WEEK 15 · INQUIRY MODULE
Week 15: The Contemporary West and the Politics of Memory
How do sovereignty, migration, water, climate, and public memory continue to remake the West?
Dates: November 30–December 4, 2026
Focus
- Tribal sovereignty and land return
- Immigration and border enforcement
- Water, fire, climate, and extraction
- Monuments, museums, tourism, and the western myth
Before class
- Read: Instructor-selected current public sources; verify immediately before teaching.
- Open and inspect the linked primary-source collection(s). Record one source, one context question, and one limitation.
- Scholarship lens: One recent Western Historical Quarterly article selected to match student capstone themes.
Primary-source portals
Tuesday/Thursday meeting plan
| Date | Status | Plan |
|---|
| Tuesday, December 1 | Class | Contemporary sovereignty, migration, water, climate, extraction, and capstone showcase/defenses. |
| Thursday, December 3 | Class | Politics of memory; capstone showcase/defenses; redraw the Week 1 map and synthesize the course. |
Last regular meeting is Thursday, December 3. Final materials due Friday, December 4; finals run December 7–10.
After class
Deliverable: Capstone showcases/defenses in class; final materials and Seminar Practice Portfolio due Friday, December 4.
- I can answer the weekly inquiry with a contestable claim.
- I can name at least two pieces of evidence and explain their limits.
- I can identify an interpretation that my evidence supports, complicates, or challenges.