Digital Exhibit
The University of Michigan and the Great War
The project was the first paid summer internship developed out of Matthew Lassiter's history lab courses, which emphasize hands-on, public-facing historical research. It was also the first iteration of what became Michigan in the World: Local and Global Stories, and was conceived specifically in relation to World War I as the centennial of the war approached.
Presented by the History Department and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Michigan, the project is a digital public history exhibit based on original undergraduate research. Using the university as a vantage point, it explores how a global conflict was experienced locally, tracing the wartime lives of students, faculty, alumni, and the wider Ann Arbor community.
The exhibit examines three central themes, military service, homefront mobilization, and opposition to the war, showing how debates, activism, and shifting attitudes on campus mirrored broader national dynamics.
As part of the broader Michigan in the World initiative, the project reflects a collaborative model of research and interpretation in which students work in university archives to produce publicly accessible scholarship. More broadly, Michigan in the World connects the history of the University of Michigan to wider local, national, and global contexts while fostering critical reflection and public engagement.