History 386, the Senior Research Seminar, gives our majors the opportunity to apply what they have learned during the course of their study.  Here, students actually “do history” by using primary documents and writing original essays based on their research.

The first students taking the class (spring 2007) developed a Simpson College “yearbook” for 1975-76—the one year Simpson students did not produce a yearbook.

Rather than merely assembling a number of photos and writing captions, our senior seminar students immersed themselves in the period.  They read secondary sources about American society in the 1970s and later narrowed their study to issues and events in Iowa and Indianola during the decade.  They then examined life at Simpson by analyzing primary material including college catalogs, minutes of trustees’ meetings, administrative reports, faculty minutes, records from student organizations, and the student newspaper.  They also interviewed Simpson faculty, students, and administrators from the time period.

The project was illuminating.  Students soon found that history is much more complex than just collecting and assembling facts and we are proud of their effort.  We invite you to peruse their yearbook, which we believe is an interesting and revealing account of a challenging year at Simpson College.