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

FAIN: BH-288025-22

Ball State University (Muncie, IN 47306-1022)
Ronald V. Morris (Project Director: February 2022 to present)
Denise A. Shockley (Co Project Director: August 2022 to present)

Two place-based workshops for 36 K-12 educators each on the historical, economical, and cultural impact of the automobile industry on the Midwest and broader United States. 

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 taking action in their community. As educators have learned in the recent pandemic, access to digital resources is crucial for student learning as they conduct their own investigations.