The 18th Century Search for the Blue Nile

18th Century Research in a 21st Century Classroom

Throughout this course, our class engaged in several 18th century research methods that helped us connect with both James Bruce and the early modern period. These activities included: creating a camera obscura, collecting botanical specimens for a class herbarium, and engaging in a popular early modern educational pastime called “washing maps.”  These kinetic experiences allowed our class to explore a range of subjects, from the technologies Bruce employed on his expedition into East Africa to the way Europeans learned about “foreign” geographies in the early modern period.

 

Credits

Stephanie Stillo