The Butler University’s Global and Historical Studies Program introduced a new core course, GHS 210 Freedom and Movement in the Transatlantic World, in fall 2017. Developed with support from the National Endowment for Humanities, this course poses the enduring question, “What is freedom?”. While the word “freedom” is often conventionally associated with free market capitalism and the movement of people across national borders, this course challenges and complicates that assumption by asking students to consider the relationship between freedom and movement in and across Africa, the Americas, and Europe between the fourteenth century and the present.

GHS 210 students discussed diverse artistic, historical, and philosophical works while concurrently developing digital humanities projects. Most students entered this second-year course without subject matter expertise but nevertheless created interesting, innovative, and ambitious projects. The students worked in small groups to explore various topics related to Freedom and Movement and to develop the technological skills necessary to present their topic in visually appealing and accessible ways. The gallery below highlights these projects.