History 299
Historiography and Historical Methods
"There's no one who isn't writing history" -- Lucian, How To Write History
Meetings: Mondays and Wednesdays, 8.30-9.45 am -- Seabury S 203
Description
This course, required of all History majors, explores a series of questions in the approaches to, history of, and methods used in the study of history. We have two major goals: first, to provide an introduction to the development of history as an intellectual undertaking, exploring ways that people have approached the past; and second, to learn some of the techniques of the practice of history -- identifying and analyzing sources, digesting secondary literature, understanding arguments, writing. The course is intended to help prepare students to do well in a History major at Trinity and to have a wider grasp of the importance and character of the study of history.
Readings Available in Bookstore
Benjamin Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. (ISBN: 978-0-691-12598-5)
George Mosse, Toward the Final Solution. A History of European Racism. Howard Fertig, 1997. (ISBN: 978-0865274280)
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States. New York: Routledge, 1994. (ISBN: 978-0415908641)
Daniel Lord Smail, On Deep History and the Brain. Berkeley: University of California Press. (ISBN: 978-0520258129)
William Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner. New York: Vintage, 1992. (ISBN: 978-0679736639)
Nat Turner, The Confessions of Nat Turner and Related Documents. New York: Bedford, 1996. (ISBN: 978-0312112073)
Assignments
1. Do the reading. It is absolutely essential that everyone complete the reading for a given class before the class. Readings are listed under the day they are due. Not only will our discussions focus on the reading, but in many cases you will need the reading to understand how to complete assignments associated with the class session. Please plan your work schedule accordingly!
2. Participate in discussion. We expect every student in the class to make substantive contributions to each discussion. Virtually every class will be discussion-based, so you will need to keep up and have thought about your assignments and readings beforehand. A good technique: meet with other members of the class beforehand and have a pre-discussion.
3. Daily/weekly writing assignments for class meetings. For many classes and sometimes for a week's worth of classes, you will have a short writing assignment due. It may be "Come to class with a question about the reading" or "Come to Wednesday's class this week with a paragraph discussing X" or something else. We'll notify you beforehand of the nature of each assignment. These assignments must be posted to Blackboard (BB). We'll notify you of the date by which the posting must up.
4. Find the error. Everyone makes mistakes -- even historians! Your task: find a mistake (in a book, article, Internet resource, etc.) and explain how you know that it is a mistake. Due: February 25.
5. Archival exercise -- group project. You and several classmates will work together from a set of documents you select during the "Introduction to Archives" session on February 18 to produce text to accompany an exhibition of the documents. Due March 11.
6. Research paper. Across the course of the semester each student will write a research paper on a topic set in advance.
Schedule of Classes
January 21 (W): First Class -- Introduction
January 26 (M): Theories of Race
Read Isaac, pp. 1-39
January 28 (W): Race in US History, I
Read Omi and Winant, pp. 1-50
February 2 (M): Race in US History, II
Read Omi and Winant, pp. 53-159
February 4 (W): Isaac, pp. 55-109
February 5 (Th): Lincoln Bicentennial Event
Attend the Lincoln Bicentennial Event at 12 noon in the Washington Room. Note that you will have to pre-register at the Common Hour site if you want free lunch! Our own Cheryl Greenberg is one of the panelists. We will discuss the event on February 9.
Read the Lincoln packet posted on Black Board (BB).
February 9 (M): Discussion of Lincoln
February 11 (W): Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Mediaeval Europe with Jonathan Elukin. Read the article in "Documents" under "Elukin Discussion" on (BB)
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Reger will be out of town for two class meetings, February 16 (M) and 18 (W). Please note that you have obligatory assignments for these meetings; attendance will be taken.
February 16: (M): Introduction to Library Research with Katy Hart, Reference Librarian
February 18 (W): Introduction to Archives: The Archives at Trinity -- Session in the Library with Peter Knapp, College Archivist: Meet in the Library, Walton Room
For the assignments associated with the Archival Exercise, see under "Assignments" on Black Board (BB).
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February 23 (M): Mosse, Toward the Final Solution
February 25 (W): Errors and Research Paper
March 2 (M): Isaac, pp. 440-491
March 4 (W): Race in Asian-American History with Scott Tang and Jeff Bayliss
March 9 (M): How Do You Write a Good Short Answer on an In-Class Test?
March 11 (W): What Is a Source? Thinking Beyond the Page and Word
March 16 and 18 (M and W): Spring Break: No Classes
March 23 (M): Isaac, pp. 109-169
March 25 (W): Race in Latino History with Luis Figueroa
March 30 (M): Nat Turner, Confession, pp. 1-58 (the Confession)
April 1 (W): Nat Turner, Confession, pp. 61-131 (the documents)
April 6 (M): Styron, Confessions of Nat Turner
April 8 (W): Essays from John Hendrik Chase, William Styron's Nat Turner. Ten Black Writers Respond (Boston: Beacon Press, 1968) (BB) Roundtable on Nat Turner and William Styron, with Diana Palin and Chris Hager (English Department)
April 13 (M): "Imitation of Life" -- 1934 version, directed by John M. Stahl and starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William
April 15 (W): "Imitiation of Life" -- 1959 version, directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Lana Turner and John Gavin
April 20 (M): How Do You Write a Good Essay on an In-Class Exam?
April 22 (W): Read the essays posted on (BB); we'll critique them this class
April 27 (M): A New Paradigm for History?
Read Smail
April 29 (W): Last Class -- Summing Up