History Forum

HI 395, Fall 2009

Tuesday/Thursday 1:00-2:15pm, HC 210

Instructor: Kerry Wynn

Office: 311E Henderson

Office hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:30pm and Wednesday 10am-12pm (and by appointment)

Office phone: 670-2062

Course Description:

History Forum is a seminar intended to provide students with training in the skills necessary to the practice of history. This course acquaints students with major trends in historical writing and assists students in building skills in research and critical analysis. It also provides an introduction to the opportunities available to professional historians, as well as historians’ responsibilities to their profession and the general public. This semester, we will engage in critical discussions on historical research and writing, the past and future of the discipline of history, and your roles as historians.

This course prepares students to complete the capstone project required as a product of HI 399. In order to conduct the original research that HI 399 mandates, students must first situate their project in its historiographical context. Your main objective in this course is to produce a historiographical essay, written at a professional level, which will establish the framework necessary for your original research in HI 399.

Course Objectives:

During this course, you will:

Produce a 15-page historiographical essay that meets (or exceeds) the standards of professional historians

Learn the craft of historical research and explore the history of major schools of thought within the discipline

Engage with the ethical, political, and practical dimensions of the discipline of history

Practice critical analysis of historical writing

Improve your writing skills

Required Texts:

Green, Anna, and Kathleen Troup. The Houses of History: A Critical Reader in Twentieth-Century History and Theory. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations 7^th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Course Requirements:

Success in this course requires completing all of its components: timely completion of reading assignments, participation in class discussion, and completion of drafts, critiques, and the final essay.

This course is an intense training exercise in the practice of history. Historiographical research is fundamental to the practice of all historians, no matter how they have chosen to utilize their historical training. You must develop the skills and practices of historians, including properly citing material. You must use the conventions of the discipline of history to cite your sources. Turabian’s Manual is your guide for these citations. If you have any questions about unusual sources or constructing a footnote, see Turabian, an academic history journal or monograph, or ask me.

Grade Distribution:

The final grade will be assessed out of 200 possible points. Assignments may receive points up to the total numbers listed below:

Attendance and Participation (includes conferences) = 30

Prospectus = 10

Preliminary Bibliography = 10

First Draft = 10

Second Draft = 20

Third Draft = 20

Final Paper = 100

The point scale for final grades is as follows:

A = 180-200

B = 160-179

C = 140-159

D = 120-139

F = 119 and below

A Note on Drafts:

Over the semester, you will submit at least four complete drafts of your essay, including the final draft. Each of these drafts must represent a substantial improvement on the preceding draft. In order to ensure that this occurs, you must turn in all previous drafts of the paper each time you turn in a new draft. With each draft, you must address the comments I provided on the previous version. This does not necessarily mean that you must make all of the changes I suggest, but you must adjust the draft in order to answer the critiques in some form. The drafting process is central to the work of historians. Professional historians complete dozens of drafts of each article, brochure, or exhibit they produce.

For the drafts:

You should purchase a three-ring binder (generally 2 to 3 inches works best for this purpose). Keep all of your drafts in this binder. Bring it to all conferences with me and keep it in a safe place. Turn in the binder with all drafts to that point each time you turn in a draft. You must turn in this binder (including all of the drafts) with your final paper in order to pass the class.

Each draft is a stage of a work in progress, but each draft also represents your original work as a historian. No draft containing plagiarized sections will be accepted and will result in a zero for that draft.

In order to prevent inadvertent plagiarism, it is important to cite your sources carefully. From the first draft, you must use Turabian’s method of citation. In order to make the process of editing easier, I suggest that you forgo the use of “ibid” until your final draft, using instead citations containing the author’s name and page number for repeat citations.

Always address analytical and structural comments on drafts first. If you work around the edges and simply try to add material to address problems, many larger issues will remain unaddressed. Don’t be afraid to cut, rearrange, or revise material already written. Every historian has completed major revisions of their work, and the process is often far from painless. Keep writing--we learn as much, if not more, from the passages that take a great deal of editing as we do from those that seem to fall into place.

The Historical Craft:

Throughout this course, you must adopt the habits of successful historians. These practices may seem arduous at first, but they will become automatic responses in time. If you follow this advice, you will save time and prevent future anguish.

Gathering the evidence

Be precise!

--always give the full citation for the book, article, or other source directly on your notes about that source

--find a way to mark off your thoughts and insights as distinct from those of the author of the work you are analyzing—and be consistent

Be thorough!

--note the argument of each article or monograph you read

--note the strengths and weaknesses of the work

--uncover all sources

--back-up your notes

Be organized!

--find a system for organizing your sources and notes

--relate works to each other and to the overall theme of your study as you go

--pay attention to chronology

--include dates on your notes, correspondence, and drafts

Writing the Essay

Have a thesis that answers an original question

Construct your essay using accurate, clear, and coherent English

Ensure that your evidence and your writing support the thesis

Use critical analysis of evidence to argue in support of your thesis

Avoid polemics, but note the weaknesses of current historical writing on the topic

Avoid hero-worship, but note the strengths of current historical writing on the topic

Show awareness of historical context and chronology

Accurately and thoroughly cite the material you reference

Class Schedule:

August 18 Introduction--the relation of Forum to HI 399: choosing a topic

20 The historiographical essay

Read one of the sample historiographies included under “links” on the My.Washburn course homepage.

August 25 Using historical databases and internet search engines (SESSION AT MABEE LIBRARY)

For this session, you will need to know your WUAD ID and password

27 Constructing a bibliography

***PROSPECTUS DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1***

Sept 1 The development of historical writing: The Empiricists

Houses of History, chapter 1

3 The development of historical writing: The Marxists

Houses of History, chapter 2

***A conference must be scheduled with Dr. Wynn for the week of September 8***

Sept 8 The development of historical writing: The Annales

Houses of History, chapter 4

10 The development of historical writing: Historical Sociology

Houses of History, chapter 5

***PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15***

Sept 15 The development of historical writing: Quantitative History

Houses of History, chapter 6

17 Workshop

From bibliography to draft

Sept 22 The development of historical writing: Anthropological Influences

Houses of History, chapter 7

24 The development of historical writing: To Narrate or Not?

Houses of History, chapter 8

Sept 29-Oct 1 No Classes—work on drafts

Oct 6-8 No Classes—work on drafts

***FIRST DRAFTS OF ESSAYS DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13***

Oct 13-15 No Class—work on drafts

***A conference must be scheduled with Dr. Wynn for the week of October 19***

Oct 20-22 No Class—conferences

***SECOND DRAFTS OF ESSAYS DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27***

Oct 27-29 No classes--work on drafts

**A conference must be scheduled with Dr. Wynn for the week of November 2**

Nov 3-5 No classes--conferences

Nov 10-12 No classes--work on drafts

***THIRD DRAFTS OF ESSAYS DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17***

Nov 17-19 No classes—CONFERENCES MAY BE HELD BUT ARE OPTIONAL

Nov 24 Student Presentations

26 No Class—Thanksgiving

Dec 1 Student Presentations

3 Student Presentations

***FINAL ESSAYS DUE TO DR. WYNN BY 5pm MONDAY, DECEMBER 7***

Adjustments to this schedule may be made to accommodate issues that arise over the course of the semester. I will announce any changes in class and on the My.Washburn website for this course.