March: Book One (Common Text 2015-2016): Reading

The author discusses his experiences teaching a seminar for college freshmen on the subject of U.S. president Barack Obama's life story and its relationship to the civil rights movement in the U.S. The author describes how he incorporated speeches delivered by Obama on civil rights, anecdotes from Obama's life, and passages from Obama's memoir "Dreams From My Father." The author examines how studying Obama's history can inform regional comparisons of the civil rights movement. He explores Obama's use of history in his memoir to address his mixed race ancestry. The author also discusses his strategies for demonstrating to his students how their lives have been influenced by the civil rights movement.

The article discusses the use of historical graphic novels (HGN) in the study and teaching of history at the high-school level. According to the author, HGNs combine images and narratives more effectively than traditional history textbooks. Particular focus is given to the use of HGNs to teach skills related to contextualizing historical information and understanding and corroborating historical sources. It is suggested that of these three skills, HGNs are best suited for contextualization.