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CONTENTS
| Course Description | Texts | Grading | Attendance Policy |
| Late Policy | Other Remarks | Class Schedule |
This course, required of all history majors, will serve as an introduction to the techniques, conventions, studies, and practices of history. It will have two integrated components. The first component, historiography, will introduce students to the study of how history is interpreted and written. The second component, research methods, will give students the tools they need to find and use both primary and secondary sources.
Course Goals
Some of the issues and questions we will explore in this course include:
What is historiography?
How are historiographical schools of thought developed? Why do historians, working with the same general pool of information, reach different conclusions about such problems as the New Deal, the French Revolution, and the rise of the working classes in England? Can any history really claim to tell the 'objective' truth? Why or why not?
What research tools are appropriate to historians, and how can these be used at Wofford? How have new technologies changed our approaches to historical sources?
How should historians approach non-traditional sources, such as film and oral history?
How should a research project be organized?
The class will have
three major areas of focus:
Course's Relationship to Department Goals
This course helps the history department reach its goals by teaching students several important skills important for the study and practice of history:
Technology Skills
Students will need some basic knowledge of web browsers in order to be able to find and utilize research material. They will also need some basic working knowledge of using a computer word-processor in order to write the short paper in this class. As a part of the course, students will use several on-line databases to find materials for their historiographical paper. We will also discuss ways of judging the legitimacy of on-line resources.
Instructional Format
This course will largely a discussion-based class, supplemented by lots of in-class workshopping exercises and work in the library.
The
readings listed under each day should be done before the assigned day.
| Library Work | 20% |
| Hollitz Papers (300-500 words) | 2.5% each |
| After the Fact Interactive (Rosie) Assignment | 10% |
| Description of Historiography Review Topic | 5% |
| Paper on Progressives | 10% |
| Long Book Review (1100-1300 words/4-5 pages) | 10% |
| Peer Review (500-550 words/2 pages) | 5% |
| Short Book Review (500-550 words/2 pages) | 5% |
| Historiography Review (2600-3600 words/10-14) | 30% |
The Grade for the Library work mentioned above will consist of four (4) class assignments (5 point each), three (3) homowork assignments (15 points each), and a final bibliography (35 points).
You cannot afford to miss this
class! If you miss a class due to an excused absence (for which you must
provide a written doctor’s note or a note explaining the family emergency or
near-death experience that prevented you from coming to class), you are
responsible for getting the assignments due for the next class period. More
than 2 unexcused absences means you will be dropped from the class.
Students
with a doctor’s excuse (or another suitable excuse) can make up the exam up to
a week after the exam date. The paper is due at the beginning of class the
day for which it is assigned.
All
cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class. Do not, of course, take phone calls during
class. Please be on time. If you must arrive late or leave early, do
so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.
Finally, all work must be yours.
Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment.
We will be looking closely at issues
of improper citation and plagiarism in this class, but you should already be
familiar with the section in your Student Handbook regarding academic honesty.
Plagiarism includes using materials from articles, books, web sites, and other
sources without proper acknowledgement and citations; copying ideas,
phraseology, or portions of actual papers from these and other sources,
including your friends; downloading papers from web sites and turning them in as
your own; and sharing answers for exams and other assignments. Improper
citation can be trickier to identify, but it is obviously of crucial importance
to historians, and we will be spending several class exercises on the problems
of citing sources.
Academic honesty is a key part of
the Wofford College Honor Code, which is binding on all students. Please
review the honor code at www.wofford.edu/studentLife/honorCode.pdf
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Handling Historical Sources |
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| Week 1 | Class | Assignment |
| Feb 6 | Introduction | none |
| Feb 8 | The Craft of History | Rampolla, Ch. 1: "Introduction: Why Study History?" |
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Week 2 |
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| Feb 13 | Evaluating Primary Sources | Rampolla, Ch. 2: "Working with Sources" |
| Feb 15 | Evaluating Primary Sources, cont. | Truman and Hogarth |
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Week 3 |
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| Feb 20 | Evaluating Multiple Primary Sources |
Hollitz,
ch. 2
Response paper #1 due: Questions are on pp. 26-27. Group 1 answer question 1; group 2 answer question 2; group 3 answer question 3. Papers must be typed and double-spaced. (Groups will be assigned on 2/15) |
| Feb 22 | Primary and Secondary Sources |
Portrait Article
Also, start reading Ozment! |
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Week 4 |
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| Feb 27 | Evaluating a Secondary Source | Hollitz, ch. 4 |
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Historical Arguments |
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| Mar 1 | Constructing a Historical Argument |
Rampolla, Ch. 4: "Following Conventions of Writing in History"
Paper on "From Rosie to Lucy" due |
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Week 5 |
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| Mar 6 |
Debating Historical Arguments
Handout: Types of History |
Hollitz, ch 11 (no paper on this chapter due)
Short paper (300-500 words) on chosen historiographical review topic due. |
| Mar 8 | Historiography: Schools and Arguments |
Keep on reading Ozment! |
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Library Work For the following four weeks, the class will divide its time between the classroom and the library. On Tuesdays, you will meet with Drs. Rodrick or Whisnant; on Thursdays, you will meet with Ms. Tillett. (This is subject to change if necessary.) |
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Week 6 |
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| Mar 13 | How to Write a Book Review |
Rampolla, Ch. 3: "Reading and Writing in History: Some Typical Assignments" Drink in the Colonies (2 book reviews) |
| Mar 15 | Overview of Research Process
Print Reference Sources Introduction to the Library Catalog (BEN) Complete Class Assignment #1 Handouts: Syllabus for Library Section; Library Homework #1; Sample Annotated Bibiography |
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Week 7 |
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| Mar 20 | Discuss Ozment |
Finish reading Ozment! Library Homework #1 due |
| Mar 22 | Searching Techniques in BEN
Following the Scholarship Trail Using Footnotes and Bibliographies Complete Class Assignment #2 |
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Week 8 |
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| Mar 27 | The Short Book Review | Library Homework #2 due
Draft of long Ozment paper due (bring 2 copies!) |
| Mar 29 | Database Searching for Books & Articles
Types of Journals and Articles Complete Class Assignment #3 |
Start reading Gilmore! |
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Week 9 |
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| Apr 3 | Spring Break | |
| Apr 5 | Spring Break | |
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Week 10 |
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| Apr 10 | Citations and Bibliographies |
Continue reading in Gilmore! Rampolla, Chs. 6&7 (on Plagiarism & Documenting Sources) Library Homework #3 due Peer Review due |
| Apr 12 |
Finding and Using Book Reviews
Evaluating Your Results Compiling the Bibliography Complete Class Assignment #4 |
Semi-final annotated bibliography due |
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Writing a Historiography Paper |
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Week 11 |
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| Apr 17 |
Paraphrasing and Plagiarism Handout to be Examined in Class |
Keep up with everything! |
| Apr 19 | Historiography Discuss introductory essay of Gilmore |
Keep on reading Gilmore Final annotated bibliography due |
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Week 12 |
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| Apr 24 | Historiography |
Finish Gilmore
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| Apr 26 | Proofreading and Rewriting | Final Version of Long Ozment Review due Short Ozment Review due |
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Week 13 |
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| May 1 | Individual Conferences on historiographical essay (sign up on 4/26) | Gilmore papers due |
| May 3 | Individual Conferences on historiographical essay | |
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Week 14 |
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| May 8 | Exploring the Archives (meet in the library) | |
| May 10 | Last Class Day | |
| Your final paper is due by noon on Monday, May 14. | ||
Note:
This syllabus is tentative and subject to change upon notice.