Part A:

1. Revisit learning block 1-2(attached) to consider your previous thoughts on the study of history and reflect on how your thinking on history has evolved. Finally, respond to the following question:

Now that you are coming to the end of this course, has your perception of history evolved since module one? Why or why not?

2. Niccolò Machiavelli once stated, “Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times.” With this quote in mind and reflecting on your research this term consider this question:

Choose a contemporary issue and describe how your perception of that issue could have changed based on your research of your topic?(attached: Project 1 Topic Worksheet)

Part B:

In response to two post below, explain whether or not you share your peer’s perception of the selected contemporary issue. Why or why not?

Post 1: My perspective about history has changed a little bit, it is historians studying history and making sure it documented. I didn’t know much about the different lenses and what they meant. Also, everything about the secondary and primary sources not knowing what the difference was. My perspective is more deeper than before, history is not just about recording what happened back then there’s a lot more to it. Since i did my learning on the drafting I chose a government contemporary issue. I chose the issue about the adorable care act, they are wanting to have it to where people who want the government assistant, they need to work as well. They have a minimum set of hours that they need to work in order to get assistants. It changed my perception because looking back on when they did the drafting they had the free-rider problem happening, and now we have a lot of people getting help but they don’t work to help pitch in to be able to have those kids of assistants. Before i shrugged it off not paying much mind but after reading about what happened before, seems like a history repeating itself is being created.

Post 2: Yes my perception of history has evolved since the first day of the term. I think the use of lenses throughout the course helped me to understand peoples motivations and how certain events can affect peoples lives. I always knew that certain events can affect people differently but I found it interesting that we as people can spin our mindset to truly understand the how and why of a situation and how it can be viewed in different ways. A contemporary issue that I chose to talk about would be racial prejudice. When studying Apartheid, I came to understand the real reason for the segregation and that was an uneven distribution of power. I think now more than ever we are still seeing racial prejudice and a lot of racism in this country, due to uneven power distribution. Research of Apartheid has allowed me to keep an open mind and has shown me that racial prejudice has been a problem for many decades. It seems as though the past is repeating itself in a way and we still have not found a way to fix it.