archives.commons.udmercy.edu

Civil War and Civil Rights

It was fear mostly that kept free black men from being accepted for enlistment in the early days of the Civil War (1861-1865).  Although they had fought in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the uprisings and revolts of later years encouraged government worry about arming black men. Yet while riots and desertion were plentiful when it came to drafting white men into the war, those black men who were committed to fighting for freedom were turned...

1943 Tower

Seventy four years ago the country was poised for war.  Europe was unsettled and those fresh faces graduating from the University of Detroit were well aware that they faced an uncertain future. In 1939, Britain and Italy had already declared war on Germany and in December, 1941, the U.S. entered the conflict by declaring war on Japan. By the beginning of 1943, heavy fighting was taking place in most of the eastern part of the world. It seemed the dreams of those...

1967 Detroit Riots – The View from University of Detroit McNichols Campus

On the 50th Anniversary of the July 1967 Detroit Riots, there has been a lot of discussion in the media as to how it affected the people in the area during that time period. What started as a quiet Sunday morning of July 23rd turned into an unforgettable civil disturbance that lasted about a week. During that period members of the National Guard were posted at the McNichols campus as well as additional private police were on patrol. No disorder...

botw.commons.udmercy.edu

Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White

by Michael Tisserand An Amazon Best Book of December 2016: Krazy: A Life in Black and White is the exhaustively researched and fascinating story of a trailblazer with a secret. Nicknamed “The Greek” by a fellow cartoonist, owing to his swarthy complexion and curly hair (which he typically kept hidden under a fedora), it wasn’t until George Herriman, creator of the perpetually lovestruck Krazy Kat, had been dead for twenty-seven years that a would-be biographer discovered the secret Herriman had...

A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age

by Daniel J. Levitin We are bombarded with more information each day than our brains can process—especially in election season. It’s raining bad data, half-truths, and even outright lies. New York Times bestselling author Daniel J. Levitin shows how to recognize misleading announcements, statistics, graphs, and written reports revealing the ways lying weasels can use them. It’s becoming harder to separate the wheat from the digital chaff. How do we distinguish misinformation, pseudo-facts, distortions, and outright lies from reliable information? Levitin groups...

E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial (DVD)

Time for a classic summer movie? Relive the adventure and magic in one of the most beloved motion pictures of all-time,E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, from Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg. Captivating audiences of all ages, this timeless story follows the unforgettable journey of a lost alien and the 10-year-old boy he befriends. Join Elliot (Henry Thomas), Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert MacNaughton) as they come together to help E.T. find his way back home.E.T. The Extra-Terrestrialis “one of the great...

research.commons.udmercy.edu

Summer Reading Part 2

  More Summer Reading Suggestions       419, by Will Ferguson A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: ‘Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help … ‘...

Summer Reading

Looking for Something to Read this Summer? Try one of these books from the library’s collection.         Alice I Have Been, by Melanie Benjamin Now in her twilight years, Alice Liddell looks back on a remarkable life. From a pampered childhood in Oxford to difficult years as a widowed mother, Alice examines how she became who she is–and how she became immortalized as Alice in Wonderland.     At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me...

In Memory of Derick Nelson

Normally, the Research Blog describes library resources that might be useful to students and faculty. However, today we are departing from that mission to recognize Betty Nelson’s son Derick who was killed two years ago today. Today’s blog is a reprise of a blog posted that summer.   It happens everyday. Everyday you watch the news and there is another story about a senseless shooting in some part of Detroit. If you pay any attention at all, it’s only to...

ids.commons.udmercy.edu

Adding SCORM quizzes to Camtasia lectures

Did you know you can add quizzes to your Camtasia Studio recordings? When using the SCORM format for uploading your presentation to Blackboard, students’ results will even be added to the Grade Center automatically. You can choose to also receive the results via email in case you want to collect results outside of a Blackboard course. To get started, open an existing Camtasia Studio project (.camproj) or create a new project by opening a Camtasia Recording file (.trec). Opening the...

Using My Groups for Students

The Groups feature provides students with an easy way to collaborate online, share notes, and submit group assignments. Groups can be self-enrolled, or manually-enrolled (instructor-assigned.) Enrolling in a Group To enroll in a group, click on Tools in the left-side content menu, then on the Groups item. If there is a sign-up sheet for a self-enrolled group you will see a button to view the sign-up sheet. After clicking the Sign-up Sheet button, you will be able to choose a...

Taking a test in Lockdown Browser

What is it? Respondus LockDown Browser provides a more secure environment for online testing. LockDown Browser itself is a separate web browser (like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome) specifically geared toward taking online tests. When a student is ready to take an online test that uses LockDown Browser, they actually launch the LockDown Browser from their desktop instead of launching their usual browser of choice. LockDown Browser then fills the student’s screen (including any additional displays), open to Detroit Mercy’s...

libnews.commons.udmercy.edu

Need a Place to Study?

Room 324 in the McNichols Campus Library can be reserved by your group of at least three people for a two-hour time slot during dead week and finals week. Sign up in person at the Research Desk. Two other study rooms are available, first come first served, one on the first floor and one on the lower level for groups of two or more....

special-collections.commons.udmercy.edu

Colonization

Colonization is the process by which one power dominates another. This can be the way a more powerful country takes control of another, but it’s also the way one culture seeks to control another by usurping the established cultural civilization of another. This has happened time and again since human beings migrated out of Africa — as they defeated tribes and gained territories, as they morphed languages and destroyed religions, they also changed their own culture. Societies have evolved by snuffing out the weaker cultures, and taking control of their languages, their rituals, the details of their social structures that made the conquered culture unique....

Travelogue 1863

During the years of African-American Newspaper publication in the 1800s, articles would often appear regarding travel across the new territory that was opening up in the western part of the country thanks to the discovery of gold in 1848.  It seemed everyone was anxious to take advantage of free land and wide open spaces. When reporter George W. Turley made his way west in 1863, the Homestead Act offering free land to anyone who would agree to farm the land...

“A Boy of 1812″

Things were never really what you might call cordial between the New World and Britain during the early 1800s. There was the whole mess between the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France in 1803. And European countries were focused on keeping control of the native people as well as the America settlers as the expansion in the United States was underway. Treaties and Acts and Decrees were issued one after another between Britain and the U.S., while Britain was during these years distracted by the whirlwind of hostility France was dishing out. In fact, between 1803 and 1812, political relations never really felt settled or peaceful between the U.S., Britain, and France to the people living in these countries....