The purpose of this assignment is to:
- Highlight historical figures who provide a different perspective on the history of Western Civilization.
- Introduce students to the use of reliable reference sources.
- Foster critical thinking skills as students review one another’s work.
- Encourage interaction among students as they review and edit one another’s work.
Instructions for Creating a Page (Module/Week 4)
For the first part of this assignment, you will choose a person from the list provided, use reliable reference sources to compile a short biographical sketch for that person, and post your work to the Biographical Wiki.
Step 1: Choose a person from the list below and create a page in the Biographical Wiki. Check to make sure the person you selected has not already been posted to the wiki by another student.
List of historical figures for Step 1: Women in Western Civilization
- Lou Andreas-Salomé
- Susan B. Anthony
- Marie Antoinette
- Mary Astell
- Hubertine Auclert
- Marianne Cope
- Marie Curie
- Millicent Fawcett
- Olympe de Gouges
- Mata Hari
- Mary Kingsley
- Mary Leakey
- Rosa Luxembourg
- Maria Theresa
- Rosalía Mera
- Maria Montessori
- Hannah More
- Mamphela Ramphele
- Leni Riefenstahl
- Mary Seacole
- Mary Slessor
- Madame de Staël
- Violette Szabo
- Mother Teresa
- Margaret Thatcher
- Harriet Tubman
- Queen Victoria
- Trude Weiss-Rosmarin
- Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
- Mary Wollstonecraft
Step 2: Research the person using reliable reference sources. (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.) and works of historical scholarship (peer-reviewed journal articles, essay collections, historical monographs). Do not use an open web search, popular magazines, or works targeting children. Do not use the course text as a source for this assignment.
Step 3: Synthesize the information you have gathered into a single, concise biographical sketch. Give a short summary of the person’s life and most significant achievements and situate the person in the historical context as it relates to this course. Write one or two paragraphs using complete sentences. The best biographical sketches will be 200–250 words. Remember that this is a short summary, not a research paper. Write only in your own words. Do not copy and do not quote from other sources.
Type your work into the wiki page which you have created for the course. Include a list of the reference sources used. For books, essays, and journal articles, include a full bibliographic entry properly formatted in current Turabian style. See the Turabian Quick Guide for citing most sources. For reference works, give the full title of the reference work and the publication year. If it is an electronic source, give a working link.
