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HISTORICAL METHODS
| Carrie Benes New College of Florida Spring 2008 W 12:30-3:20 pm |
Office: Palmer E127
Office Hours: M 3:30-5; Th 11-noon Email: benes at ncf dot edu Classroom: PME219 |
What is history? What do historians do? How do they collect evidence, analyze it, and share their ideas with others? This class will introduce students to the basic concepts, controversies, history, and techniques of history as a discipline, from theoretical approaches to useful reference materials. We will discuss not only the nature of history and evidence but also the practice of history, focusing on the goals of contemporary historians as well as the challenges facing them. The class aims to prepare students to do advanced work in history; as such, strong emphasis will be placed on research and writing skills.
The class is strongly encouraged for all second- and third-years intending a History area of concentration; it is also open to all other students (including first-years and non-concentrators) with permission of the instructor. No prerequisites, but course size will be limited.
Required Texts
Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, Intr. by Robert Barnard (Simon and Schuster, 1995); John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 4th ed. (Pearson, 2006); Anna Green and Kathleen Troup, eds., The Houses of History: A Critical Reader in Twentieth-Century History and Theory (Manchester Univ. Press, 1999); Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, ed. Booth, Colomb, and Williams, 7th ed. (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007); and Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, 4th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 1999) are all available for purchase in the bookstore. Other required readings will be available on the internet and on E-Reserve; links will be posted on the readings page (found here).
Also Recommended: The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (2003); a good dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary, or the Concise or Shorter Oxford English Dictionaries; and a printout of Patrick Rael, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students (Bowdoin College, 2004).
Procedures and Requirements
Each class meeting will be divided into two parts. The first half will be devoted to the discussion of theoretical concepts and approaches; after a short break, we will address the practical mechanics of doing history during the second half. Active student participation during both halves of class is both encouraged and expected.
Students are expected: to attend and participate in all class meetings, as well as to complete weekly readings; to hand in all required assignments and response papers; to give a short oral presentation on your chosen research topic; and to write a final paper. Please do the assigned week’s reading before the seminar meets, so that you can participate fully in class discussion. Lateness, absence, and failure to participate will all affect your evaluation.
As a courtesy to those around you, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices before entering any classroom. If you use such devices (PDAs, laptops, etc.) for notetaking, please ensure their volume is turned off. I reserve the right to answer any ringing cell phone.
Assessment
Your evaluation will be based on the following criteria: attendance, participation, and weekly written assignments; your oral presentation; and your research paper (including prospectus and first draft). You must complete all major assignments in order to receive a satisfactory evaluation for the course; more than 2 weeks of missed or late weekly assignments will also result in an “unsat”. Also, all assignments must be handed in as scheduled; documentation (doctor’s note, sheriff’s note, etc.) will be required for last-minute emergencies. This rule is not negotiable.The New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies
The Conference is a nationally-recognized conference held every two years on our campus; its particular strengths this year are in Italian history, the English Renaissance, and manuscript studies. The plenary speakers (major scholars, who have been invited to give the two main talks) will be John Najemy, a medieval historian from Cornell, and François Rigolot, a scholar of French literature from Princeton. You are encouraged to attend as many of the panels as you find interesting, but for this class you are required to attend at least two of the panels dealing with medieval or Renaissance history. You should then write a 2- to 3-page review of one panel, to be handed in the following Monday. Formal details and conference programs will be handed out before the conference begins; information is also available at the conference website. This is a major academic event of a kind rarely to be seen in Florida; take advantage of it while it’s here!
Term Papers
Your final evaluation will depend chiefly on a term paper, which may be on any topic associated with the course. Chosen topics must be cleared with me by submitting a research report in week 6, a 3-4 page project prospectus (including a bibliography) in week 7, and an outline in week 8. Weeks 12 and 13 will be devoted to short discussions of each student’s submitted draft.
Final papers should be 4000-5000 words long (not including notes or bibliography; that’s ~15-20 pages); they should be double-spaced and spell-checked, with page numbers. Papers must include documentation in Chicago style, and all sources must be documented (no encyclopedias, please). Internet sources may not be used unless cleared with me in advance. Emailed papers and papers outside the specified length will not be accepted. Extensions will be granted only in exceptional circumstances, and documentation (doctor’s note, etc.) will be required.
Since this is a practical class focused on research and writing, your final paper will be assessed for style as well as content. I am happy to help you with the paper-writing process up to the last day of classes; please feel free to consult me with any questions. You may also wish to consult my Guidelines for Writing a History Paper handout and/or the Writing Resource Center's advice on the writing process. I am also requiring that you make at least two visits in person to the Writing Resource Center over the course of the semester. They will maintain a sign-in sheet especially for this class; it is your responsibility to ensure your visits are recorded on the sheet so that you receive credit for them in your final evaluation.
In addition to turning in a hard copy of your final paper, you must upload a copy to the class page at Turnitin.com. All papers must be uploaded by midnight on the day papers are due; last-minute technical difficulties are not an acceptable excuse. To get started:
- Go to http://www.turnitin.com, and click “New Users” on the homepage.
- When prompted, enter class ID 2152708 and password pankhurst. This will enroll you in the online version of this class.
- Click on the class name to see the assignment and submit your paper. Turnitin will accept most types of word-processing files, or you can cut-and-paste your paper into the program.
- Once you click submit, Turnitin will return an “originality report”, which compares the text of your paper to webpages and databases all over the internet as well as other student papers. Please note, a score of greater than 0% does NOT necessarily mean you have plagiarized. Read more information in Turnitin's manual for students here.
Final note: I’m doing this for two chief reasons: first, it protects your work and effort, since every paper goes into Turnitin's permanent database. Second, it can help you be more aware of where your prose comes from. The simplicity with which we can cut and paste text nowadays to and from the internet, our notes, and our writing makes inadvertent plagiarism all too easy.
Please feel free to consult me with any questions.
Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism or cheating in any form will not be tolerated. This includes using anyone else’s words, data, or bibliographical information as your own—if you have questions on how or what to cite, consult the sources listed above or see me. Any infractions will be referred at once to the proper college authorities.
Communications
Email and internet access are essential in this course. The course syllabus, assignments, and announcements will all be posted here on the course webpage. The web syllabus will always be the most recent “official” version; the “readings” page will always be the most up-to-date list of assignments. Please note, the readings page (a hotlinked version of the course schedule, found here) is password-protected: to access this page, you must use New College authentication procedures (i.e. for “username” enter “student\yourusername”, then your password).
In addition, I will be contacting you via email to answer questions, make announcements, and so forth. Per Provost’s Office policy, I will only send email to your NCF email account, so please keep it current, or you will miss out. Email is also the best way for you to contact me; I am a self-confessed email junkie, and I make every effort to reply to questions as soon as I get them.
Office Hours
If you have any questions or comments about the course during the term, please stop by my office hours; I am happy to chat about college, history, medieval studies, grad school, study abroad, or other totally irrelevant subjects. If you have a conflict with my regularly scheduled hours, just email me or see me during class to set up an alternative meeting time. In particular, please let me know as soon as possible if you have any unusual circumstances or difficulties with which I can help you.
Have a great semester!
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Important Note: This is the public version of this syllabus. The student version with links to Powerpoint presentations and online readings can be found here.
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***Spring Break (Mar 24-28)*** |
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