History 800 – Graduate Historiography
Spring 2003
Please note: This syllabus is still somewhat incomplete.
Some readings and other things need to be confirmed or detailed. It should,
however, suffice for planning purposes. I will notify you (and delete this
notice) when it is finalized. My apologies and thanks for your patience.
Meets Wednesdays, 6.45-9.55 pm in Seabury 23A
This course provides an introduction to historical methodology and approaches to writing history through the exploration of some recent trends in history, including recent work on African slavery in Islam, climate history, the lives of women (both great and small), sex and sexuality, and money in ancient Greece. The end of the course deals with the ways in which prehistory becomes history by looking at Maya texts and oral histories relating to the Hohokam of the US Southwest. Students will act as full participants in the class, and produce two short papers and one research paper.
The books listed below are all on reserve in the Library. Additional copies of many of these books can be found in the CTW system and ordered in the regular way. Many of the books we will read are available in paperback and can be ordered quickly through Gallows Hill. I recommend that you look over the books in the Library, and then consider buying those which you will need to read for your own topic, which particularly interest you, and which are not too expensive. If you order through Gallows Hill, ask them to expedite the order. All should also be readily available through online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
1. Do the readings and participate in discussion. It is crucial that every student come prepared every time to undertake the work of the course. This means do the readings, think about them, and come with questions and comments.
2. Lead discussions. Every student will be responsible for leading discussion on one of the topics listed below.
3. Short papers. Students will write two short (4-7 pp.) papers reacting to discussions. These papers may be turned in at any time, except that no student may write a paper about a discussion which s/he led, nor about sessions on February 19 and March 5.
4. Final paper. Each student will write a final paper (18-22 pp.) on an historiographical topic of his/her choice. Papers may treat the work of a single historian or focus on a particular approach or historical school, or may engage a more "philosophical" question in historiography. Each paper must have a substantial bibliography, including material from professional journals, and show evidence that this bibliography has actually been used in the writing of the paper. Topics will be developed on the following schedule:
1. Submit proposed topic to me for approval on February 12.
2. Submit preliminary bibliography for approval on February 19.
3. Make substantive (c. 30 minute) presentation of topic on April 23.
4. Turn in completed paper by April 30.
January 22. Introduction
January 29. Slavery in Islam: Melissa
While the enslavement and transportation of Africans to the New World has long been the object of historical study, the analogous and earlier slave trade from East Africa into the Islamic Middle East has been a neglected topic. We read two recent books that begin to try to redress the balance.
Ronald Segal, Islam’s Black Slaves. The Other Black Diaspora (New York 2001).
Ehud Toledano, Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East (Seattle 1997).
February 5. Collaborative History. Panel discussion with Susan Pennybacker, Dario Euraque, and Michael Niemann
James A. Miller, Susan D. Pennybacker, and Eve Rosenhaft, “Mother Ada Wright and the International Campaign to Free the Scottsboro Boys, 1931-1934,” AHR 106 (2001) 387-430.
Dario Euraque and Michael Niemann, “Regional Economic Integration in the Periphery: A comparison of Central America and Southern Africa, 1970-1990,” Southern African Perspectives 31 (1994) 1-48.
February 12. Climate History: Steve
Brian Fagan, The Little Ice Age. How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 (New York 2000).
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts. El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World (London-New York 2001).
February 19. History at Trinity
For this class, students will report on their readings of the work by and interviews with Trinity History Department faculty. The following faculty have graciously volunteered to participate:
Jack Chatfield: Colonial and early US (Steve)
Luis Figueroa: Caribbbean and Puerto Rican (Dan)
Joan Hedrick (Melissa)
Kathleen Kete: 19th and 20th Century France
Borden Painter: Renaissance and Reformation Europe; Fascist Italy (Bryan)
Susan Pennybacker: 20th century England (Richard)
Barbara Sicherman
Monica Van Beusekom (Joe)
Preliminary bibliography for final paper due today
February 26. Recovering the Lives of Women: Dan
T. G. Wilfong, The Women of Jeme. Lives in a Coptic Town in Late Antique Egypt (Ann Arbor 2002).
Leslie P. Peirce, The Imperial Harem. Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire (Oxford 1993).
March 5. Journal exercise
Each student will choose a history journal to investigate. Look back over the content of that journal from the beginning and see whether you can find patterns and changes in topics addressed and methods employed. Read selectively some articles that seem to you representative. Each student will present his/her results, and we'll compare and contrast.
March 12. Sex and Sexuality: Joe
Richard Godbeer, Sexual Revolution in Early America (Baltimore 2002).
Paul Rakita Goldin, The Culture of Sex in Ancient China (Honolulu 2001).
March 19. No class: Spring Break
March 26. The Meaning of Money in Ancient Greece: Richard
Leslie Kurke, Coins, Bodies, Games and Gold. The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece.
Princeton 1999.
Sitta von Reden. Exchange in Ancient Greece. London 1995.
April 2. Maya Texts, Maya History: Bryan
Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London 2000.
For the glyphs, look at the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies and follow the link to get the glyphs. Download a copy of the syllabary and bring it along to class this time and for the lecture next week.
April 10. Debra Walker talk (it may be necessary to change slightly this date)
April 16. Hohokam legends as oral history: Gary
O’odham Creation and Related Events, ed. Donald Bahr (Tuscon 2001), pp. xv-xxxvii, 3-53, 131-155.
Donald Bahr, Juan Smith, William Smith Allison, and Julian Hayden, The Short Swift Time of Gods on Earth. The Hohokam Chronicles (Berkeley 1994) pp. 1-29, 75-110, 123-136, 179-233.
Jan Vansina, Oral Tradition as History, chapter 1.
April 23. Final Presentations
Final Paper Due: April 30