HIS 200
Fall 2005 Historians and the Writing of History
T-TH 11:10-12:25
________________________________________________________________________
Professor Charles Connell Office: 205 Bio Bldg.
Hours: T-TH
Or by appointment: phone 523-8418
e-mail: charles.connell@nau.edu
Graduate Assistants:
Bill Knoblauch--- office in 229 LA
Bldg Hours:
By appointment: wmk6@dana.ucc.nau.edu
Stephanie Capaldo---office in 204
Bio Bldg. Hours: 10-11 T & TH or
By appointment: stipmc@yahoo.com
________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to History 200!
This course is designed for and required of
all History majors at
To accomplish these goals, this section of History 200 is designed differently. It will have a “lab” component. The purpose of the lab is to provide more “time on task” and more individualized attention as you work to complete the semester’s required writing assignments. You will practice analyzing sources, and you will develop new attitudes toward the task of writing history. Yes, you will practice writing skills as well.
But, this section of the course assumes that you will write better and more confidently once you begin to think and work more like a practicing historian.
Thus, our goal is to assist you as you move more directly and purposefully from the role of novice to the role of expert historian. The lab exercises will be designed to meet your individual needs as you develop new habits of the mind that should serve you throughout your undergraduate career as a major in History, but also assist you in devel-oping habits of critical thinking and analysis that will enable you to contribute more to your community no matter what your life’s work may be after graduation.
Required
All Texts are
available at either the College Store on Riordan or at University Texts and
Tools in the Safeway shopping mall across
Jules Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History (pbk. Bedford St Martin’s)
---a useful handbook for all undergraduate history majors; can be used in any course
to lead you to sources, on-line sites; and tools for improving your writing skills
Mark Gilderhus, History and Historians. A Historiographical Introduction (Prentice
Hall, pbk. 5th edition)
Spickard, et al. World History by the World’s Historians (McGraw Hill, pbk, 1998)
HIS 200, Syllabus, cont. -2-
WEB Resources
Primary site for the course is : www.fordham.edu/halsall (this site provides several types of original sources in three major periods of history. We will be using the Medieval Sourcebook first.)
Home page for the course is at: jan.ucc.nau.edu/~cwc2 (This site has hotlinks to numerous useful sites for students of history, including one to the Fordham site.)
Benjamin, A Student’s Guide, also has many sites
listed that you will find interesting and useful
Course Policies
Attendance---see below under Course
Requirements.
Completion of Assignments---All assignments are due on the date indicated. Late assignments will not receive full credit without a medical or other university-excused form of absence. Five points will be deducted for each day the assignment is late.
Other University Policies re. Safe Working Environment, Students with Disabilities, Academic Integrity, and Classroom Management will be followed as well. See the NAU Home Page for access to these policies if you are not already familiar with them.
Course Requirements
Attendance (100 points)
Attendance will be taken each session. You are expected to attend every regularly scheduled session. You may miss two classes (with or without a university- approved absence, including medical) without penalty. Beginning with the third absence, five points will be deducted for each absence thereafter.
Major Paper (200 points)
Your most significant goal this
term will be to complete the writing of a paper that solves a “problem” using a
set of at least a dozen sources, primary and secondary. Handouts will later explain the format and
provide criteria for the evaluation of this paper as well.
Other Writing Assignments (400 points)
Throughout the semester, you will be given various writing assignments that are based on the required readings---homework, in-class writing, etc. Each will be explained on the syllabus or in a separate handout, along with the points assigned for each. Each is designed to help you with the major paper assignment as well. Key assignments among these will include book and/or article reviews that will provide a model for you to use in other history courses that require these.
HIS 200, Syllabus, cont. -3-
Class/Lab Participation (100 points)
Not only are you expected to come to class, but your participation as indicated in various homework or in-class assignments is expected. You do not have to “hog the floor” or be in the spotlight to “participate”.
From time to time we will need to do a “group lab,” and your participation will be required as indicated at that time.
At other times you will be expected to meet with an instructor on an individual basis in order to work on your term project.
Final Grades
Will be based on your work throughout the semester. To earn an A you must accumulate 720-800 points, a B from 640-719, a C from 560-639, and a D from 480-559.
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Weekly
Schedule of Topics and
(this
schedule is dynamic and subject to amendation as
needed )__________
Week 1
Aug. 30 Introductions to the Course and to each other
Handouts: Syllabus, et al.
Discuss the Syllabus, the format for the course, and the “nature of history”
Collect information from students
Sept. 1 Writing Exercise based on primary sources
Sept. 2 Introduction to the Lab and the major WEB sites
Week 2
Sept. 6 Writing Exercise based on a secondary source
Sept. 8 What is a historical “problem”?
Two models of developing research problems (Stephanie and Bill present)
Under Crusades,
go to Urban II speeches 1095, the accounts by
Guibert of Nogent and Fulcher of
On Sept. 13
Week 3
Sept. 13 How to use Evidence to solve a problem---Guibert and Fulcher
IN-class discussion in groups.
Models of novice and expert use of evidence (Stephanie and Bill)
NOTE---for class on Thursday, bring secondary source that you received Sept. 6
Sept. 15 Using Secondary Sources to Help solve a problem
Models of novice and expert practice (Stephanie and Bill)
Read for next Tues.--under Urban’s call in 1095—Balderic of Dol & Urban’s letter
HIS 200, Syllabus, cont. -4-
Week 4
Sept. 20 Comparing the uses of evidence---primary and secondary
In-class group work on this (handout)
NOTE: Bring the secondary source to class on Thursday
Sept. 22 Hedging language exercise
In-class group work (handout)
Assign groups for library stations next week.
This week---Sign up to meet with Bill or Stephanie to discuss your
term
project and development of a bibliography/collection of primary
sources. Complete these meetings by Sept. 30—note
assignments on
Oct. 6 and Oct. 13 involving use
of this bibliography
Week 5
Sept. 27 Meet
in Cline Library for Archive Exercise---Bring
note pad
Sept. 29 In-class “free write” based on your notes from Library Exercise
Week 6
Oct. 4 Debrief library exercise and compare to previous work as related to
the process of historical research and writing
Read for Thursday---Gilderhus 1-33.
Oct. 6 Introduction to next phase of course---historians of the past as models
Read for Tues, Oct 11: World II, 285-317
(refer to Handout to guide your reading)
Written Assignment: Handout re. review of secondary source from
your bibliography---DUE DATE—Oct. 20
Week 7
Oct. 11 The issue of defining a “problem” revisited and applied to your project
(30
minutes)
Discuss: readings for today in World II
Oct. 13 Continue Discussion of readings in World II
Read: World II 318-39; Gilderhus 34-42 (Handout to guide readings)
Written Assignment: Read one of your primary sources for your
problem and write a two paragraph analysis of it as it might apply
to solving your problem
Week 8
Oct. 18 Discuss Impact of the Enlightenment on Writing History
Read: World II 340-59
Oct. 20 Discuss Macaulay and Martineau
Read: World I 362-402
(Handout with Homework assignment for Oct. 25)
Week 9
Oct. 25 Evolving non-European views of History
Read: Gilderhus 42-8; World II 403-17
HIS 200, Syllabus, cont. -5-
Oct. 27 Discuss Von Ranke and the “science” of history
Read: Gilderhus 51-70; World II 418-39 (Handout to guide)
Lab exercises re. writing effectively.
Working Outline of Final Paper---DUE
on Tues. Nov. 1
NOTE: Draft of Paper is DUE Nov. 17
Week 10
Nov. 1 Discuss Marx and Weber and the politics of history and theory
Read: World II 440-51; 523-33; 549-57.
Working Outline DUE
Nov. 3 Discuss the Frontier Thesis---Where’s the problem? Other issues
Read: Gilderhus 73-88, World II 502-533; 549-57 (Handout)
Lab exercises re. writing effectively.
Week 11
Nov. 8 The philospphy of History
Read: Gilderhus, 91-105
Nov. 10 Discussion of effective writing and tie back to individual projects
Read: Gilderhus ch. 7; World II 490-99; 574-614 (Handout)
Week 12
Nov. 15 The professional historian in more recent times
Read:
no new assignment
Nov. 17 Fiction and Film and the Writing of History
DEADLINE: Draft of Final Paper is DUE
Read:
TBA
Week 13
Nov. 22 Continue working on Paper
Read: World II 502-20
Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Holiday
Week 14
Nov. 29 Fiction and Film and the Writing of History, cont.
Read:
TBA
Dec. 1 Fiction and Film and the Writing of History, cont.
Week 15
Dec. 6-8 In- Class presentations on individual historical problems
Final Paper Due no later
than Dec. 14 at