HIST 597: Topics in Applied History

HIST 597-001: Fairfax Court History Project
(Spring 2027)

04:30 PM to 07:10 PM W

Krug Hall 209

View the schedule of classes

Section Information for Spring 2027

This course involves students in making records of the Fairfax County Circuit Court from 1980 available to the public. The court docket included both criminal and civil cases, so the course will explore topics ranging from burglary and drug possession and distribution to divorce, personal injury and disputes over wills. Reading records of the court’s work, students will learn to identify archival practices, to analyze legal sources, and to interpret legal history.  


Students will create and analyze a collection of cases by combining information from a variety of records of those involved in a legal action, its details, and its outcome, in the process learning how to evaluate legal information, describe cases with metadata, create data, and publish it on a digital platform. To understand those cases, students will read historical scholarship on suburbanization, segregation, crime and policing, and civil rights, and do research in sources such as census records and local newspapers. They will use those sources to create narratives that analyze the details of selected cases and relate them to life in the expanding suburbs that are central to understanding the postwar United States. 
 

Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Addresses specific topics in applied history selected by the instructor, with emphasis on combining theoretical analysis and readings with attention to practices and skills of applied history. Offered by History & Art History. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 15 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Seminar
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.