NationStates Jolt Archive

Well I'm brainstorming ideas starting today for ideas for the History Day competition. It's basically a contest among students to research and present their historical topic based on a nationally agreed theme. In 2004 I made it to Californian state finals, last year I only made it to the County final. Damn.

This year the theme is "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events"

I'm thinking about something international based, something that will get people thinking. Preferably nothing Anti-American because it is an American competition and that just looks bad.

And hopefully, something that has a lot of images and videos floating around since I will be doing a documentary. And primary sources as well.

Among my ideas are:
United States: Tackling More Stands Than It Can Handle - Basically calling ourselves on the fact that following World War Two we allowed ourselves to get sucked up in far too many international conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Latin America to Iraq, and why we did it then, the global opinion vs. American opinion, and how it affects us today.

The United Nations: Is It Taking a Stand? - Self-explanatory, and I've yet to think on how to elaborate.

The Cold War: Did We Go Too Far? - Asking the question of whether or not the U.S. took the Cold War too far when it came to wars such as Vietnam and Korea and took the threat of communism too seriously.

Canada: They STILL haven't taken a real stand yet - I'm just kidding. ;)

Any other ideas I might want to consider? Suggestions for or against my current ones?

Well I'm brainstorming ideas starting today for ideas for the History Day competition. It's basically a contest among students to research and present their historical topic based on a nationally agreed theme. In 2004 I made it to Californian state finals, last year I only made it to the County final. Damn.

This year the theme is "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events"

I'm thinking about something international based, something that will get people thinking. Preferably nothing Anti-American because it is an American competition and that just looks bad.

And hopefully, something that has a lot of images and videos floating around since I will be doing a documentary. And primary sources as well.

Among my ideas are:
United States: Tackling More Stands Than It Can Handle - Basically calling ourselves on the fact that following World War Two we allowed ourselves to get sucked up in far too many international conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Latin America to Iraq, and why we did it then, the global opinion vs. American opinion, and how it affects us today.

The United Nations: Is It Taking a Stand? - Self-explanatory, and I've yet to think on how to elaborate.

The Cold War: Did We Go Too Far? - Asking the question of whether or not the U.S. took the Cold War too far when it came to wars such as Vietnam and Korea and took the threat of communism too seriously.

Canada: They STILL haven't taken a real stand yet - I'm just kidding. ;)

Any other ideas I might want to consider? Suggestions for or against my current ones?
The UK's Falklands 'conflict' could be sen as taking a stand. None US so you are safe there, the US did in the end help support the UK a little. But more from the point that it is reasonably recent, and there should be loads of footage and images out there.
But I'm sure there should be a none conflict story bobbing about out there.

Mahatma (sp?) Gandhi and his rise to power through non-violence is the first thing I thought of, it could fit into the theme quite well, and there are plenty of documentaries about him.
Hmm, an obvious American one would be American Independence from Great Britain, but you probably want to stand out from the crowd and do something more recent/interesting.
Falkland Islands would definitely be a good one, with 'Old Iron Balls' Thatcher taking a stand against a military dictatorship.
Otherwise you could reverse the topic and show it as people NOT taking a stand in history, tying into your UN idea- is it taking a stand? (No, resulting in genocide in Rwanda/Yugoslavia/Sudan, etc etc, human rights abuses all over the world etc etc)

How about Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points? Wilson took a stand in favor of freedom, peace, human rights, and international cooperation. The Fourteen Points were the foundation of the League of Nations. It was quite an idealistic stand to take in the aftermath of the First World War, when everyone else was simply out to rip the guts out of Germany (thus setting the stage for the Second World War, but that's another story...)

:p

Without wishing to push the whole "communist thing" how about the russian revolution. Workers taking a stand against a brutal dictatorship and an imperialist war

The Fourteen Points were the foundation of the League of Nations.

just a pity america didnt join, therfore making the whole thing pointless

Without wishing to push the whole "communist thing" how about the russian revolution. Workers taking a stand against a brutal dictatorship and an imperialist war
I did think of that, but I worry about the availability of multimedia and the likes. It's a possibility...after others.

just a pity america didnt join, therfore making the whole thing pointless

True, but you can't say Wilson didn't give it everything he had in him to try to make it happen.

What about the work of campaigners for civil rights who have taken a stand against oppressive regimes. I hate myself for saying this, but I suppose the whole 'Ghandi/MLK/anyone who opposed Hitler/Stalin' route is a bit hackneyed - but maybe white South Iffricans who took a stand against apartheid?

Kennedy took a stand against the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis and got them to get the warheads out of Cuba. He also stood against his own military advisors who advocated something more direct then what occured.

Kennedy took a stand against the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis and got them to get the warheads out of Cuba. He also stood against his own military advisors who advocated something more direct then what occured.
Hmm...interesting, I should probably look into that. If not a topic itself, it would make an interesting extension to my topic should I make a topic about The Cold War.

The Ghandi thing is great and everything, but I think protests and Ghandi himself will be more than overused in this competition, since it's such an easy topic to come to.

How about the Emanicpation Proclamation and Abraham Lincoln's HIGHLY controversial stand against slavery. An event with some major effects on all of american history since that time including the civil war, civil rights, womens sufferage, etc...

United States: Tackling More Stands Than It Can Handle - Basically calling ourselves on the fact that following World War Two we allowed ourselves to get sucked up in far too many international conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Latin America to Iraq, and why we did it then, the global opinion vs. American opinion, and how it affects us today.

Instead of approaching America's post-War policies that way, why not start with explaining why the Marshall Plan was so amazingly unprecidented in foreign policy and the affects that the west banding together under NATO had on foreign policy? I've been reading Henry Kissinger's Does America Need A Foreign Policy?, and I've found what it has to say about the subject quite interesting. Instead of focusing on why we couldn't handle what we took on, explain what we took on, why we took it on, and contrast these actions against the history of interaction between nations. Perhaps you can also explain why this was such a unique time in history by comparing the west's foreign policy of the Cold War with its policy today. If these things aren't an example of America, as well as the west, taking a stand, then I don't know what is.

Pick up Does America Need A Foreign Policy? from the library and read at least the first two chapters. It might also help if you read chapters 6 and 7, but I haven't gotten that far yet so I'm not sure if it would. Heck, just read the whole book. It won't take long and it couldn't hurt. What ever you do, I assure you that you'll know exactly what you want to write.

The Ghandi thing is great and everything, but I think protests and Ghandi himself will be more than overused in this competition, since it's such an easy topic to come to.

...that was my point. Which was why I was suggesting something less well known, like the underground student movements in South Africa, might be more interesting.

Alternately, why not look at WHY people take a stand, or perhaps why people are remembered for taking a stand. You could consider which anti-slavery protestors are celebrated heroes and which forgotten nothings, and whether that in fact relates to the scale of their accomplishments.

Bump

I've used an additional 3 ideas from 3 different posters. Thanks guys.

A final bump in case I get any more ideas because I'll be sending in a list of my possible topics to my coordinator.

Why does everything have to be so recent?

Some of the things I can think of right off the top of my head was Cincinnatus' stand against first the enemies of the Roman state, then against personal power, Martin Luther's stand against the Roman Catholic Church, Galileo's stand against the Roman Catholic church, and Jack Johnson's stand against the myth that a black man could never be as good a boxer as a white man.

Ozzy Osbourne : Taking a Stand Against Sobriety

also applicable to that idea are Dee Dee Ramone, Nikki Sixx, and a bunch of metal (especially hair metal) singers/bandmembers.


personally, everyone in my history class is being forced to do the project, so i'm thinking of doing... either Frank Zappa (he took a lot of stands for music and artistic license and free speech), or Hippies (taking a stand against everything they could stand for, and taking a sit or a lay down for everything they couldnt)

What about the American Revolution?

Or the series of European Revolutions in 1850?

Or Reagan's stand for aggressive anti-Soviet politics, including SDI, which eventually bankrupted the USSR?

Ozzy Osbourne : Taking a Stand Against Sobriety

also applicable to that idea are Dee Dee Ramone, Nikki Sixx, and a bunch of metal (especially hair metal) singers/bandmembers.


personally, my school is being forced to do the project, so i'm thinking of doing... either Frank Zappa (he took a lot of stands for music and artistic license and free speech), or Hippies (taking a stand against everything they could stand for, and taking a sit or a lay down for everything they couldnt)

I was considering recommending a project on Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt, but something tells me those projects won't get approved.

I did History Day a few years ago, made it to the nationals my 3rd year doing it, but then, I was only competing against Idaho, not California... My topic was quantum physics.

Good topic for this year's theme... Eugene V. Debs and the labor movement, they'll be impressed by the fact that it's American, and there's lots of good info you could present that few judges will know. Very interesting topic.

Why does everything have to be so recent?
A LOT easier finding primary sources and video clips of history in action. Kinda hard to find video clips of Julius Caesar. ;)

Maps and portraits are fine and dandy, but 10 minutes of just that? I mean, your brain just needs actiony stuff to stay alive.

A LOT easier finding primary sources and video clips of history in action. Kinda hard to find video clips of Julius Caesar. ;)

Maps and portraits are fine and dandy, but 10 minutes of just that? I mean, your brain just needs actiony stuff to stay alive.

There are lots of clips from PBS shows. I'm sure if you looked around, you could buy them for reasonably cheap.

In the last year, I've seen shows on Luther, Copernicus, and Jack Johnson.

A LOT easier finding primary sources and video clips of history in action. Kinda hard to find video clips of Julius Caesar. ;)

Maps and portraits are fine and dandy, but 10 minutes of just that? I mean, your brain just needs actiony stuff to stay alive.


Well, you could present those portraits and maps... in POWERPOINT!!!

Live action recreations, man! Hey, if you need help, I live in CA, quite near SF...I'm an amateur director, and I do love making a nice action flick. (Especially historical ones.) I could help you recreate some battles.

Sweet. I got to do a History Day project, also in California, back in (I think) 1998.. in any case, the topic was "Migration in History: People, Places, Ideas" or something like that. I'm not too sure who won, but we had fun and got a B (it was our final project for history class as well).

For "taking a stand," someone mentioned the whole colonial India thing, which is probably a crowd-pleaser.. the Cold War is another, but less pleasing, especially in California, where many judges will no doubt be Soviet sympathizers... ;)

Edit: Oops, missed your post about India.. scratch that one then.. maybe onw about Solidarity in Poland? That's quite a moving topic. And recent, too.. only approx. 25 years.

Live action recreations, man! Hey, if you need help, I live in CA, quite near SF...I'm an amateur director, and I do love making a nice action flick. (Especially historical ones.) I could help you recreate some battles.
A nice gesture, but outside help is prohibited. ;)

And it'll be much easier just grabbing this stuff of the internet or the library.

Ah well. Well, if there's any unofficial way I can help, just ask. I'm a bit of a history buff. (Especially when it comes to re-enactments, although I haven't been able to do anything of decent quality due to budgets...I mean, the acting and choreographing was excellent, but the sets and costumes and props were...lacking.)

My answer to damn-near everything that has to do with History- Thirty Years War.

I'm not sure whether I'd suggest Germany, Sweden, or the Dutch for a 10-minute presentation, but you'll get the most out of Swedish general Gustavus Adolphus (unless you want to support the damned evil Albrech de Wallenstein, who took a stand against every authority, including his employers, Trusted Lt., his own soldiers...)

The rise of Nazism and Communism; When is Taking a Stand Justified?

Well I'm brainstorming ideas starting today for ideas for the History Day competition. It's basically a contest among students to research and present their historical topic based on a nationally agreed theme. In 2004 I made it to Californian state finals, last year I only made it to the County final. Damn.

This year the theme is "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events"

I'm thinking about something international based, something that will get people thinking. Preferably nothing Anti-American because it is an American competition and that just looks bad.

And hopefully, something that has a lot of images and videos floating around since I will be doing a documentary. And primary sources as well.

Among my ideas are:
United States: Tackling More Stands Than It Can Handle - Basically calling ourselves on the fact that following World War Two we allowed ourselves to get sucked up in far too many international conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Latin America to Iraq, and why we did it then, the global opinion vs. American opinion, and how it affects us today.

The United Nations: Is It Taking a Stand? - Self-explanatory, and I've yet to think on how to elaborate.

The Cold War: Did We Go Too Far? - Asking the question of whether or not the U.S. took the Cold War too far when it came to wars such as Vietnam and Korea and took the threat of communism too seriously.

Canada: They STILL haven't taken a real stand yet - I'm just kidding. ;)

Any other ideas I might want to consider? Suggestions for or against my current ones?

Dude.

Wounded Knee.

Its perfect.

Plus, you'll get extra brownie points for it being so "PC" to mention Native American history as well.

Wile. E. Coyote.
Suuuper Geeeenius.

This is the type of thing id do the night before it was due.

For soemthign a bit different why not the Scottish Conveanting movement? lots of good old violence opression and seperation of church and state issues there. of course no actual fottage bar soem of the docudramas from the history channel/BBC...