Summer Fellowships Include the History of History, a Machine Learning Approach to Alzheimer’s Research, and the Cost of AI Data Centers

Skye LaMendola '27

Fellowship name: Alfred E. Golz Summer Research Fellowship

Faculty advisor: Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History Brian Purnell

Project title: A History of American History

Having attended both public and private schools where she grew up in Texas, LaMendola says she has different experiences of being taught American history. Through her summer project, she wants to explore "how American history has been taught to Americans during times of increased polarization, and why."

For the first half of her project, the government major and history minor is examining what has been taught in US high school and college history classes since the Vietnam/civil rights era by poring through primary sources, such as textbooks, course syllabi, autobiographical excerpts, and interviews with history professors. For the second half of the project, she is looking "to illuminate the why regarding choices about American history course content," through the study of education guidelines, congressional hearings, newspaper coverage, and public correspondence through varying media platforms, among other sources. This research will be used to create her own "class syllabus," as if a Bowdoin course were to be taught about the topic.

"History, especially in high school, is often regarded as being objective," she observes. "In my previous experience, it is seldom noted that history is a narrative, and like many narratives, can be tailored to the perspectives and needs of those telling it. This research intends to challenge this practice."