his290s08

SUNY Cortland
Department of History
History 290
Historical Methods
Spring 2008

Professor: Dr. R. Storch
Office: 210D Old Main
Phone: 753-2054
Email: storchr@cortland.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30-12:30; Wednesdays, 3-4; and by appt.
Web Page: web.cortland.edu/storchr

Course Description and Objectives: The purpose of this course is to introduce history majors to the process of historical research, conceptualization, and writing through a close analysis of primary and secondary sources. Each student will learn how to identify, locate, analyze, interpret, synthesize, and document primary sources and read, analyze, and discuss secondary sources. Students will complete a number of weekly research/writing assignments that will give them an opportunity to dive into primary research materials and begin making historical arguments. In addition to completing the weekly research and writing assignments, students will write a 12-15 page research paper. Students will meet individually with me to help identify a tenable topic.

Course Readings:
Gary Nash, Charlotte Crabtree, Ross Dunn, History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997).

Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).

Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Reprint: Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2007).

Assignments and Grades:
Class Participation and Research Discussions (10%): Since this class will be run as a seminar, all students must participate in all class meetings. To participate in the discussions, you must prepare ahead of time. This involves active reading – underlining key passages, writing in the margins of your text, taking notes – and critical thinking. Missing class and remaining silent during class will result in a failing grade for participation. Conversely, completing all reading/research assignments and sharing your thoughts and analyses with fellow classmates will result in a very high participation grade. In addition to participating in class discussions, students will be responsible for working with a group to run one class seminar. After meeting with the instructor and fellow students, group members will prepare a list of questions that they will use to run the class. (These questions will be handed to the instructor at the beginning of the class meeting.)

Weekly Research Assignments (25%): These weekly research/paper assignments are designed to provide students with experience in identifying, locating, and analyzing various kinds of primary documents. In five-page papers, students will be asked to address specific questions listed in the syllabus. In thinking about each topic, students should also ask: What kind of document is this? What was the motive for producing it? How is it useful to historians? What can this document reveal about the past? What are the document’s biases? What questions are left unanswered by the document? Students should also compare their own analysis to the existing historical interpretations we will discuss in class.

Weekly Chapter Summaries and Book Review (15%): Each class session that you are assigned to read a chapter of Cohen, you will bring a one-page summary of that chapter. Each summary must begin with Cohen’s main argument for the chapter. Which are her supporting points? What kinds of evidence does she use to prove her point? Is she convincing? Why or why not? You will want to keep a copy of your write ups on disk or on file because you will be asked to do further writing assignments with them, including writing a book review of Cohen’s work once we complete it.

Annotated Bibliography (5%): In a three-page paper, provide a detailed description of the sources you plan to use in your paper. This is your chance to let me know what kinds of sources are available to you and how these sources will allow you to pursue your specific topic. Be sure to divide the sources into appropriate categories (secondary books/articles and different kinds of primary sources) and provide a brief overview of each individual source.

Prospectus/Outline (10%): By this point, all of your research and analysis should be done (or very close to being done) and you now need to figure out how you will organize your paper. You also need to make sure that you are developing a compelling and convincing thesis. In the prospectus, then, you should define your thesis as clearly and forcefully as possible and describe how the sources you have looked at will allow you to prove your thesis. Second, you should place your thesis in the context of the existing literature. In other words, how does your thesis make historians rethink conventional ideas about your topic? Third, you should begin to explain the main topics/themes that you will explore throughout the paper. Most papers will be organized thematically and/or chronologically. Either way, you need to make sure that your papers make historical arguments and use the available evidence to illustrate and buttress those arguments. (Your should hand in a very informal outline that includes the main themes you will pursuer and the evidence you will be using to explore those themes.) It is common to modify your outline and revise your arguments once you begin writing your paper.

First Draft (15%): This draft should be as close to your final draft as possible. Handing in an incomplete and sloppy paper not only results in a low grade but makes it difficult for the instructor and fellow students to offer good suggestions for revision. So, do not think of this as a rough draft. Think of this as an EARLY draft. (Be sure to include footnotes and an annotated bibliography in this draft).

Final Draft (20%): Students are expected to make substantial revisions before handing in the final draft. You are also expected to take fellow students’ comments into account when completing the final draft. This may involve refining the thesis, changing the organization, analyzing evidence more thoroughly, addressing the existing historical literature more fully, and improving the quality and clarity of the writing.

Class Schedule:

1/24    Introductions
   Begin Reading History on Trial, Chapters 1-5
   Discuss: How to Read for Argument

1/29   What is History?
   Discuss Chapters 1-5, History on Trial

1/31   Identifying Working People
   Readings: Cohen, Introduction and Chapter one
   Assignment: Come to class with a one-page summary

2/5   Research Project #1: Identifying and Analyzing Industrial People
   Sources: 1910 or 1920 Federal Census Aggregate Data    (http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu)
   1910 or 1920 Federal Manuscript Census Returns – (Access through    HeritageQuest available at Cortland Free Library Downtown or at home with    library card)
   Identifying Sources: American Historical Association’s Guide to Historical    Literature

   I will hand you a list of three names and you will have to locate them in the    federal manuscript census. Using the above sources, describe the individuals as    fully as possible. For example, describe their ethnic backgrounds, household    relations, and/or work experiences. What can these sources tell us about the    individuals you have tracked down? Is it possible to guess this individual’s status?    What is it impossible to know about these individuals from the sources? Are your    individuals representative or exceptional in comparison to most people living in    Cortland County? What do you make of the Census as a source? What are its    limits and/or biases? What can’t it tell us?

2/7   Ethnicity in the New Era
   Readings: Cohen, Chapter Two
   Assignment: Come to class with a one-page summary
   Review Writing Issues from Paper #1

2/12   Research Project #2: Ethnicity in the New Era
   Sources: Dillingham Commission Reports
   Identifying Sources: Monthly Catalog and Congressional Record

   You will need to go to the Dillingham Commission reports that have been    digitized by Harvard University at:    htpp://library.stanford.edu/depts./dlp/ebrary/Dillingham/body.shtml.
   Once there choose volume 2 and read pages 227-251, “Immigration and Insanity.” How do these senators describe various immigrant groups? What words    and evidence do they use to describe different peoples? What can we learn from    this source? How might it be biased? What might its limitations be? Is this information definitive? What other sources might we look at in order to round out the story?

2/14   Library Tour
   Readings: Turabian, Chapters 1-3

2/19    Individual Consultations: Bring graded paper assignments and research notes

2/21   Individual Consultations: Bring graded paper assignments and research notes

2/26   Encountering Mass Culture
   Readings: Cohen, Chapter Three
   Assignment: Write a One-page summary of the chapter
   Review: Writing Issues from Paper #2

2/28   Research Project #3: Mass Culture and American Workers
   Sources: Coney Island Images and Advertisements in the NYT
   Identifying Sources: Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature and New York    Times Index

   For this assignment you will need to go to the New York Times microfilm    collection in our library and choose the month of your birthday in the year 1906 to    research. Look through the microfilm for that month and study the    advertisements. Then go to the following website:    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/coney. Click on “special features” and watch the    film clips from Coney Island. What can these sources tell us about mass culture,    leisure, and expectations of Americans at the turn of the century? What role does    class play in advertising and leisure? What are the limits of each kind of source?    What can each possibly tell historians?

3/4    Workers Make a New Deal
   Readings: Cohen, Chapters Four, Five, Six
   Assignment: Write a one-page summary of these three chapters
   Review: Writing Issues from Paper #3

3/6   Research Project #4: Workers Make a New Deal
   Source: Roosevelt University Interviews and New Deal Network

   For this assignment you will need to go to http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er27.htm and    read “Why Workers Should Join Trade Unions” by Eleanor Roosevelt. Then go to    Roosevelt University’s Oral History Project on-line at    http://www2.roosevelt.edu/library/oralhistory/oralhistory.htm and read the    interview Of Irving Abrams. How can you compare and contrast these    documents? What kinds of arguments does each person make? What can we know    about them and their historical period from these sources? What don’t we know?    What are the limits? Biases? In what ways does audience matter?

3/18   Workers’ Common Ground
   Readings: Cohen, Chapters Seven and Eight
   Assignment: Write a One-page Summary of the two chapters
   Discuss: Book Reviews
   Review: Writing Issues from Paper #4

3/20   Individual Meetings – Discuss Final Paper Ideas

3/25   Individual Meetings – Discuss Final Paper Ideas

3/27   Discuss Bibliographies and Prospectus In Class
   Readings: Turabian, Review Chapters 1-3, Read 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17
   Assignment: Write a two-page book review of Cohen’s work and bring a book    review for a secondary source that will help you with your research project

4/1   Individual Consultations

4/3   Individual Consultations

4/8   Research Days

4/10   Prospectus and Bibliography Due in Class
   Readings: Turabian, Chapters 20-25

4/15   Writing Day

4/17   Writing Day

4/22   Writing Day (Group One Drafts Due)

4/24   Group One Draft Discussion/ Presentation
   Group Two Drafts Due

4/29   Group Two Draft Discussion/ Presentation
   Group Three Drafts Due

5/1   Group Three Draft Discussion/ Presentation

5/6     Final Papers Due

SUNY Cortland is committed to upholding and maintaining all aspects of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the office of Disability Services located in B-40 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) 753-2066 for an appointment. Any information regarding your disability will remain confidential. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made as early as possible. Any requests for accommodations will be reviewed in a timely manner to determine their appropriateness to this setting.