This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Douglas Michell ’09 (Toms River, N.J.) is a double major in government & law and history. This year, he is working as an EXCEL Scholar with Arnold Offner, Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History, on Offner’s upcoming book Hubert H. Humphrey and the Tragedy of American Liberalism. The following is a first-hand account of Michell’s experiences working on the project to date.
Working as an EXCEL Scholar over the past seven weeks has proved a valuable educational experience. With Professor Offner’s guidance, I contribute to a work-in-progress in one of my favorite fields of study—modern American history— written by one of the College’s most respected, and indeed controversial, historians.
I serve as an aide to Professor Offner, essentially searching through primary source documents, compiling information, and using my judgment in outlining materials pertinent to his upcoming book, Hubert Humphrey and the Tragedy of American Liberalism. My current assignment deals with the Congressional Record from the years 1971-1978, in which Humphrey was an active member of the Senate.
Humphrey’s desire to expand the welfare state, as well as most of his liberal policies regarding the debates of the energy crisis, Vietnam War, Cold War, bad race relations, education, rural flight, and inner city crime, were not widely embraced in this era of great emotionalism.
This period of history is an especially interesting one to study because the liberal tenets of big government, as advocated by Johnson and Humphrey, clashed with the traditionalist views of the establishment and President Nixon. The 1970’s marked the beginning of the country’s divisive turn back toward social conservatism.
While the topics I study are interesting and thought-provoking, the research process itself is beneficial to both the academic and professional worlds. Tackling a large task such as the Congressional Record project is not simple. The Congressional Record reports every word every representative or senator says on the floor, and includes any articles, bills, or speeches that are debated. A few 100,000 pages of pertinent material must be pulled apart, organized, and put back together in order to present something useful to Professor Offner. But assignments that are difficult are the most constructive; when one must work through problems, he or she learns how to deal with new challenges.
The EXCEL experience—the difficulties and frustrations encountered in the research, extensive exposure to primary source documents, and discussions with a true authority on the subject matter—allows students to advance themselves academically, professionally, and personally. The ability to overcome challenging tasks and discover which methods for researching, recording information, and solving problems are best will stay with me throughout my academic and professional life.