Brief Writing Assignments (25%)
We have significant collective readings for this class from August 31-November 2 (not every week). Of the six weeks for which we have assigned readings, you must write a 2-page précis on each of five assigned readings. They are due at the start of class for the week for which the book is assigned. The précis should be double-spaced, in a12-point font, with standard margins and the pages stapled together.
Each précis should contain full bibliographic information at the top, followed by a discussion of the author’s thesis, major arguments, and sources, as well as the work’s contribution, strengths and weaknesses. To get a handle on the work’s contribution and to situate it in the field, you are strongly encouraged to find a couple of book reviews in order to understand how scholars received the work. You will be graded on accuracy, clarity, organization, and writing.
These writing assignments will not only help to hone your critical reading skills and work on your writing skills. They will prepare you for the demands of reading courses in your field and help to develop the study skills needed to succeed on comprehensive exams.
Participation (25%)
Your active participation is essential to the success of this class and that is why it is given considerable weight in your final grade. By participation, I mean active listening to the instructor and your peers, as well as the contribution of your own insights into the material and into the ideas of your comrades. You are also expected to come to class prepared with a couple of discussion questions. Further, in the six weeks for which we have common readings, students will be assigned to assist in facilitating discussion. Details of this will be discussed during the first class session, when a schedule will be drawn up. In addition to being judged on your routine participation in class discussion, the fair, honest, detailed, and useful feedback that you give your colleagues when papers are workshopped at the end of the semester will be factored into your participation grade. How you contribute to the classroom setting and critique your peers is an important part of your professionalization as an historian.
Historiographic Paper (50%)
One of the central aims of this course is to jumpstart your Master’s thesis work. To do this, first you have to identify a topic that interests you. Then you need to make sure the primary sources are accessible locally (either in our local libraries and archives, or via Interlibrary Borrowing). It is often through secondary literature that you will discover what primary materials exist, but not everything can feasibly be accessed for a Master’s thesis. You must use good judgment and common sense when assessing what is and is not doable over the next 3 semesters or so. Your primary advisor will be an excellent resource for helping you make good choices early on about what is realistic. Recognizing the limits of the instructor’s knowledge of your particular specialization, it is your responsibility to maintain communication with your advisor throughout the semester (and beyond, of course!) and seek out from him/her the expert help you need to guide you through the particulars of your field.
On August 31, September 14 and September 28, you have research assignments that will start you on this project and build toward a 15-page historiographic paper, due December 7. Your paper should survey the most relevant and central literature surrounding the topic on which you plan to write your Master’s thesis. You will need to think carefully about how to frame your research project in terms of the existing historiography, defining it neither too broadly or too narrowly.
Next semester, in the context of a research seminar, you will have an opportunity to build on the work you do in this class and to delve deeply into the primary materials you identify early in this semester.