Abstract
This critical commentary interprets the risk that increased reliance on AI will disrupt student researchers’ direct engagement with historical primary sources. Close analysis of primary source details supports feminist history and digital history approaches, helping researchers contextualize histories of marginalization and interrogate scholarly and popular narratives about the past. Search engines and databases can promote access to digitized documents. By contrast, large language models reflect contemporary biases and communication patterns, manufacturing general declarations about historical significance that do not prioritize digitized primary source materials. I experimented with AI queries about participants in the 1977 National Women’s Conference (NWC), a topic that undergraduate students research as contributors to the Sharing Stories from 1977: Putting the National Women’s Conference on the Map digital humanities project (https://sharingstories1977.uh.edu). Reflecting on experiences teaching students to write biographies about previously under-researched NWC participants, I encourage continued instruction in strategies for accessing and analyzing primary source details.
Recommended Citation
Westkaemper, Emily
(2025)
"Keep Searching for Stories: The Importance of Student Historical Research in the AI Era,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 6:
Iss.
3, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol6/iss3/3
Included in
Digital Humanities Commons, History of Gender Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons