Independent Study

» History Department I.S. Titles

Wooster students have a unique opportunity to investigate what’s new in the study of the past through the College’s Independent Study (I.S.) requirement.With the guidance of a faculty member, each Wooster senior selects a topic, designs a research project, gathers evidence, and presents conclusions in a significant paper. By working one-on-one with a faculty adviser and engaging the historical debates around their topics,Wooster history majors develop analytical skills applicable in many areas in addition to academia.

History I.S. topics vary widely: Barton Myers ’03 studied guerilla warfare in the Civil War in “Controlling Chaos: Negotiated Conduct and White Identity in the Civil War South, 1861-1865” while Anne C. Medlock ’03, a double major in history and theater, researched fashion, gender, and social mobility in eighteenth century Britain for her I.S., titled “‘But I Don’t Have Any Boot Straps’.” Jane Hillier ’92 wrote an I.S. on medieval tales of courtly love; Peter Newman ’96 researched fifty years of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.