Social History Presentation

 Social History Presentations

Objectives: This project is designed to familiarize students with the practices of social history, the 

the discipline of highly specific research, and the importance of understanding historical eras by getting to 

know the practical realities of everyday life. 

Social History Definition: Social History is a field of history that looks at everyday people and their 

everyday experiences. It focuses on little events in the average person’s life that other branches of history 

are not typically interested in. While a political historian, for instance, might think about someone's 

role as a leader during a battle, a social historian might be more interested in what he wore or 

what sort of food he fed his men. To think like a social historian, find something that you do every day, like 

eating a meal or washing your clothes, and then investigate how people in the past might have done the 

same thing. 

Presentation Guidelines:

Each student will give one presentation during the year. Students may elect to do additional presentations 

for additional credit. 

Guidelines: 

1. The presentation should be on a topic within the time parameters (~100 years) of the week’s topic. 

2. The presentation should address a specific aspect of daily life, such as a clothing type, a trade, a 

tradition, a food, family life, etc. 

3. The presentation should provide details about the topic, primary sources (if available), 

contextualization, and an explanation which brings the topic to life. 

4. The presentation should be around 10 minutes long. (+/- 2 minutes) 

5. The presentation should be well-rehearsed.

6. The presentation should include at least two of the following: 

A. A multimedia presentation (Prezi or PowerPoint with images, video, music, etc.)

B. A physical example of an item related to the topic (food, handicraft, clothing, etc.)

C. A demonstration (teach the class a skill, give a performance, etc.