History 290.02

THE HISTORIAN’S CRAFT

University of Idaho

Spring 2005

Tuesday and Thursday @ 9:30 – 10:45

College of Natural Resources 209

Dr. Adam M. Sowards

Office: Administration 315

Phone: 885-7704

E-Mail: asowards@uidaho.edu

Web: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/asowards/

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., and by appointment

Note to Students: It is my pleasure to do what I can to help you meet your goals in this class. If you find yourself having trouble, please send me e-mail, use my office hours, or set up an appointment to see me.

Course Description

Catalog Description: Introduction to the discipline of history, basic skills for course work and research, and major schools of historical writing.

My Description: This course is designed for history majors to provide a broad foundation in how to think and work as historians. Learning to think in a discipline is a central goal of university education, and this course will help us all hone our skills as students of history. We will discuss major trends in historical scholarship, practice critical thinking and communication skills—oral and written—and learn how to conduct and complete a research assignment.

For some of us, some material in this class will be a review, but sharpening reading, research, and communication skills is never wasted effort. For others, most of the material in this class will be new and will require practice. Thus, there will be opportunities for everyone, including the professor, to learn and practice old and new skills.

Required Books

The following list constitutes the required books for this course. They are available for purchase at the University of Idaho Bookstore. It is possible, even likely, that you could find some of the books cheaper through online booksellers.

·         John Tosh, ed., Historians on History

·         Elizabeth Vibert, Traders’ Tales

·         Wayne C. Booth, et al., The Craft of Research, 2^nd edition

·         Carole Slade, Form & Style, 12^th edition

Assignments and Grading

Preparation (25%): For this class to work well, students need to come to class prepared to work on a daily basis. To encourage this, you will be graded on your willing participation, your preparedness, and your presence. This grade will be calculated by contributions to discussions, by attendance, by in-class assignments, and by my general observations. There may be graded in-class and unannounced quizzes. Groups of students (3 or 4) will also lead discussion once during Part One of semester for a portion of this grade.

Midterm (25%): Your midterm will cover the material learned from Historians on History. It will consist of one or two essay questions and perhaps some terms for identifications. Greater details will be provided nearer the scheduled midterm.

Source Analyses (2 * 10%= 20%): You will have the opportunity to turn in two source analyses—one secondary, one primary—during the course of the semester. These sources will be related to your research project, and the analyses will reflect the types of thinking and writing historians typically undertake.

Research Project (30%): There will be several stages to your research project. Some portions will be graded simply whether you completed it correctly or not, while others will receive a letter grade. Combined, these pieces will constitute your Research Project grade. You will need to turn in the following pieces:

·         Proposal including a Preliminary Bibliography (graded: done correctly or not) (approximately 2. 5%)

·         Annotated Bibliography (graded: done correctly or not) (approximately 2. 5%)

·         Rough Draft of Introduction, Thesis, and Outline (letter grade) (approximately 5%)

·         Final Paper (letter grade) (approximately 20%)

Policies

Late Work Policy: Your grade drops one full grade for each day your work is late. You must be in class the day it is due to turn in work. If you do not come to class, your work will be counted as one day late unless you have made prior arrangements. With legitimate, documented excuses or for absences arranged ahead of time, exceptions can be made. Because of the ease of using e-mail to send assignments to professors, a weekend counts as two days.

Grade Challenges: I am willing to entertain grade challenges provided they are submitted in writing and that you wait 48 hours after the assignment is returned before you hand in your objection. You will then need to set up an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and grade. Also, you must initiate this process within one week of the time the assignment was returned to the class. After re-evaluating a grade and meeting with you to discuss the assignment and evaluation, I may change it.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to present someone else’s work as your own. To present someone else’s work as your own means to use someone else’s information, ideas or writing without explicitly acknowledging with quotation marks and/or citations that the ideas and/or writing are not your own. You may be plagiarizing even if you are not directly quoting. Plagiarism is a serious offense and I will give a 0 to the first assignment in which a student plagiarizes. If a student plagiarizes again, I will fail that student in the course. If you have ANY questions or confusions about plagiarism, please let me know before you turn in your work. It is essential to be using others’ ideas and information; however, you just must provide credit where credit is due. You may find additional information about Academic Honesty (and dishonesty) as part of the Student Code of Conduct.

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify me during the first week of class of an accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200, or dss@uidaho.edu.

Expectations

Students will:

The instructor will:

Schedule

Please note that this is an approximation of what we will be doing and changes may be necessary. If so, they will be announced to the class. Also, the reading assignments are to be complete before you come to class on the day they are assigned.

PART ONE: The Philosophy and Uses of History

PART TWO: Finding and Using Sources

SPRING RECESS

PART THREE: The Research Paper

Research Project Due during Scheduled Final Exam Time,

Friday, May 12, 2005, 7:30 – 9:30, in My Office