The Democratization of the Automobile Industry: Construction, Culture, and Preservation

Car culture shapes media and popular culture in America. In this project educators learn how the automobile illustrates social history of the working class, including the Great Migration, and the accompanying shadow of racism. The workshops also explore industrial preservation and adaptive reuse to examine why place matters in our communities and how participants can help their students to look at old structures in any community across America. Participants create virtual field trips from the sites they visit for their students and students in other places to use as they conduct inquiry. In an inquiry process they question, use a disciplinary framework, and evaluate sources, before communicating their conclusions and take action in their community. As educators have learned in the recent pandemic access to digital resources are crucial for student learning as they conduct their own investigations.