Dr. John McClymer

For those who are convinced that studying history means memorizing a list of battle dates, just visit the Web sites created by Dr. John McClymer, and be prepared to fall in love with the study of History. ÒI received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to work with the American Antiquarian Society, the Worcester WomenÕs History Project, and the Alliance for Education in an effort to bring teachers together and create a Web site which would be useful to teachers.

The topic we chose was women in the middle of the nineteenth century. We put together a group of electronic classrooms which addressed various topics, such as the dress of the time, popular music, and childrenÕs literature. The teachers then played with all this information and brought it back to their individual classrooms. ÒThe NEH creates a listing of especially worthwhile Web sites. ItÕs my understanding that 800 sites were nomi-nated, and only 20 were chosen. Our Web site was named one of these 20 outstanding sites. Not only is this a great honor, but people are able to find this site easily now. We appear on a short list of notable sites to visit.Ó Dr. McClymer has received another NEH grant that began in June. ÒThis grant is very ambitious and is aimed at those students who are education concentrators. I will be helping to create an interdisciplinary course which will provide a survey of American History and Literature. We

will integrate the use of technology by creating three Web sites which will deal with pertinent issues. These future teachers will be working with the technology, so they can then implement these technologies with their students.Ó Dr. McClymer also works as a consultant with a software company. ÒI consult for WebCT.com. This firm is involved in making software platforms, so teachers have the capability of putting their courses on-line. It is currently used on 1,700 campuses by seven million individuals in the U.S. The company develops e-learning communities, creating discipline-specific sites where students and teachers can find various forms of resources.Ó Dr. McClymer recently received an award for his course, ÒWomen and the American Experience.Ó ÒThis course is an example of how history can be fun. We look at the repression of women, and not in just the obvious areas such as property rights. Students analyze the comic poems of the time and read books such as The LadiesÕ Guidebook to Perfect Gentility. The students look critically at advertisements aimed at women, claiming to cure low spirits and partial insanity. Much of this is available to the students on the Web where they are able to access it and play with it at midnight, if that is their choice. ÒMany of the studentsÕ projects have this same type of density that I try to create on the Web. Their projects play with ads, movies, pop culture, music, and fashion. One included the revealing details of why bobbing your hair could cause baldness. ÒThe students find this type of learning tremendously liberating. They are actually spending more time on these types of projects than they probably intended. What theyÕre finding is that this type of learning is fun. Their projects are complex and ambitious.Ó In addition to these endeavors, Dr. McClymer is also involved in editing. ÒI am editing a series for Harcourt College Publishers called the American Stories. Two are currently in print, The Triangle Strike and Fire and This High and Holy Moment.Ó Dr. McClymer sums up his nearly 30 years on the Assumption faculty in this way: ÒI am so fortunate because I get to spend my time doing what I enjoy most, working with students and putting together courses. I have enjoyed a lot of success combining research interests and teaching. The Web now allows students many new ways into a subject. They start to see the connections on how art and politics and culture are all related. ItÕs a very gratifying experience.Ó