Global Urban Humanities/Future Histories Lab

Instructor: Lok Siu

Term: Spring 2023

Course #: ASAMST 190 / HUM C132 / ENVDES C132

Why Read This Case Study?

Students in “A Radical History of SF Chinatown: Designing a Digital Tour” worked with two community partners to dig deeply into the rich history of this thriving district in San Francisco and share it with a public audience.

Project-based learning provides opportunities for students to deepen their research and improve a variety of skills. By preparing a public-facing website, students took responsibility for undertaking research in which accuracy is consequential; for creating writing that is clear and compelling; and for creating visuals that are meaningful and effective in conveying information.

Students created an interactive map of meaningful locations in Chinatown, giving visitors to the website access to an array of articles they wrote on themes including culture, education, housing, public health and public space.

This case study provides an overview of the arc of the semester that allowed students to both conduct research produce a website. It will be useful to instructors in history, ethnic studies, and other disciplines who wish to experiment with project-based learning and public-facing work.