David W. Miller -- Teaching students to think like historians — Great American history machine.pdf

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Journal o f Com puting in High er EducationFall 1995 , Vol. 7 1), 33-43.

T e a c h i n g S t u d e n t s t o T h i n k

L i k e H i s t o r i a n s

G rea t A m e r ic a n H is to r y M a c h i n e

Da vid W. Mi l l erarnegie M ellon Un iversity

A B S T R A C T

T EACHERS OF HISTORY at the undergraduate level have

tried various means of inducing students to think like his-

torians. The author offers an account of how historians think

which stresses the search for patterns in large bodies of evidence togenerate, more than to test, hypotheses. He describes a computer

application for enabling students to do this through interactive ac-

cess through a map interface to historical county-level U.S. census

data, and a U.S. history course in which this application has been

implemented. Ke yw ords: history, hypothesis, census, co m pu ter ap-

plication)

I N T R O D U C T I O N

T IS A COMMON OBSERVATION that scholars in different

disciplines tend to do their best work at different ages. I have

heard it said, for example, that mathematicians who make break-

throughs in their field often do so when they are in their twenties.By contrast, historical work that is regarded as superb is more often

done by historians in their forties and fifties. I think there is a reason

33



TE CHING STUDENTS TO THINK LIKE HISTORI NS

f o r th i s p e c u l i a ri ty o f m y p r o f es s io n . W h a t r e a l l y c o u n t s a m o n g p r o -

f e s s i o n a l h i s t o r i a n s i s c o m m a n d o f a n e x t r a o r d i n a r y r a n g e o f i n f o r -m a t io n o n a p a r t icu l a r f ie ld . G r ea t h i s to r y d ep a r tm en t s i n g r ea t u n i -

v e r s it ie s co mp r i s e m an y sch o la r s , each o f w h o m h as sp en t y ea r s t r y in g

to r ead ev e r y th in g w r i t t en d u r in g o r ab o u t so me p e r io d in a p a r t i cu l a r

so c i e ty ( s ay , t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e s ev en teen th cen tu r y i n E n g lan d ) o r

r e l ev an t t o so me to p i c ac r o s s s ev e r a l so c i e t i e s ( s ay , t h e p o s i t i o n o f

w o m e n o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f m o d e r n c h e m i s tr y ) . T h e h i s t o r i a n ' s

d i s t i n c t i v e r o l e i s t o d i s ce r n p a t t e r n s i n a h u g e , s eemin g ly f o r mles s ,

m a s s o f d a ta m a s t e re d o n l y b y t h at i n d i v id u a l a n d a f e w o t h e rs w h oh av e u n d e r g o n e th e s ame r eg imen . Y ea r s a r e sp en t i n b u i ld in g th e

m enta l da tabase , and the h i s to r ian tends to be qu i te r e luc tan t to ve n ture

o u t s id e t h e p a r t i cu l a r b o d y o f su b j ec t ma t t e r i n w h ich h e o r sh e h as

bu i l t exper t i se .

T h ese p ecu l i a r i t i e s o f t h e h i s to r i an , I b e l i ev e , a r e an imp o r t an t

c lu e t o u n d e r s t an d in g th e d i f f e r en ces b e tw een h i s to r y an d th e o th e r

so c i a l s c i en ces. M o s t so c i a l s c i en ti s ts a r e p r im ar i l y co n ce r n ed w i t a

id en t i f y in g c r u c i a l h y p o th eses , o p e r a t i o n a l i z in g t h em, an d su b jec t i n g

th em to f o r ma l t es ts . W h i l e h i s to r i an s ce r t a in ly r eco g n ize t h e imp o r -

t an ce o f t e s ti n g h y p o th eses w h er ev e r p o s s ib le , t h ey g en e r a l l y fee l t h a t

t h e i r o w n m is s io n i s r a th e r t o g en e r a t e n ew h y p o th eses . T h e h i s to -

r i a n i s m u c h m o r e a t h o m e e x p l o r i n g a l a r g e b o d y o f e v i d e n c e i n

sea r ch o f so me mean in g f u l p a t t e r n t h an in t r y in g to s eek o u t p o r t i o n s

o f t h a t d a t a t h a t a r e su f f i c i en t ly t i d y t o f ac i l it a t e r i g o r o u s t e s t in g o f

h y p o th eses .

E D U C T I O N L P R O B L E M

N I V E R S I T Y T E A C H E R S O F H I S T O R Y o f te n sa y t ha t t he y

w a n t s tu d en t s in o u r co u r ses to b eg in th in k in g l i k e h i s to r i-

an s . I t i s o b v io u s en o u g h h o w to g e t s t u d en ts t o b eg inth in k in g li k e , say , p h y s ic i s ts : O n e a s s ig n s t h em p h y s i c s p r o b lem se ts ,

a t ime- h o n o r ed an d v e r y w e l l - t e s ted t each in g d ev ice . N o d o u b t su ch

34



David W Miller

problem sets are a less than perfect means to induce students to think

like physicists. We historians, however, have not been nearly as suc-cessful in developing such a means in our discipline, and I think that

the account I have just given of what it means to think like an his-

torian can help us to understand why. The most common way of

trying to get students to think like historians is to provide them with

primary documents relevant to the subject matter of the course.

Collections of such documents are easily available and are sometimes

offered as a complement to introductory textbooks. Their use may

indeed have significant pedagogical benefits, but it is unclear that wehave ever found a way to use them that actually impels students to

think like historians with anything like the success with which phys-

ics problem sets make them begin to think like physicists.

One of the problems with document collections is simply prac-

tical constraints on the amount of material that can be published. As

I have argued elsewhere,2 the working historian normally sifts through

hundreds of document s-- many of them repetitive or irrelevant, some

of them inconsistent with others, and some even self-contradictory--

before venturing a judgment on even quite a narrow issue. Does the

student who confronts preselected documents experience the main task

of the historian? Does he or she learn how to digest all the evidence

and master it sufficiently to begin to discern patterns in it and evalu-

ate how reliable its various piece are? On the contrary, there is a

real danger that the student will suspend the very critical faculty we

want to encourage and treat the document as an example of the truth

conveyed in lectures and the textbook.

In the past generation there have been a few serious efforts to

overcome this difficulty by publishing collections that contain enough

of the primary evidence on a topic to enable the student really to

begin reconstructing some history from scratch. 3 Although these con-

trolled research collections may have been occasionally used for

teaching research methodology to history majors, they were never

generally accepted as the solution to the problem of how to getundergraduates in general to think like historians. At least in major

history departments, I believe, even traditional document collections

35




h av e lo s t g r o u n d in r ecen t d ecad es , a s h av e t h e t ex tb o o k s t h ey w er e

i n t e n d e d t o a c c o m p a n y . W h a t h a s t e n d e d t o r e p la c e th e m h a s b e e nthe monographT h e p ap e r b ack r ev o lu t io n o f t h e 1 9 50 s mad e i t p o s s ib l e t o a s s ig n

s tud en t s t h e b es t w o r k s o f h i s to r y b y th e l ead e r s o f th e p r o f es s io n

very soon af te r the i r in i t ia l pub l ica t ion . Give n the d i f f icu l t ies o f ge t t ing

s tu d en ts t o b eg in p r ac t i c in g th e h i s to r i a n ' s c ra f t, t h e p ap e r b a ck m o n o -

g r ap h o f f e r ed a t emp t in g a l te r n a t iv e : I n s t ead o f t r y in g to g e t s t u d en t s

to d o h i s to r y , w e w o u ld g iv e t h em th e o p p o r tu n i ty t o l o o k o v e r t h e

sh o u ld e r s o f t h e b es t p r ac t it i o n e r s o f th e c ra f t. M o r eo v er , a s s ig n in ga s t a c k o f p a p e r b a c k m o n o g r a p h s h a d t he m e r i t o f a d d re s s in g a n o t h e r

p e r s i s t en t d i ff i cu l ty i n t each in g h i s to r y a t t h e u n iv e r s i t y l e v e l - - t h a t i s,

t h e i m p r e s s i o n m a n y s t u d e n t s b r i n g w i t h t h e m f r o m h i g h s c h o o l t h a t

t h e s tu d y o f h is to r y i s m a in ly a ma t t e r o f m em o r i za t i o n . S in ce t h a t

imp r es s io n w as a s so c i a t ed w i th th e t ex tb o o k , sh i f t in g to a n o th e r g en r e

a l t o g e t h e r s e e m e d t o h e l p b r e a k t h e c y c l e o f m e r e m e m o r i z a t i o n a n d

en ab le u n iv e r s i t y t each e r s o f h i sto r y to f o s t e r c r i ti ca l t h in k in g . H o w -

ev er , c r i t ica l th in k in g , b y i ts e l f, is o n ly p a r t o f w h a t i t m ean s t o t h in k

l ik e an h i s to r i an . G e t t i n g s tu d en ts i n v o lv ed in t h e e s sen t i a l co r e

o f t h e h i s to r i an ' s w o r k - - - t h e s ea r ch f o r p a t t e r n s i n a l a r g e b o d y o f

e v i d e n c e - - h a s r e m a i n e d a n e l u s i v e g o a l .

U S IN G C O M P U T E R S O FT W R E T E C H N O L O G Y T O

H E L P S T U D E N T S L E R N T O T H I N K L IK E

H I S T O R I N S

U R I N G T H E L A T E 1 9 8 0 s , I d e v e l o p e d a s o f t w a r e s y s t e m

a n d , t o g e t h e r w i t h m y c o l l e a g u e J o h n M o d e l l , p r o d u c e d a n

in t r o d u c to r y U .S . h i s to r y co u r se t h a t p r o v id es a f r e sh an d

h o p ef u l so lu t i o n t o t h i s p r o b lem. T h e so f tw ar e i s k n o w n as t h e Great

American History Machine ( G A H M) an d th e co u r se u s in g th a t so f t -w a r e ( P a t t e rn a n d C h a n g e i n N i n e t e e n t h C e n t u r y A m e r i c a ) w a s f ir s t

36



David W Miller

taught in 1987. It was a bounded elective in the core curriculum

then in force in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at

Carnegie Mellon; this means that it was one of several U.S. history

courses which sophomores in the college might choose. The course

used a graduated series of GAHM-based research exercises to get

sophomores to think like historians.4

GAHM gives each student access to the entire county-level U.S.

census returns from 1840 to 1980, along with selected presidential

election returns) This is truly a huge body of data. In 1850 alone,

for example, there were some 1,600 counties in the 31 United States.For each of these 1,600 counties GAHM stores census values for each

of 253 attributes on which the U. S. Census for that year published

county information. This includes information not only on age, race

and gender of the population, but also on such subjects as religion,

education, manufacturing and agriculture. GAHM enables the user

to produce a map showing, by means of shading patterns the level

of each of these variables in each county. The student can find, for

instance, that most New England counties had at least one library,

while most counties in Mississippi had none. But most phenomena

that produce interpretable geographical distributions are calculated as

rates or ratios--for example, libraries per 1000 population; slaves per

farm; value of farms per acre; or young children per fertile-age woman.

Thus, in effect, many more than the 253 variables are available for

the year 1850 alone, and the data for the other census years are com-

parably rich.

The GAHM software enables the student to access a genuinely

massive body of material, obviously germane to a very wide range

of issues appropriate to undergraduate history courses, and subject to

just the kind of evidentiary questions historians delight in posing: What

did it really mean to tell the census taker in 1850 that you were literate?

How do you suppose they knew how many books there were in Sunday

School libraries? Moreover, by taking advantage of capabilities that

are becoming available on the more powerful models of popularmicrocomputers, GAHM gives the student access to these data through

use of a chloropleth map, a medium that invites the search for pat-

37



T E C H I N G S T U D E N T S T O T H I N K L I K E H I S T O R I N S

t e r n s ; i t d i sp l ay s t h e l ev e l s o f a v a r i ab l e b y m ean s o f d i f f e r en t sh ad es

o r co l o rs . Th u s , t h e so ft war e em p o w er s t h e s t u d en t t o en g ag e i n j u s tt h e k i n d o f w i d e - r an g i n g t h i n k i n g t h a t h i s t o r i an s d o ( t h o u g h h i s t o r i -

an s , o f co u r se , d o su ch t h i n k i n g i n m an y o t h e r f r am ewo r k s b es i d es

t h e g eo g r ap h i c o n e su p p o r t ed b y G A H M ) . Th e v i su a l q u a l i ti e s o f t h e

m ap s o f f e r v e r y p o wer f u l cu es t o s t u d en t s t o b eg i n s ea r ch i n g f o r

p a t t e r n s an d f o r m i n g t h e i r o wn h y p o t h eses .

A l t h o u g h t h e d es i g n e r s o f t h e co u r se a re p rac t it io n e r s o f t h e n ew

so c i a l h i s t o r y , t h e co u r se ac t u a l ly fo cu sed o n c l a s s ic i s su es o f U . S .

h i s t o r y i n th e m i d - n i n e t een t h c l a s s i c i s su es o f U . S . h i s t o r y in t h e m i d -n i n e t e e n th c e n t u r y - - t h e i n te r re l a te d d e v e l o p m e n t s o f w e s t w a r d ex -

pans ion , immigra t ion , i ndus t r i a l and u rban g rowth , s l avery , t he sec-

t i o n a l c o n f l i c t , a n d t he b r e a k d o w n o f t h e s e c o n d - p a r t y s y s t e m .

M o r e o v e r , a l t h o u g h m y c o l l e a g u e a n d I b o t h h a v e m o r e e x t e n s i v e

q u an t i t a ti v e an d co m p u t e r sk i l l s t h an i s co m m o n am o n g h i s to r i an s , n o

su ch sk i l l s b ey o n d e l em en t a r y a l g eb r a a r e r eq u i r ed t o t ak e ad v an t ag e

o f G A H M . A l t h o u g h w e e x p e c t G A H M t o b e in t e re s ti n g to o u r f e ll o w

q u a n t i t a t i v e h i s t o r i a n s , i t w a s r e a l l y d e s i g n e d , a s I h a v e a l r e a d y

ind ica ted , to be used by h i s to r ians wh o do no t necessa r i ly f it t he soc ia l

s c i en ce h i s t o r y m o l d . M o r eo v e r , th r o u g h o u t o u r f i v e y ea r s o f w o r k

on the course and i t s cen t ra l pedagog ica l i nnovat ion , we res i s t ed t emp-

t a ti o n s t o su b o r d i n a te o u r ra t h e r m a i n s t r eam t each i n g g o a l s t o t h e

p o wer o f t h e co m p u t e r .

C L A S S R O O M US

H E C O U R S E w a s s tr u c tu r e d a r ou n d a s e qu e n c e o f e x e r c i se s

tha t pose ser ious h i s to r i ca l ques t ions to which a t l eas t t en ta t ive

an swer s can b e f o u n d b y ex p l o r i n g t h e cen su s an d e l ec t i o n

d a t a t h r o u g h th e m a p i n te r fa c e o f G A H M . F o r e x a m p l e , o n e e x e r c i s e

in the f i r s t ver s ion o f t he course in t roduced s tuden t s to the h i s to r i ca l( a n d h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l ) c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h s l a v e

f am i l i e s wer e b r o k en up an d t h e y o u n g m a l e p r i m e fi e l d h an d s wer e

38



David W Miller

s o l d w e s t f r o m t h e s e a b o a r d s l a v e s t a t e s t o t h e m i d - S o u t h a n d s o u t h -

w e s t . T h e s t u d e n t w a s a s k e d to u s e a g e a n d s e x d a t a o n s l a v e s t o

s h e d l i g h t o n t h is i s s u e a n d w a s e x p e c t e d to p r o d u c e a s h o r t e s s a y

o n t h e t o p ic , i ll u s tr a te d w i t h l a s e r p r i n te d m a p s g e n e r a t e d i n G A H M .

T h e s o f tw a r e h a s b e e n d e s i g n e d to e n c o u r a g e e x p l o r a t io n o f a n d

i n t e r a c t io n w i t h d a ta . O n c e t h e s t u d e n t h a s c r e a t e d a m e a s u r e (a f te r

p e r h a p s p o n d e r i n g w h e t h e r t o c a l c u l a t e t h e r a t i o o f s l a v e s t o t h e f r e e

p o p u l a t i o n , s a y , o r s l a v e s p e r f a r m ) , n o r m a l l y o n l y a b o u t o n e t o t w o

a d d i t io n a l m i n u t e s a re n e e d e d t o g e n e r a t e f r o m r a w d a t a a n e w m a p

o f t h e e n t ir e U . S . b y c o u n t i es o n t h e c o m p u t e r s c re e n . T h e c o s to f t r y i n g o u t a n i d e a is sl ig h t . T h e s t u d e n t c a n z o o m i n o n a p a r-

t i c u l a r r e g i o n a n d r e s e t t h e c u t p o i n t s b e t w e e n t h e c l a s s i n t e r v a l s

( r e p r e s e n t e d o n t h e m a p b y d i f f e r e n t s h a d i n g p a t t e r n s ) t o t e a s e o u t

i n f o r m a t i o n . T h e s o f tw a r e s u p p o r t s a s p l i t- s c r e e n c a p a b i l it y , w h i c h

a l l o w s t h e u s e r t o c o m p a r e t h e m a p o f o n e v a r i a b l e w i t h t h e m a p o f

a n o t h e r v a r ia b l e , o r w i t h t h a t o f t h e s a m e v a r i a b l e a t a n o t h e r d a t e , o r

e v e n w i t h a m a p o f p h y s i c a l f e a t u r e s s u c h a s m o u n t a i n s , c a n a l s , c it ie s ,

o r r a il ro a d s . T h e e x e r c i s e s i n t h e c o u r s e w e r e g r a d u a t e d i n s o p h i s -

t i c a t i o n t o e n c o u r a g e s t u d e n t s t o d e v e l o p t h e s k i l l s o f h i s t o r i c a l i n -

q u i r y t h a t e n c o u r a g e t h e m t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f a l l t h e s o f t w a r e ' s

c a p a b i l i t i e s .

L E S S O N S L E R N E D

U R E X P E R I E N C E i n t h e f i r st s em e s t e r i n w h i c h w e o f f e re d

t h e c o u r s e w a s t h at s tu d e n t s c o u l d i n d e e d d o t h e e x e r c i s e s

a n d b y a n d l ar g e , w e r e i n t ri g u e d b y t h e m . M o r e o v e r , t h e r e

w a s c l e a rl y a h i g h l e v e l o f e n g a g e m e n t i n th e w o r k o f t h e c o u rs e .

S t u d e n t s f e l t t h a t t h e y w e r e d o i n g h i s t o r y i n a w a y t h a t e n a b l e d t h e m

t o sh a r e w i th t h e f ac u l ty t h e e x c i t e m e n t o f d i s c o v e r y . T h i s s e n s e w a s

r e i n f o r c e d b y c l a s s s e s s io n s o n t h e d a y s G A H M e x e r c i s e s w e r e re -t u r n e d ( o r d i n a r il y th e n e x t cl a s s d a y a f te r th e y w e r e d u e ) , d u r i n g w h i c h

t h e i n t e r p r e t i v e i s s u e s o f t h e a s s i g n m e n t w e r e d i s c u s s e d o n t h e b a s i s

3 9




of overhead transparencies of some of the maps included in student

papers. An unintended but welcome consequence was that manyengineering and science students, who might ordinarily have been quite

bored in an introductory history course, were very captivated by the

analytic and empirical focus of this history course.

Our experience with the first version of the course led us to make

some revisions: We were more deliberate in sequencing the exercises

in ascending order of complexity, and we rested more of the substan-

tive instruction in the course on the exercises. In the first version

we, rather timidly, had not ventured very far from the recent practiceof assigning historical monographs as the principal reading in the

course. We came to realize that we should have had more faith in

the logic behind the development of GAHM as outlined above; working

with GAHM, the students were engaged in high-level intellectual tasks

of their own, and there really was no need to enrich that fare with

a steady diet of monographs. In the Fall 1988 version of the course,

we accordingly retained only the most demanding of these monograph,;.

In place of the others we now use one extended and complex con-

temporary document, along with an excellent textbook (Stephan

Thernstrom s A His tory o f the Amer ican People Volume One: To

1877), and we are confident that no student in this course will make

the mistake of thinking that his or her main task is to memorize names

and dates.

D I S S E M I N T I O N B E Y O N D C R N E G I E M E L L O N

HOUGH we had successfully incorporated GAHM into a his-

tory course at Carnegie Mellon University by 1989, we rec-

ognized that further development of the software program would

be necessary in order to make it truly useful outside CMU. One

peculiarity of CMU is the availability of quite advanced computingsystems to ordinary undergraduates in all fields. This accessibility of

computing systems is complemented by both formal and informal user

40



David W Miller

su p p o r t sy s tem s . Fo r ex am p l e , a l l f r e sh m e n t ak e a co u r se en t i t led th e

C o m p u t e r S k i ll s W o r k s h o p w h i c h p r e p a re s t h e m t o d e a l w i t h se v -

e r a l co m p u t i n g sy s t em s t h ey m ay en co u n t e r d u r i n g t h e i r u n d e r g r ad u -

a te y ea rs . I n ad d i t io n , th e f ac t t h a t t h e d ev e l o p e r o f GA H M ( t h is

wr i t e r ) was o n e o f t h e t each e r s i n t h e co u r se m ean t t h a t a g o o d d ea l

o f l o r e ab o u t t h e cen su s an d t h e co n t en t o f i t s v a r i ab l e s m i g h t we l l

b e co n v e y ed i n f o r m a l l y t o t h e s tu d en t s . C l ea r l y , t h e r e was a n eed

f o r a h e lp sy s t em w h i ch w o u l d p r o v i d e t h a t k i n d o f i n f o r m a t i o n o n l in e .

Wi t h su p p o r t d u r i n g 1 9 8 9 - 9 2 f r o m t h e Fu n d f o r t h e I m p r o v em en t

o f P o s t s eco n d a r y Ed u ca t i o n ( F I PSE) , 6 a r e sea r ch t eam co l l ec t ed i n -f o r m a t i o n o n t h e d e f i n i t i o n s o f c e n s u s c a t e g o r i e s i n e a c h c e n s u s ,

an d d ev e l o p ed a n ew u se r i n t e r f ace t o p r o v i d e easy acces s t o t h o se

d a ta . Th u s , f o r ex am p l e , a s t u d en t wh o se l ec ts t h e v a r i ab l e A g g r e -

g a t e acco m m o d a t i o n s o f S i x P r i n c i p l e B ap t i s t C h u r ch es , 1 8 6 0 sh o u l d

b e ab l e , w i t h a m o u se ac t i o n , t o g e t i n f o r m a t i o n o n B ap t i s t s i n g en -

e r a l , o n t h e ( p r e su m ab l y s i x ) p ecu l i a r d o c t r i n es o f t h e S i x P r i n c i p l e

B ap t i s ts , an d o n wh a t th e cen su s m ean t in 1 8 6 0 b y ag g r e g a t e ac -

c o m m o d a t i o n s a n d h o w s u c h a c c o m m o d a t io n s w e r e e n u m e r a t ed .

W e a r e s o m e t i m e s a s k e d w h e t h e r G A H M s h o u l d b e t h o u g h t o f

a s a h y p e r t ex t sy s t em . D esp i t e th e d ev e l o p m en t o f f ac i li ti e s t o i n -

c l u d e i n f o r m a t i o n ab o u t t h e d a t a , o u r i n s t r u c t i o n a l p h i l o so p h y d o es

n o t ca l l f o r t h e k i n d o f b r o ws i n g wh i ch t r u e h y p e r t ex t ap p l i ca t i o n s

env i sage . W hi l e we do encourag e s tuden t s to exp lo re da ta , our p r ima ry

t each i n g s t r a t eg y i s t o d i r ec t t h a t ex p l o r a t i o n w i t h a f a i r l y we l l - sp ec i -

f i ed ana ly t i c t ask . To fac i l i ta t e the d i sse m ina t ion o f t ha t s t r a t egy , we

al so used FIPSE fund ing to deve lop mater i a l s fo r i ns t ruc to r s tha t would

su g g es t a v a r i e t y o f p o s s i b l e ex e r c is e to p i c s in U . S . h i st o r y . W e

b e l i ev e t h a t o n ce t h e h i s t o r i an wo r k s t h r o u g h o n e o r t wo o f t h ese

t o p i c s w i t h a g r o u p o f s t u d en t s , h e o r sh e w i l l h av e n o d i f f i cu l t y i n

g en e r a t i n g n ew an d p r o d u c t i v e ex e r c i s e s . F I P SE f u n d i n g h as a l so

b e e n u s e d t o p r e p a re a d d i ti o n a l d a t a - - t h e 1 7 9 0 -1 8 3 0 c e n s u s e s a n d a

l a r g e b o d y o f e l ec t i o n d a t a - - f o r i n c l u s i o n i n t h e sy s t em .

A f u r t h e r d i s s e m i n a t i o n i s s u e w a s r a i s e d b y t h e f a c t t h a t G A H Mh a d i n i ti a ll y b e e n i m p l e m e n t e d o n U N I X w o r k s t a ti o n s a s a s p i n o f f o f

C M U ' s I B M - f u n d e d A n d r e w p r o j e c t ( w i t h f u n d i n g p r o v i d e d b y t h e

41



TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK LIKE HISTORIANS

Slo an Fo u n d a t io n , b y t h e Pew M em o r i a l T r u st , b y CM U , an d b y I BM ) .

U N I X i s an o p e r a t i n g sy s t em mu ch f av o r ed , f o r v e r y g o o d r easo n s ,i n t h e co mp u te r s c i en ce p r o f es s io n , b u t i t i s s t i l l g en e r a l l y i n acces -

s ib le to h i s to r i an s . B y t ak in g ad v an tag e o f t h e o p p o r tu n i ty t o d ev e lo p

G A H M i n t h e A n d r e w / U N I X e n v i r o n m e n t , w e w e r e a b l e t o b u i l d a n d

f i e ld - t e s t a w o r k in g p r o to ty p e s ev e r a l y ea r s ea r l i e r t h an w o u ld h av e

b een p r ac t i ca l o n t h e mic r o co mp u te r s g en e r a l l y av a i l ab l e i n 1 9 8 5 .

D u r in g th e su cceed in g f i v e y ea r s , h o w ev er , w h i l e t h e i n s t r u c t io n a l

e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s a r t i c l e w a s o c c u r r i n g , p o w e r f u l

m i c r o c o m p u t e r s w i t h th e f u n c t io n a l it ie s n e e d e d t o r u n G A H M b e c a m ec o m m o n p l a c e i n u n i v e r s i t i e s .

A l t h o u g h s om e w o r k o n a p o r t o f G A H M to th e M a c i n t o sh

e n v i r o n m e n t w a s c a rr ie d ou t a t C M U w i t h s u p p o rt fr o m A p p l e a n d

CMU ) , i t w as d ec id ed to t r an s f e r t h e t a sk s o f p o r t i n g t h e so f tw ar e t o

p o p u la r p l a t f o r ms an d o f d i s t r i b u t io n an d su p p o r t t o t h e A cad emic

S o f t w a r e D e v e l o p m e n t G r o u p , h e a d e d b y C h a d M c D a n i e l , a t t h e

U n i v e r s i t y o f M a r y l a n d . M a t e ri a ls , d a t a a n d s y s te m s d e v e l o p e d w i t h

F I P S E s u p p o r t h a v e b e e n p r o v i d e d t o t h a t g r o u p , w h i c h h a s c o m -

p le ted a p o r t to W in d o w s w i th su p p o r t f r o m I BM ) an d p l an s t o r e l ease

a Mac in to sh v e r s io n sh o r t l y .7

N O T E S

I A version of this article appears in W h e n L e c t u r e s F a i l: E d u c a t i o n a l C o m p u t i n g

in the Human i t i e s edited by Jerome Johnston and Robert B. Kozma. Published by

The National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Education, The Uni-

versity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259. Copyright 1991.

2 David W. Miller, The Great American History Machine, In A c a d e m i c C o m p u t -

ing. III (October 1988): 28-29, 43-50.

4 2



David W. Miller

3 F o r e xa mple , V . B . R e e d a nd J . D . W i l l i a ms , Eds . , The Case of Aaron Burr

( B os ton : Hough ton Mi f f l i n , 1960) , a nd R ic ha r d B ie nve nu , The Ninth of Thermidor:

The Fall of Robespierre. Problems in European History: A Documentary Col-

lection. ( Ne w Yor k : Ox f o r d Un ive r s i t y P r e s s , 1968).

4 F o r a f ai r ly de t a il e d a c c o un t o f t he i n it ia l ve r s ion o f t h is c ou r se , wh ic h wa s t a ugh t

in t he fa l l o f 1987, s e e Da v id W . M i l l e r a nd John M ode l l , Te a c h in g Un i t e d S t at e s

H i s t o r y w i t h t h e G r e a t A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y M a c h i n e , Historical Methods X X I ( S um -

mer , 1988) : 121-134.

5 Th e se da t a a re f r om da t a se t s 0001 a nd 0003 o f t he I n t e r - Un ive r s i t y C o nso r t i umf o r P o l i t i c a l a nd S oc ia l R e se a r c h in Ann Ar bor , MI .

6 P r o j e c t N o . P l 1 6 B 9 1 0 2 5 .

7 I nqu i r i e s shou ld be d i r e c t e d to t he e P r e s s P r o j e c t , Ac a de mic S o f t De ve lopme n t

G r o u p , C o m p u t e r S c i e n c e C e n t e r , B u i l d i n g 2 2 4 , U n i v e r s i t y o f M a r y l a n d , C o l l e g e

P a r k , MD 20742 .

B O U T T H E U T H O R

D a v i d W . M i l l e r i s P r o f e s s o r o f H i s t o r y a n d D i r e c t o r o f t h e C e n t e r

f o r H i s to r i c al I n f o r m a t i o n S y s te m s a n d A n a l y s i s a t C a r n e g i e M e l l o n

U n iv e r s i t y . H e i s a sp ec i a l is t i n t h e h i s to r y o f mo d er n I r e l an d , an d

h e a l s o w o r k s o n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f c o m p u t e r a p p l i c a t i o n s t a i l o r e d

to th e r eq u i r em en t s o f th e h i s to r ica l p r o f es s io n . I n t h is l a tt e r a r ea h e

i s cu r r en t ly w o r k in g o n a sy s t em to g iv e h i s to r i ca l r e sea r ch e r s mo r e

e f f e c t i v e a c c e s s t o a l a r g e b o d y o f m a c h i n e - r e a d a b l e d a t a o n t h e

P i t ts b u r g h r e g i o n f r o m t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t o t h e p r e se n t .

A u t h o r s p r e se n t a d d re s s: H i s t o r y D e p a r t m e n t , C a r n e g i e M e l l o n

U niv ersity , Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890. Intem et: david.w.miller@ andrew.

cmu.edu

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