Research Seminar:
Microhistories

description

This capstone research seminar will consider microhistory, an approach to writing history that uses a very focused episode from the past (usually, the life of a “nobody”) to illuminate issues at the macrohistorical level. In the first half of the course, we will read a number of book- and article-length microhistories, as well as some historiographic writing on microhistory, in order to understand the philosophy and practical techniques of this approach. As the major assignment for the class, students will produce a 25-30 page original piece of microhistorical research .
       The main purpose of the research seminar, the capstone for History majors, is to allow students to study a topic in depth and then to demonstrate mastery of the methods used in critical inquiry and explanation through the writing of a substantial research paper and an oral presentation based on that research. A corollary purpose is to train students in the kind of collaborative work that characterizes graduate seminars, law school study groups, and project-centered work in all the professions.

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I encourage you to contact me by e-mail, rather than voice mail. Come see me during my office hours for issues that are better discussed face-to-face.
 

office	Mood-Bridwell 216
e-mail	greenmue@southwestern.edu I do not generally check e-mail on the weekends.
telephone	512.863.1595
office hours	Mon. 10-11:30 a.m., Thurs. 3-4:30 p.m. or by appointment

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In this course, you must complete all of the following assignments. To calculate your final grade, I will multiply each of your assignment grades by the percentage given for each assignment, and add those numbers together. See the policies section for more information about grading .

1. weekly analyses (15%):

From  24 Jan.-28 Feb., all students every week should bring a 2-3 page analysis to class. This analysis should discuss the reading’s contribution to our understanding of microhistory. As the name of this assignment suggests, your weekly analyses should be analyses, not summaries. These analyses are to be turned in at the beginning of class, and are designed to stimulate discussion. Students will receive a 59/F for a paper not turned in at the beginning of class.

During each class meeting from 24 Jan.-28 Feb., one or two students will give a 10-minute oral presentation on a section of that week’s readings. Like the weekly analyses, these presentations are designed to provoke class discussion. At the end of your presentation, you should pose two or three questions that you would like the class to discuss. Bring typed copies of your questions to hand out to the class.
       Your questions should be of a sort that invoke substantive discussion and disagreement (e.g., historiographic questions, questions of interpretation, comparisons with previous readings, etc.). In other words, they should not be factual questions or questions that only the professor can answer. Like the weekly analyses, your presentation should be an analysis , not a summary of part of the reading. Your presentation can be an extension of your written weekly analysis for that week.

The major assignment for this course will be an original, 25-30 page research paper on a topic related to the course theme.
       For the research paper I expect you to analyze original materials. You may choose any relevant topic for the paper, including the topic on which you wrote your Historiography paper. You may use materials written in any language, as long as you provide translations along with original language quotations in your text. You should view the articles and books selected for our common readings as models of the kind of paper you are to write.
       To conduct research for this paper, you will almost certainly need to use not only our own library collection, but also our library’s interlibrary loan service (ILL) and the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) at UT.
       In your paper, follow the Chicago Manual of Style documentary-note system of citation, as described in Hellstern, Scott, and Garrison, pp. 93-111 (on reserve at the library), and at this site.

       [1] In your prospectus (due 7 March), outline the historical and historiographic background (about 2-2 1/2 pages), your tentative thesis and an explanation of that thesis (about 1/2-1 page), and a plan for research (about 1 1/2-2 pages, including what chronological and geographic scope you plan to cover, what aspects of your topic you will and will not include, what special resources you intend to investigate, what libraries you plan to visit).
       Criteria for grading this portion of the assignment: clarity and focus of your thesis (have you chosen a thesis that you can research in one semester and execute in a 25-30 page paper?); thoroughness of your historical and historiographic background (is it clear that you know something of the issues surrounding your microhistorical episode?); completeness of your research plan (have you really thought through how you will research and write this paper with the resources and time that you have available?).

       [2] The annotated bibliography (also due 7 March) lists those sources that you anticipate will be of the greatest use to your research, with a paragraph under each citation explaining the main argument or point of the text and how this source will aid your research. Your annotated bibliography must include at least twelve sources, none of which may be internet sources. (See my policy below about internet sources.)
       In compiling your bibliography, you must attempt to locate sources on four of the five on-line databases listed in the resources section below.
       For guidelines about what an annotated bibliography is and how to write one, see this useful web site. In your annotations, use the “combination” and “complete sentence” styles that this site describes.
       Criteria for grading this portion of the assignment: completeness of bibliography (have you used all available resources to find sources? do you include primary and secondary sources? does your bibliography cover a range of subjects relevant to understanding your primary sources? do you cite recent, reliable sources?); clarity and focus of your annotations (do you neatly and accurately summarize the main arguments of your texts? do you clarify how this source will help you to make your own argument?); accurately following Chicago Manual bibliographic guidelines.

       [3] Writing drafts of your research paper gives you the opportunity to make a rigorous first attempt at your final paper. Make this draft as complete and polished as you possibly can; the better it is, the more focused, useful feedback that I can give you, and the less work you will have to do at the very end of the semester.

• length: Your half drafts (due 28 March & 4 April) should each be no shorter than 10 pages and no longer than 15. Your draft of the complete paper (due 18 April) should be no shorter than 20 pages and no longer than 35.
• components: Your entire draft should focus on arguing one thesis. Your thesis must argue what your microhistorical episode reveals about a larger macrohistorical or historiographic question. Your draft must also include (not necessarily in this order) analysis of particular passages from your primary sources; a conclusion; Chicago Manual-style citations; and an updated bibliography.
• completeness: If you discover at the eleventh hour that you are missing information you need to make your argument complete, you may leave a gap and indicate to me in brackets [ ] what you plan to insert in the final version of the paper. However, you may only do this in a limited way; do not leave major gaps or numerous minor gaps in your argument. This provision also does not change the length requirements described above.
• audience: Write your draft as though your audience were the members of our course. Think to yourself as you write what you would and would not need to explain to us, what we might and might not find compelling and plausible.

Criteria for grading this portion of the assignment: clarity and focus of thesis; all claims that are not common knowledge supported by correctly cited evidence; relative completeness of draft, including all the components listed above; clarity of organization; quality of writing; suitability for an audience of fellow students in this course.

       [4] When working on this final version of your paper, I expect you seriously to revise, not just edit, your draft. If you make only surface-level changes, you will probably receive a lower grade on the final paper than you received on the draft. Consider these wise words on revision from Mark Hellstern, Gregory M. Scott, and Stephen M. Garrison in their History Student Writer’s Manual (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1998):

Revising is one of the most important steps in assuring the success of your paper. Unpracticed writers often think of revision as little more than making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, but it is much more than that. Revising is reseeing your work, looking at it from other perspectives, trying always to read your work through the eyes of your audience. Subjecting your entire, hard-fought draft to cold, objective scrutiny is one of the toughest activities to master, but it is absolutely necessary. You must make certain that you have said everything that needs to be said clearly and logically (33).

They also give the following useful tips for revision:

1. Give yourself adequate time for revision.
2. Read the paper carefully.
3. Have a list of specific items to check.
4. Check for unity, the clear and logical relation of all parts of the thesis.
5. Check for coherence.
6. Avoid unnecessary repetition (33-34).

When you hand in your final research paper, you must attach your marked-up draft.

Criteria for grading this portion of the assignment: all of the qualities listed under criteria for grading draft + thoroughness of revision (based both on my comments, your peer’ s comments, and your own careful re-reading of your draft).

       [5] Presenting your ideas orally is as valuable a skill as presenting them in written form. At the end of the semester, you will therefore give a 12-15-minute, professional oral presentation of the findings of your research paper. The department faculty will attend these presentations.
       Criteria for grading this portion of the assignment: clear, focused, thought-provoking explanation of your thesis and the relevant historiographic questions it addresses (do you explain your main point clearly and immediately? do you show how your paper matters to historiographic discussion?); judicious use of example (do you carefully select quotations, illustrations, and anecdotes to illustrate your point? do you state explicitly how those examples demonstrate your larger argument?); careful thought to effective oral presentation (have you organized and practiced your presentation in such a way that the listener can follow you? do your skillful use of audio-visual aids and handouts (do you make your audio-visual aids and/or handouts contribute to the intelligibility and interest of your presentation or do they merely distract from it?); sticking to the time limit.

Everyone is expected to do all the reading for the course before the times noted in the syllabus. Class attendance is required. You must be prepared to participate in extended discussions of the reading material and, later in the semester, of your research.

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1. attendance: I expect you to attend every class except for those days on which you have a documented medical or other legitimate emergency. Every absence will seriously harm your final grade, since you will not have participated fully in discussions and will not have heard all the lectures.

2. lateness: Do not arrive late to class. Lateness is disrespectful not only to me, but also to your fellow students.

3. grading: The maximum percentages awarded for course assignments add up to 100. I use a standard grading scale:

If your grades consistently improve over the course of the semester and if your class presence is consistent and attentive, I will consider shifting your final grade up to the next level. For example, if your final course grade worked out to an 86, but your grades had consistently improved during the semester and you were a consistent and attentive class participant, I would consider shifting your final grade up to a B+.

4. late assignments: Unless otherwise noted, assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day they are due. It is imperative that you complete the assignments on time. If you cannot finish the assignment by the beginning of class on the due date, please let me know in advance. If you have a medical or other legitimate emergency that directly interferes with your handing in an assignment on time, you will need to provide me with a documented excuse in order to avoid late penalties.

6. internet sources: Unless you receive special permission to do so, you may not use internet sources in your research paper for this course. The following do not count as internet sources, and you may use as many of them as you wish: articles from full-text databases like JSTOR and Project Muse; online primary sources (texts written by historical actors that have been re-published on the web); secondary sources that have been published on paper and then transcribed onto the web at a reputable site like Project Gutenberg , netLibrary or the Online Books Page.

7. disabilities: Southwestern University is committed to assisting students with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations may be made once a student has registered his/her disability and has the appropriate documentation on file with the Office of Academic Services on the third floor of the Cullen Building. Professors must be notified of the accommodation at least two weeks before the accommodation is necessary or as soon as reasonably possible. For more information, contact Deb McCarthy at 863-1536.

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You will find the following at the university bookstore. All of these books (except the course packet) are also on four-hour/overnight reserve in the library.

• Ginzburg, Carlo. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. (ISBN: 0801843871)
• Davis, Natalie Zemon. The Return of Martin Guerre . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983. (ISBN: 0674766911)
• Kuhn, Philip A. Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992. (ISBN: 0674821521)
  
• Johnson, Walter. Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. (ISBN: 0674005392)
• Bourke, Angela. The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story. London: Penguin Books, 1999. (ISBN: 0141002026)
  
• Microhistories Reader (course packet).
  

• Mark Hellstern, Gregory M. Scott, and Stephen M. Garrison, The History Student Writer’s Manual (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1998).

Each date listed below tells you what topic we will discuss in class, and what you need to have read in preparation for that day’s class.

1. Historiography

Jan 10: Introduction to the course and to the historiography of microhistory
 

read:	Appuhn, “Microhistory” Levi, “On Microhistory”
in class:	sign up for date to make presentation on reading

Jan 17: Martin Luther King Day holiday – class does not meet
Click here for an MLK Day schedule and other information.

A word of advice: Use this extra week wisely. Read Ginzburg during this week to get an idea of what a microhistory looks like. (Mark your text and/or take notes so that you can recall what you read on 24 Jan.) Then use your second week to research ideas for your own seminar paper. Brainstorm several possible paper topics. (Play to your strengths here. Can you follow up on your historiography paper or another paper that you have written? Is there an area of the world and/or time period that you know better than others?) Then spend some time in the library determining whether it would be feasible to research and write such a paper in a semester.

Jan 24: Classic microhistories, part 1
 

read:	Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms
student presenter(s):	Jason Hayes, Breisen Miller

Jan 31: Classic microhistories, part 2

read:	Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre
student presenter(s):	Andy Buratti

Feb 7: Microhistory as microcosm

read:	Kuhn, Soulstealers
student presenter(s):	Paul Santa Cruz
note:	We will spend part of class today (3:30-4:30) with librarian extraordinaire Carol Fonken, who will guide us through some research strategies and tools.

Feb 14: Microhistory as intimate portrait

read:	Johnson, Soul by Soul
student presenter(s):	Ronald Salmond

Feb 21: Microhistory as an interrogation of historical narrative

read:	Bourke, Burning of Bridget Cleary
student presenter(s):	Khush Grewal, Lesley Schutts

Feb 28: Article-length microhistories

read:	Darnton, “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin” LeGrand, “Informal Resistance on a Dominican Sugar Plantation during the Trujillo Dictatorship” re-read Appuhn, “Microhistory”
student presenter(s):	Peter Keirn, Whitney Weaver
in class:	discussion of paper topics (Come prepared to discuss the topic of your research paper.)

Mar 7: Discussion of research and paper writing
 

due:	paper prospectus and annotated bibliography due at beginning of class

Mar 14: Spring break – class does not meet

Mar 21: Class does not meet – individual meetings during class time in the Cove

2 pm: Andy Buratti	3:40 pm: Jason Hayes
2:20 pm: Paul Santa Cruz	4 p.m. Lesley Schutts
2:40 pm: Peter Keirn	4:20 pm: Breisen Miller
3 pm: Whitney Weaver	4:40 pm: Khush Grewal
3:20 pm: Ronald Salmond

Mar 28: Peer editing

due:	first half of paper due at beginning of class

Apr 4: Peer editing

due:	second half of paper due at beginning of class

Apr 11: Class does not meet – during this week students may schedule individual meetings with me during class time.

Apr 18: Peer editing

due:	complete, revised draft of paper due at beginning of class
notice:	course evaluations to be filled out at end of class

Apr 25: Oral presentations

due:	student oral presentations
notice:	class meets in Howry Center today from 2-5 p.m.

May 2: Turn in final version of paper

due:	final revisions of research paper due by 2 p.m. in Dr. GM’s office (Mood 216)

The following resources will aid you in the research for your paper.

On-line databases
Your research process should include use of at least the following. Descriptions are based on those provided on the SU library page.

• SU library catalog
• WorldCat [Lists holdings of library collections worldwide including our own. I would recommend using this database early in your research process so that you can have plenty of time to order through interlibrary loan any books you want that are not in SU’s collection.]
• Historical Abstracts [Indexes the world’s periodical literature in non-North American and the related social sciences and humanities from 1450 to the present. Articles in Historical Abstracts derive from over 2,100 scholarly journals published in more than 50 languages.]
• JSTOR: Journal Storage Collection Online [An electronic archive of scholarly journals from the humanities, social sciences, and the natural sciences. Each of the 100+ titles is an essential or primary one for its field. The JSTOR database is unique because the complete backfiles of core scholarly journals (excluding the most recent five years) have been digitized, starting with the first issues, many of which date back to the 1800s. Users can browse the complete table of contents for every volume and issue, or search for words or phrases in the full text of the article, author and abstracts. JSTOR displays articles in page-image format.]

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