Overall, this class has shown me that there is no one way to “do” history. However, there are ways to apply our learning in a way that makes it easier to understand topics and contribute to research, such as the list of what I have learned below. These concepts apply to class, but also apply to every day life.

As a wrap up, here is a list of things I wrote on a concept map I made in class about what doing history is and how it relates to the topic of pre confederation Canadian history:

• Applying material from class to other courses
• Taking lecture material and applying it to research —-> lecture material raises more questions
• Using historical methods and ideas to every day life —-> how can we avoid repeating the past?
• Referencing other areas of study (for example, anthropology) to develop historical understanding
• Connecting personal experiences with local history to gain understanding about where we live
• Utilizing readings from class to answer questions about previous assumptions
• Developing own research ideas based on historical research —-> taking similar ideas and altering them

In the previous areas of my portfolio, I have outlined how I used these methods in class discussion, everyday discussion, my research project, document analysis, and reading logs.

I really do think that I’ve learned a lot more about each thing I wrote on my concept map and that this class helped me to apply these aspects and recognize them in my own work.

That’s a lot of things to learn in a matter of weeks.

So, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty tired and overall happy I’m finished with this semester.

But I think I’ll be giving myself – and you, a pretty big round of applause for an awesome first term.