National History Day

[Morris, Edward K.]

 

Dear Colleagues,

I recently learned of National History Day (see NHD Documentary - Search (bing.com) and served as a consultant for two high school students in the Boulder, CO area. Their topic was J. B. Watson, the Little Albert study, and related research ethics. Ben Harris was a consultant, too. I was contacted by the students on a cold call via email over the winter holidays. My experience was excellent. I sent them (probably too many) references and then they conducted an hour-plus Zoom interview with me (where I went on too many tangents). The students were (and are) smart and engaged. The result was a 10-ish minute documentary on the topic. This is the students’ entry (their “first version”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUQCxRJhXiU. The NHD program is competitive. Judging is underway. Ben did such a fine job that the students made it past the first round and into the regionals. A thought: Cheiron and the SHP might assist NHD in the future (and they might assist us) by formally or informally offering services that promote good historiography. We could provide NHD with feasible topics; volunteer as consultants and judges; offer organizational assistance; write letters of congratulations to students, invite them to our conferences to talk about the NHD program and their projects, and show their documentaries). Ben probably knows much more about this. Maybe you do, too. Again, just a thought.

Best regards,

    Ed

Edward K. Morris, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Department of Applied Behavioral Science

University of Kansas

4001 Dole Human Development Center

1000 Sunnyside Avenue

Lawrence, KS  66045