OVERVIEW
Questions about how scientific methods and theories could be applied to the human world and to individuals were the focus of social sciences such as anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Whether or not the laboratory could produce valid knowledge for such multi-faceted phenomena was an area of intense debate, with some practitioners arguing for using the physical sciences as a model and others that to do so would limit researchers to trivial questions. Objective methods in the style of physical sciences emerged in psychology, for example, through the development of psychological tests that could produce numeric data, with mental aptitude being equated with an "intelligence quotient". One reason that methods from the "hard sciences" were held as exemplary is that the study of human behavior was directly relevant to political questions -- such as the intelligence of women, immigrants, African-Americans, and others, whether employers or workers should have authority in designing labor practices, and the factors that influenced criminal behavior. How to understand the "patterns of culture" became of global significance as nations entered into World Wars I and II, and how to navigate new ideologies such as communism and fascism along with long-standing patterns of racism, sexism, colonialism and poverty were as urgent as they were complex.

INTRODUCTION TO READINGS AND LEARNING MATERIALS
The reading in our core text provides content and analysis that you will use to build your knowledge base, and that will serve as the basis for your reflective essay that is due at the end of the week. The videos provide background information and context for the lesson and serve as source material for the essay and your pocket exhibit project The questions for your reflective essay are designed to prompt you to assess the material and determine what you find to be most significant and to explain why. The Pocket Exhibit Project allows you to use historical skills to interpret primary source materials, and to create an online site to communicate your research findings.

LIST OF READINGS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Reading Assignments:

Continue and/or finish Ede & Cormack, Chapters 9 and 10 [these are the basis for Essay #1 due on Friday June 26th]

Learning Activities:

Watch & Listen to the Unit 3 Lesson Presentation (part 2)
View the following background videos:
The Eugenics Crusade (PBS, 2018) [2 hours] / available via Alexander Street
Interview with Robert Kanigel on his book The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency [C-span / 50 min]
“Gunnar Myrdal and The American Dilemma” [PBS / 3 min]
Interview with author Charles King on his book Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century [Library of Congress / 1 hr 7 min]
Watch this video from the time period: “The Brotherhood of Man” [1946, 11 min]
Read the following wiki article: US Army Alpha Test History [it includes examples of the test questions]
Do the following activity: Answer the questions for this interactive sample of the original examination: “Army Alpha Tests”

Assignments:

Post your Response Comments on the Chapter 9/10 Connection Box discussion by 11:59 p.m.
[ongoing Pocket Archive Prep and Posting work]

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