Syllabus COURSE GOALS This is the first part of a two-course sequence through which students with History Majors will work toward the creation of a thesis or commensurate final project required for the B.A. in History. Through this course, a student will:
2. learn or review professional standards regarding the use and acknowledgment of sources through citation (footnotes/endnotes) and appropriate bibliography; 3. write a Prospectus for the thesis or commensurate final project that will include:
b. a description of the primary-source-basis of the thesis/project; c. a brief discussion of what the examination and analysis of the primary-source basis could be expected to reveal about the thesis/project; d. a working bibliography including:
ii) current literature that discusses the topic to be treated in the thesis/project; and iii) current literature that uses the methodology proposed for the thesis (i.e., models of the sort of research the thesis proposes). Useful Books Strunk & White, The Elements of Style (Many Editions). Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing; University of Chicago Press 2007). Booth, Williams, & Coulomb, The Craft of Research, Third Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing (University of Chicago Press 2008). [Now in a 3rd edition, but the 2nd is better in my opinion.] GRADES Students' grades will be determined on the basis of three criteria:
Historical Research Historical Research is a process of applying various investigative approaches to evidence of past times with the goal of reconstructing and better understanding past events and circumstances. A succession of questions present themselves:
How did it happen? Why did it happen? What were its short-term and long-term consequences? Historical research is based on Primary Sources, that is works that are witnesses to or products of the period, place, and topic being studied. Secondary sources or "Literature" can very useful to gather knowledge about a period. Literature can also be extremely useful to learn what primary sources are available for a given period, place, and topic. There is no reason not to take advantage of existing literature in framing plans for scholarly investigation: we all stand on the shoulders of those who researched and published before us. But ultimately, research must be BASED ON Primary Sources. Hold on a minute!! At this point you may be asking yourself whether the goals and principles discussed above are pitched at a level beyond what is appropriate for a Baccalaureat Thesis. The answer is, no; but that requires explanation. The skills, values, and attitudes that are aspects of history are the same at the basic level as at the highest level. What changes as someone moves from a level of beginner to a baccalaureate history degree to a master's degree to a Ph.D. and then to professional eminence among historians are the expectations of a person's breadth and depth of knowledge, the comprehensiveness of their scholarship, its originality and the person's independence. At the level of a Ph.D. dissertation, a doctoral researcher would be expected to be able to find and use all existing primary-source evidence on the specific topic. She would be expected to review and discuss all important literature on that topic in a dissertation. He would be expected to present conclusions that are original and based on his study of primary-soure evidence. In many cases, she would be expected to go into archives, find and present new evidence, unpublished sources that will give future historians a richer basis for historical interpretation. And he would be expected to do all this and to make decisions on what is important and what is not, for the most part, on his own. At the level of this baccalaureate thesis or comparable project, comprehensive research on the specific topic is not expected. Comprehensive knowledge of previous literature on the topic is not expected; but a good knowledge of the narrative history and some knowledge of current interpretation in that area is, and this will be greatly facilitated by faculty members who have more expertise in the area. Presenting new primary-source evidence is not expected. What is expected is that students will have a good understanding of the general area and topic of the thesis/project and that they will present conclusions based on some primary-source evidence that reflect good analytical and interpretive skills. We will meet approximately every two weeks: August 27: Course Introduction September 10: Essay: What interests you in history and why? (What specific topic, themes, periods, personalities, etc.) 1000 words. September 24 October 8 October 22 November 5 November 14: Preliminary Version of the Prospectus is Due. November 19 December 3 December 10: Final Version of the Prospectus is Due. |
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