“The Places My Granddad Built” Using Popular Interest in Genealogy as a Pedagogical Segway for Historic Preservation By Barry L. Stiefel, College of Charleston

Self-discovery Learning and Family History

Book cover of the edited volume produced by the Spring 2014 class

Positive feedback from anonymous course-instructor evaluations: I loved the topic of my HPCP [Historic Preservation & Community Planning] senior seminar. I could not have thought of a better way to sum up my time as a HPCP major by studying my family heritage and the state of its preservation. He [Dr. Stiefel] always asks challenging and probing questions during seminar which encourages students to think critically and develop their own answers regarding certain topics. I though it was great how Stiefel was able to select the readings for the course and pull them together to tie into how we were writing our thesis. It really helped to understand what he was trying to get us to think about and consider while writing our papers. His enthusiasm for heritage, culture and value made the course more stimulating as well. The course was unlike any other HPCP course I have been required to take. I am really glad that I have gotten the chance to take the time to see and write about my family’s heritage. I would suggest that he choose this topic again for when his teaching the HPCP Senior Seminar.

Negative feedback from anonymous course-instructor evaluations: The reading assignments had nothing to do with my thesis. I think we should assign our own readings as part of the research we do for the thesis. I had plenty to read on top of the very long documents he assigned. I loved choosing my own topic on my thesis than doing the genealogy assignment. I think students should be allowed to choose their own topics, so I’m glad that he let some of us change it [to a non-family history assignment]. He wasn’t helpful at all during the semester. I felt like I was on my own to write this long paper, which I had never done before. I was looking for more guidance and direction, none of which I got from Stiefel.

Relevant comments from anonymous program exit interviews It made me understand the broader scope of historic preservation and the importance of research. This course really was a synthesis of my HPCP study at the College. I applied all of my knowledge from previous classes into the course and writing this paper. Very useful. One of the only classes that really introduced me to the heritage aspect of preservation. This was a good way to synthesize what was learned in previous classes, but I know I would have produced a more cohesive, successful paper if this process took a[n] entire year, opposed to just a semester. The topic of “What is the state of your heritage preservation?” should be a [degree] major requirement. This class allows us to look past the buildings and @ the family/personal preservation efforts.