Dr. Judith A. Miller and first-year student Natalia Thomas were recently interviewed on the Georgia Public Broadcasting show On Second Thought about Miller’s first-year seminar “Fake News.” Speaking to host Virginia Prescott, Miller describes how, as a historian of 18th and 19th century France, she ended up teaching a course with a substantial focus on contemporary U.S. history. Thomas, a first-year student in the course, describes the impact “Fake News” has already had on students: “‘I used to just take what I read at face value,” she explained. “I’ve learned to be more cautious about what I’m consuming, and make sure to check multiple news sources and see what they’re saying about certain issues.”‘ Read the article summary of the conversation and listen to the full interview: “Emory University’s ‘Fake News’ Course Helps Students Tease Fact From Fiction.”
Category / Undergraduate Students
Judith A. Miller and Students Investigate “Fake News” in First Year Seminar
Student Jeffrey Gao and associate professor of history Judith Miller. From Emory Photo/Video.
Associate Professor Judith A. Miller is teaching a first-year seminar this spring titled “Fake News.” The Emory News Center’s Maureen McGavin describes the class as investigating “examples of fake news, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, biased stories and wrongful convictions, in the U.S. and in other countries, as well as discussions of how the falsehoods took hold and were eventually debunked.” Read the Emory News Center’s profile of the course, “‘Fake News’ class helps students learn to research and identify false information,” in addition to the full course description below.
“Fake news, hoaxes, “truthiness,” lies, spin rooms, bots, leaks, deniers, and propaganda: These phenomena have shaken the world in the recent years. Fake news has become important part of our daily political culture, whether in the United States or elsewhere around the globe. Elections and public policy have been influenced by them. Our course will delve into several historical cases of hoaxes, history “deniers,” and media exploitation before turning to the recent past and even daily events in the US and elsewhere. What dynamics do those examples reveal that can illuminate the contemporary world? Then we will explore the place of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as darker parts of the web, in purveying both accurate and false information. For instance, how do “fake news” authors use language, music, and images to make their ideas more persuasive? How has technology increased the power of “fake news”? Why have certain kinds of societies been more or less vulnerable to propaganda? How have courts understood the principles of “free expression,” “burden of proof,” and a “free press”? How have politicians and journalists contributed to and struggled with the recent intensifying “fake news” phenomenon? We will work closely with Woodruff librarians as we evaluate evidence: How do historians weigh claims and sources? Are there even clear red flags in our media-saturated world? How can historical examples help us sort out these questions? Each student will develop a case study of an incident–understood broadly, anything from political propaganda anywhere in the world, to allegations of wrongful conviction or sexual assault, to history deniers, as just a few examples–that takes up these issues.”
Martin Pimentel, Senior History Major and Fox Fellow, Posts on Research About Detroit’s Rumor Control Center
Martin Pimentel, a senior double-majoring in history and political science, recently published a blog post for the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Pimentel is a Fox Center Undergraduate Humanities SIRE Fellow. He is completing his honors thesis, which examines the history of Detroit’s rumor control center in the 1960s. Read his recent post here: “Detrioters: The Rise and Fall of the Detroit Rumor Control Center, 1967-1970.”
Undergraduate Fox Center Fellow and History Major Daniel Thomas Publishes Blog Post About Honors Thesis
Daniel Thomas, a senior history and international studies double major, recently published a blog post about his honors thesis for Emory’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Thomas researches the history of Russian separatism in the Donbas, a region in Eastern Ukraine. He completed fieldwork for his thesis in the summer of 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with support from the History Department’s George P. Cuttino Scholarship for Independent Study Abroad. Thomas is currently an undergraduate fellow at the Fox Center and works with Dr. Matthew Payne. Read his post here: “Neighbors against Neighbors: Historical roots of the Donbas War, 1985-2014.”
History Majors Coe and Fuller Win 2019 Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Awards
Annually Emory’s Woodruff Library recognizes outstanding research among undergraduates in the Emory College with the Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Awards. Eligible students must use the library’s collections and research resources in their original papers, digital projects, or posters and show evidence of critical analysis in their research skills.
Congratulations to two history majors who won this award for 2019. Ellie Coe (class of 2022), is a history and Russian & East European studies double major. She won for her project, “The Soldier’s Queue in the Eighteenth Century.” Hannah Fuller (class of 2020) is a history major and was recognized for her project, “Jemima Wilkinson: The Genderless Feminist of the Enlightenment.” Both Coe and Miller completed their research under the supervision of Dr. Judith A. Miller, Associate Professor of History.
Read more about the Atwood Awards, including former history students who have won the prize, here: The Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Award.
Join us for First ‘History Pathways’ Event: “Getting the Most Out of Your Emory History Major”
Join us for our first History Pathways event, “Getting the Most Out of Your Emory History Major,” on Wednesday, October 2, from 12:30-1:30pm in Bowden Hall 323. The event is open to all students – from first year through seniors – who want to learn more about Emory’s History Department. The event will include pizza and soft drinks, and we will cover the many exciting opportunities we offer for undergraduates, such as Cuttino Fellowships and Clio Paper Prizes. We will also launch our “History Pathways” program, aimed at developing career mentoring and internship programs. If you plan to attend, please respond to the poll here. Reach out to Professor Judith A. Miller (histjam [at] emory [dot] edu) with any questions. 
Cherise Thomas, History Department Work Study Student, Wins Gilman International Scholarship
Congratulations to Cherise Thomas, one of the History Department’s work study students, for winning a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The Gilman scholarship, which is a grant program of the U.S. State Department, will fund Thomas’ summer study abroad in Salamanca, Spain. Thomas is one of only 10 students from Emory to win the Gilman scholarship in 2019.
Atlanta Native and History Major Hallie Lonial Interns at Atlanta History Center
Lonial in Atlanta History Center Archives
This semester History major Hallie Lonial is interning in the manuscript archives at the Atlanta History Center. An Atlanta native, Hallie visited the AHC on a field trip with her high school. The internship allows her to pursue her general interest in history while learning more about her hometown. Why would someone belonging to “generation online” want to work with old manuscripts? Hallie has the perfect answer: “I wanted to work with manuscripts because I’m really fascinated by what people say when they think nobody will ever read it.” During her work, she handles papers from or about famous people like Ivan Allen Jr. and well-known places like the Atlanta-Fulton County stadium. She also processes personal diaries, business ledgers, letters, and scrapbooks that tell of ordinary people’s lives. “I’ve learned that history is important to everyone, belongs to everyone, and is created by everyone, not just those we most commonly think of.” Learn more about resources for internships for Emory undergraduates here: http://history.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/resources/internships.html.
History Majors Ellie Coe and Hannah Fuller Win Woodruff Library’s Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Award
History Majors Ellie Coe and Hannah Fuller have each won Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Awards from Emory’s Woodruff Library. The Atwood Award recognizes the best paper that makes use of the library’s resources and applies research skills and critical analysis to evidence. Coe’s piece is titled “The Soldier’s Queue in the Eighteenth Century,” and she wrote the paper in Prof. Judith A. Miller’s course “The Origins of Capitalism” (Fall 2018). Fuller conducted the research for her paper, “Jemima Wilkinson: The Genderless Feminist of the Enlightenment,” in Prof. Judith A. Miller’s course “HIST 385W: Scandalous Texts in the Enlightenment” (Spring 2018). Learn more about the awards here: http://web.library.emory.edu/research-learning/award-research-programs/undergraduate-research-award.html.
History Honors Student and Undergraduate Fox Center Fellow Yi Xie (19C) Reflects on Research
Senior History Honors student Yi Xie is currently working on her thesis as an undergraduate fellow at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Xie’s thesis is titled “Becoming American in a Multiracial Context: Chinese ‘Sojourners’ and African Americans’ Battle for Inclusion in a White Republic, 1868-1904.” She recently wrote a reflection, “Becoming American: A Historical Parallel between Chinese Immigrants and African Americans, 1868-1904,” about her research and experiences at the Fox Center. Read the full post here along with an excerpt from the abstract of her project below.
“This research aims to develop a clear understanding of the racial dynamics of the second half of the nineteenth century by studying the ‘Chinese Question,’ the ‘Negro Problem,’ and the relations between the two from the perspectives of abolitionists, Caucasian immigrants, African Americans, and the Chinese. She investigates why and how the ‘Chinese Question’ and the ‘Negro Problem’ were conflated and differentiated, and how dynamic and complex were the relations between the two. She also conducts a comparative study of anti-black and anti-Chinese violence on the West Coast. She has visited archives in Northampton, MA and will conduct more archival research in Seattle, WA.”