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Hayward is Home is the culmination of a Fall 2022 digital historical methods course (HIST403) taught by Dr. Bridget Ford, current chair of the History Department at ÌÇÐÄvlog´«Ã½. Drawing inspiration from other digital humanities projects, a diverse group of undergraduates, graduate students, and lifelong learners came together to mine the archives at the with no idea where our research would take us. We identified three central themes throughout the materials: Meanings of Home, Understandings, and Belonging. From a home-grown radical newspaper printed in the 1970s, to a hidden Japanese garden oasis that changed the course of two highways, to the endangered–and adorable–salt marsh harvest mouse that calls the Hayward Shoreline home—Hayward’s history offers something for everyone.

Cal State East Bay's History and History-Social Science majors hail from across the state of California. We take advantage of our geographical breadth to investigate the truly unique surviving historical documents and collections throughout our vast state.

In their first advanced course in their major degrees, HIST 201, Why History Matters, our majors visit a physical archive near their residence to examine original primary sources and artifacts preserved for the study of the past. Our majors find amazing materials and documents very close to them, to incorporate into future research or teaching projects. This project also allows our majors to learn about the extensive work of curation and archival preservation that takes place throughout our state.

Take a look at a few examples of our majors' Archives Around California video reflections!

History majors at Cal State East Bay have the opportunity to practice digital humanities, investigating histories piquing their curiosity and research interests. Digital humanities is a diverse and rapidly evolving field that our majors explore and practice, to carry historical knowledge outside the classroom to wide audiences and to take advantage of digital tools and forms of analysis outside traditional narrative forms.