semester of the 11th grade American Civilization course is marked by an expansive exposition of student work related to American culture. After researching a topic, students are tasked with presenting an aspect of American life through an exhibit.
The goal of each exhibit is to show how the student's chosen subject embodies ideas of American progress.
This hallmark project covers the period from Reconstruction to the start of the Great Depression, a period of time in which much of what is now recognized as American culture developed. This period is marked by:
- The dominance of realism and naturalism in literature
- The emergence of pragmatism in philosophy
- The booming of big business, the development of the assembly line, and commercial innovations in the economic sphere
- Immigration and urbanization
- The explosion of mass culture across all areas of American society
The Expo gives students the opportunity to map ideas and delve deeply into topics too numerous to cover in a single unit of the American Civilization course.
Class of 2022 Projects
Alexander Graham Bell • Alternative Medicine • American Impressionism • American Railroad • Art Movements in America • Birth Control • Child Labor • Coca-Cola • Comic Strips • Creation and Popularization of Diners • Creation of Major League Baseball & the First World Series • Democratic Shift of the New York Times • Early Hollywood • Edison’s Incandescent Bulb & Electric Power Distribution • Evolution of Airplanes • Evolution of Automobiles • Evolution of Music- Style and Production • Evolution of Radios • Evolution of the Camera • Evolution of Women’s Fashion • Expansion of the Jim Crow Laws • Henry Ford • Home Economics • Indian Industrial Schools Movement • Inhumane Treatment of Athletes During the 1904 Olympics • Integration of Color in Baseball Major Leagues • Invention of the Telephone • Invention of the Typewriter • John Dewey • John Muir & Creation of the National Parks • Joseph Pulitzer • Laissez-Faire Economics • Madam CJ Walker & the Progression of Black Hair Products • Movie Theater • Nikola Tesla • Panic of 1893 • Philippine-American War • Photography • Plessy v Ferguson - The Origin of Separate but Equal • Populism • Reconstruction & the Roots of Black Music • Roller Coasters • Society for Human Rights • Spanish-American War • Technological Progression of the Motion Picture • Victorian Burlesque • White Sox Scandal of 1919 • Women’s Rights Movement • World War I
Exhibit Parameters
- The origin of their topic had be in the time period of 1885-1915; however their research also had to cover the conditions that led to their topic, dating back as far as 1870.
- They had to follow the evolution of their topic and the impact afterwards, extending up to 1929.
- They had to conceive and construct an effective visual argument.
- They had to consider what resources other than written words they could use to organize information and build a case for their particular topic.
Using Sources in Upper School Projects
As with any research project in the Upper School, all sources used in the students' exhibits had to be fully cited and supported by an annotated bibliography. Students were required to comment on the reliability of each source and on the bias or perspective visible in each source.
