HIST
480
Senior Seminar
Durer St. Jerome in his study
Professor
Alan Baumler 222 Keith phone 7-2573 E-mail
baumler@iup.edu Office Hours MWF 10:30-11:30, 1:00-2:00 and by
appointment Web Page http://www.chss.iup.edu/baumler/index.html
Books
-Jules Benjamin A Student's Guide to History eighth ed.
(
-Turabian A
Guide for Writers of Term Papers and Dissertations
Senior seminar is a writing intensive research course intended for students completing a major in history. You will be expected to develop and demonstrate the skills required to be a good historian, which include:
- Formulating meaningful and significant questions for historical study;
- Locating, using and interpreting historical sources;
- Producing professional historical writing
- Working with other historians
Requirements
The major requirement of the seminar is to produce a solid and coherent piece of historical writing. The paper must have a topic related to our theme, and its research and writing must meet professional standards. In addition to the final written version of the project each of you will also get a chance to present your work to your fellow students.
8/30 Introduction to course and to library
We will discuss the things we will be doing in this class, and go to the library for an introduction to some of the things you can do in our library. We will also talk some about possible topics. All of you should read the entire syllabus this week.
9/3 Initial research week
We will discuss Benjamin and each of you will get to
make a
presentation on one of your sources. It could be an article or a book,
but you
will need to give a short presentation explaining what it says and how
you
think it will help with your research. The point of this is to help you
work on
question framing. The most important thing in any paper is coming up
with the
question you are going to answer. If it is a bad question you can't
write
a good paper. You can, of course, still write a bad paper with a good
topic,
but this is the first step.
-everyone must turn in a brief preliminary topic statement and a bibliography
9/13 Research plans
Each of you will write up a research plan and present it to the class. This will explain what you have found, what you still need to find, and where you are expecting to find it.
9/20 Discussion of Benjamin A Student's Guide to History
I assigned this book because it contains a
lot of
things that are useful for you to know. Most of this you have already
heard
before, but it is nice to get it all in one place. Also, all of you
should be
at the point where you can critique the Benjamin book and point out
some of its
flaws. All of you should be well into your research by now, and should
be able
to discuss how your project is following the outline that Benjamin
provides or
why it is not and why you think this is a good or bad thing.
9/27 Finalize topic and working bibliography
At this point you should have a final topic and a working bibliography. By a final topic I mean a detailed statement of the question your paper is going to answer, and a list of the things you have read that convince you that you will be able to provide a worthwhile answer to this question. Each of you will be required to assess the topics of two other students.
Assessing other
people's
work
-Turn in topic
statement
10/4 Research and individual
conferences
During these weeks we will not meet as a
class, but each
of you should make an appointment to meet with me at least once.
10/11 Research and individual conferences
10/21 Turn in something
We will not meet as a group this week, but each of you will be required to turn in something from the paper. It could be the introduction, but more likely it will be something from the middle somewhere. The point of this is to get you writing. This project is probably different from anything you have ever done before in that it is not possible to carry everything in your hat. You will not be able to do all your research, take all your notes, and then start writing. Managing a bigger project like this requires good note taking skills, but it also requires a different approach to writing. You need to get started on writing early because it will make it clear to you what you still need to do.
10/25 Research and individual conferences
11/1 Research and individual conferences
11/8 Turn in first
draft
11/15 Group critiques
During this week you will all meet in small groups to exchange criticism of each other's drafts.
11/22 Revision and individual conferences
12/15 Final presentations Turn in final paper
Grades
The bulk of the grade will, of course, be based on
your
final paper. Part of the grade will also be based on your critiques of
other's
work and earlier versions of your final project. Since this class is at
least
partially about the process of doing research everything must be turned
in on
time. No late papers will be accepted, and no incomplete grades
will be
given except in special circumstances.
Presentation
on
readings
5%
Topic
statement
5%
First draft
10%
Critiques
5% each
Final
paper
70%
Final oral
presentation
10%
INTASC
standards
In addition to your grades, those of you
in Social Studies Ed will also be assessed on your mastery of the
INTASC standards. I will assess 2 of your assignments and record (on a
special web page in URSA provided for this purpose) if you have not
met, met or exceeded expectations for the two assingments. I will
consider a grade of C or less to be not meeting the standard, B to be
meeting it, and A exceeding. These assesments will not effect your GPA,
your graduation or your certification.
Course objectives
1. Students will learn some history
2. Students will improve their research and writing skills.
History Matrix
|
Conceptual Framework |
INTASC Standards |
Program Standards |
Course Objectives |
Course Assessments |
|
1a |
1 |
2 Time, Continuity, & Change |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Students will improve their research and writing skills. |
Final
Paper |
|
|
|
|
|