Tony Zhang

2014 NHD Process Paper The way I came to choose my NHD project is thanks to my father. Although held back by the education of Communist China during the reign of Mao Zedong, my father is adept in the field of political theology. I took this influence heavily into account while choosing my project, along with influence from my AP World History course, from which I drew some pointers as to which major region I wanted to focus on. Utilizing the influence and knowledge gained from an academic environment as well as a domestic environment, I concluded that I would focus my project on Stalinist Russia. Conducting my research focused heavily on text based sources rather than digital based sources, so logically I spent the majority of my free time during the making of my NHD project at the local library. I put heavy emphasis on primary sources, using over thirty primary sources as opposed to a mere five secondary sources so that my argument was as strongly presented and augmented. In addition, I also made use of nationwide recognized databases such as the Library of Congress and ABC-Clio, where I extracted key information and images that would aid to bind my project to be coherent and comprehensive. My choice of the medium of my project is due to the fact that I have participated in NHD prior to 2014, during my first experience with NHD, situation dictated that I would be required to construct a website. That mere fact heavily influenced my decision to construct a website for this years NHD. The website is also convenient for me as I am technology inclined and there is the fact that websites are easy to access from virtually anywhere. Creating my project was especially

enjoyable. In all honestly, the construction of the website paled in comparison to the workload of compiling all the data that I would use from my sources, and after that all I had to do was simply weave it in a visually appealing and appropriate design that would catch the eye of the reader and keep them interesting. Whereas design is a crucial element in the construction of a website, I also remember the fact that the way the information was presented is also important, and so I made sure to present my information and argument in a coherent way so that one who does not possess knowledge on the topic will emerge infinitely more knowledgeable afterwards. Currently, the 2014 theme is Rights and Responsibilities in History. Stalinist Russia is a pristine example of the violation of rights and responsibilities, as it was not far after the first large scale implementation of a new government system during a time of crisis within Russia, making it an extremely suitable topic for the 2014 theme.