Winter Quarter 2002Professor J. Wu
Wednesdays & Fridays 1:30-3:18Dulles 261
Dreese Laboratories 264Phone:292-9331
Office Hours:Mondays and Wednesdays 3:30-4:30Email:wu.287@osu.edu
Description and Objective
What is history and how do historians study the past?This course is designed to introduce history majors to the field of history.Through readings, films, and discussions, we will explore various purposes for studying history, the types of sources available to reconstruct the past, and different methods or approaches to examining history.
For part of the course, we will focus on the American West as a case study for understanding how historians study the past.Because the U.S. West holds symbolic importance for defining American national identity, the study of the West has sparked lively debate.Consequently, this field provides rich materials to understand what constitutes history and how historians study the past.
This course will provide an opportunity to develop analytical reading skills as well as logic and clarity in your written work and oral presentations.Designed as a workshop, the success of this course depends upon your active participation.You will be expected to come to class prepared to discuss your ideas about the readings and to listen to your colleagues.
The course syllabus and reading questions are available at the following website: http://www.history.ohio-state.edu/people/wu.287/courses.html.Be sure to look for the Winter 2002 version of History 398.
Readings
The following books will be available for purchase at SBX.Most are on reserve at the Main Library. Additional readings are available in a course packet, sold at COP-EZ at the Tuttle Park Garage.
James West Davidson and
Mark Hamilton Lytle, After the Fact:The
Art of Historical Detection
Conal Furay and Michael
J. Salevouris, The Methods and Skills of History
Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time
John G. Neihardt, ed., Black Elk Speaks
Assignments
All assignments must be turned in at the beginning of the class that they are due.No late papers will be accepted.All work presented in class or turned in must be a student's own.Plagiarism or any other form of academic misconduct will be dealt with in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the University's Committee on Academic Misconduct and will seriously affect a student's grade.
If you have a learning disability requiring special arrangements for completing assignments, please let me know as soon as possible.
1.Class attendance and participation are mandatory (20% of your grade).Complete the assignments before class and be prepared to engage in discussion.If you are unable to attend a class, you must inform me beforehand.You may not pass this course if you miss too many classes.
2.A short paper analysis of Tey's The Daughter of Time (15%).Write a 2-3 page paper describing the different kinds of evidence that Inspector Grant uses to build his case.How does he treat these various types of evidence and what conclusions does he draw from them?What rules of historical inquiry can we learn from this mystery?
3.A 2-3 page primary source analysis (15%).Select a document to read and analyze during our field trip to the Ohio Historical Review.Be sure to identify the source, the author, the time period in which it was created, etc.Discuss the significance of the document and how it could be used to illuminate a historical phenomenon.Also discuss the liabilities of using the source and alternative documents that you might use to support or refute the source.
4.A precis (5%).The precis is a summary of the author's main points and arguments in your own words.Begin by identifying the work that you are summarizing;be sure to use the correct citation format.Quotations of more than a word or two or a very short phrase are not acceptable.It is essential that your precis show the logical connection between the authors' ideas.It should not simply string together a series of descriptive sentences.You must write an organized essay that follows and explains the authors' arguments and the reasoning behind them.Writing a good precis is very difficult; sloppy and careless work will not be accepted.The precis should be no more than one double-spaced typed page in length (approximately 250 words).I may call on one of you to present your precis in class.
5.A critical book review of Black Elks Speaks.(15%)Write a 2-3 page review of the book, focusing on how a historian might use it as a source.Remember to include information about how and in context the book was created.A review must be critical; that is, it must discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the book.Under no circumstances may it merely summarize the contents.Reviews should contain an introduction and a conclusion, and quotations must be noted with accurate page references in the footnotes.
6.A presentation and paper about an OSU historian.(30%)Select a historian from a list to be provided.Conduct a bibliographic search to see what the individual has written.Read at least one article or chapter by the author and then schedule an appointment to interview that person.Limit the interview to 15 to 20 minutes.Use the time to discuss the reading and to ask questions regarding that person's particular area of specialization, what s/he thinks are the major issues/debates in the field, how her/his research fits into the scholarship, what types of methodologies or philosophies underlie her/his work, etc.You will be asked to present your findings during the last week of class.The paper should be 5-7 pages.
11 January:What is History?
Davidson and Lytle, After the Fact, Prologue
Furay and Salevouris, Methods and Skills of History, ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Complete the following exercises:
Ch. 1, Set A, Exercise 1 and read Writing Capsule 1 about The Topic Sentence
Ch. 2, Set B, Exercise 2 and 3
Ch. 3, Set A, Exercise 1 and 2.
Ch. 4, Set A, Exercise 1 and 2.
Ch. 5, Set A, Exercise 1; Set B, Exercise 1.
16 January:Evidence and Interpretation
After the Fact, ch. 1, 2, 3
Methods and Skills, ch. 9, 11
Complete the following:
Ch. 9, Set A, exercises 1 and 2
Ch. 9, Set B, Read Capsule 5 about integrating quotations and exercises 3-5
Ch. 11, Set A, all exercises
18 January:Historical Fiction and Fictionalized History
View:Looking for Richard
Begin: Tey, The Daughter of Time
23 January:Discussion, Tey, The Daughter of Time
Assignment:Analysis of Evidence
Read Methods and Skills of History, pp. 207-216 for guidelines about how to write a history paper
25 January:Preserving and Displaying History
Meet at the Ohio Historical Society http://www.ohiohistory.org/ ($3 parking fee)
30 January:Presentations and Discussions
Assignment:Primary Source Analysis
1 February:Reading History Critically
Method and Skills, ch. 7, 13, 14
Complete Ch. 7, Set A, Exercise 1, 2
Complete Ch. 14, all exercises
6 February:The American Frontier
Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History."
Patricia Limerick, Legacy of Conquest, pp. 17-54, 78-96
Assignment:Write a Precis on one of these selections, see Methods and Skills, ch. 7, Set A, exercise 3.
8 February:Sources and Interpretation
After the Fact, ch. 4 and 5
Methods and Skills, ch. 10
Complete Set A, exercise 1 and 2; Set B, Exercises 1 and 2
13 February:Discovering the Wisconsin Frontier
Meet the Author: Professor Lucy Eldersveld Murphy, "To Live among Us:Accommodation, Gender, and Conflict in the Western Great Lakes Region, 1860-1832.
Read the article carefully and prepare questions to ask.See Ch. 10, Set A, exercise 3 and Appendix B.
15 February:Library Orientation, Main Library, Room 122
Methods and Skills, ch. 6.Look at exercises, prepare relevant ones for your final project
20 February:Oral History and Autobiography
Black Elk Speaks
22 February:Contextualization
After the Fact, ch. 7
William K. Powers, "When Black Elk Speaks, Everybody Listens," in Religion in Native North America, ed. By Christopher Vecsey (Moscow: University of Idaho Press, 1990):136-151.
Assignment:Critical Book Review of Black Elk Speaks.Review Methods and Skills, pp. 111-112.
27 February:History and Photographic Evidence
After the Fact, ch. 8, 11
Assignment:Family Photo Analysis
1 March:The Photo League Collection
Meet at Columbus Museum of Art at 2:00.Presentation by Catherine Evans
6 March:History and Film
Introduction to the History Major - Guest Speaker Maria Mazon
Methods and Skills, ch. 8
After the Fact, ch. 13, 15
8 March:Film Analysis
In-Class Assignment: Methods and Skills, Ch. 8, Exercise
13 March:Presentations
Papers and presentations for graduating seniors
Review Methods and Skills, ch. 12 for tips
on writing papers.
15 March:Presentations continued and papers due for everyone
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