Maker Spaces: Creative and Embodied Learning in the Early Modern Classroom

Creative projects and historical making are not mutually exclusive of academic goals. In keeping with current research on creativity and the “unessay,” this article argues that student investigations of the past can involve rigorous assessments beyond term papers and exams. Creative projects and historical making involve research, analysis, bibliographic, and reflection skills, that are key to more traditional assessment processes, and often have an active and open character. The three articles that follow this introduction show how “unessays,” commonplace books, and crafting open new portals to learning about the early modern world, and especially about gender, class, and education.