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HISTORY
206
Introduction to
Historical Inquiry
Allan
M. Winkler
Fall
Term 2006
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This course seeks to introduce you to the study of history and to teach you the skills you need in future history courses and in the field itself. We will examine the discipline of history, explore the kinds of questions historians ask, and delve into a number of different kinds of historical writing. At the same time, we will introduce basic research skills, such as bibliography building, note taking, prospectus constructing, and book review writing, that you will need to succeed in the field.
One important component of the course involves thinking about history. We will ask what history is and how it is written. We will question what makes for good history, and what makes certain books and articles fall short. At the start, we will look at a number of different approaches to the past, examine the use of evidence, and then reflect on the problem of interpretation. Finally, we will examine one event – the development of the atomic bomb – as we think about how scholars examining the same episode come up with very different questions and conclusions.
Another important component of the course revolves around learning research and writing skills. Through a series of assignments, we will work on ways of taking notes, sorting piles of evidence, and drafting a proposal or prospectus. We will also learn the skills useful in writing a book review and a newspaper Op-Ed piece.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
- Class Attendance: Monday, 2:00 – 4:40 PM
- Participation in All Class Discussions
- Short Writing Exercises
FORMAT
The class will follow a discussion format. It will be conducted as a seminar, and you are expected to come to class having done the reading, prepared to participate in our discussion. Written assignments are due the day listed in the syllabus, for frequently our conversation will revolve around the work you have done. Your grade will reflect your engagement with both written and oral parts of the course. Your attendance is essential and students who miss class with any frequency will not succeed in (or pass) the course.
REQUIRED BOOKS
- Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History
- Andrew McMichael, History on the Web: Using and Evaluating the Internet
- Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft
- Lauren Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale
- Fred Anderson and Andrew Cayton, The Dominion of War
- Allan M Winkler, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Making of Modern America
- Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The “Objectivity Question”
- Michael Stoff, Jonathon Fanton, and R. Hal Williams, The Manhattan Project
- Allan M. Winkler, Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety about the Atom
- Emily S. Rosenberg, A Date Which Will Live
- Edward T. Linenthal & Tom Engelhardt, History Wars
GRADING
- 10% - Annotated Bibliography
- 10% - Collection of Notes
- 15% - Prospectus
- 15% - Book Reviews
- 15% - Problem Based Learning Presentation
- 15% - Op-Ed Essay
- 20% - Class Participation
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
WEEK 1
August 28
WEEK 2
September 5 – NOTE THAT THIS IS A TUESDAY
- What is History?
- READ: Bloch, The Historian’s Craft
- READ: Marius and Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History, Chapters 1, 2, 3
WEEK 3
September 11
- Social History
- READ: Ulrich, The Midwife’s Tale
- ASSIGNMENT: Pick a topic you will be using for the bibliographical exercise next week
- ASSIGNMENT: Do the worksheet for next week in Course Packet
WEEK 4
September 18
- Books, Journals, and Primary Sources
- READ: Marius and Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History, Chapters 4 & 8
- ASSIGNMENT: Do the worksheet for next week in Course Packet
- NOTE: THIS CLASS WILL MEET IN ROOM 110, KING LIBRARY
- WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Create an annotated bibliography listing 5 books, 5 journal articles and 5 primary sources for the topic you chose prior to this class
Assignment due in class next week
WEEK 5
September 25
- Internet Sources and Note Taking
- READ: Marius and Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History, Chapters 5 & 6
- READ: McMichael, History on the Web
- Experiment with Filemaker Pro
- NOTE: THIS CLASS WILL MEET IN ROOM 100, KING LIBRARY
- WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Using the books and journals from last week, enter those materials on the Filemaker Pro sources file and then make 15 different notecards on the Filbemaker notes file Assignment due in class next week
WEEK 6
October 2
– NOTE: THIS IS YOM KIPPUR & WE WILL RESCHEDULE THIS CLASS
- Narrative, Analysis, & Biography
- READ: Anderson and Cayton, The Dominion of War
- READ: Winkler, Franklin D. Roosevelt
WEEK 7
October 9
- Writing a Prospectus & Conceptualizing a Paper
- READ: Marius and Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History, Chapter 7
- READ: Sample Prospectuses and Descriptive Overview of Prospectus in Course Packet
- WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Write a prospectus on the topic you dealt with in the bibliography and note taking assignments
Assignment due in class next week
WEEK 8
October 16
- Objectivity and Narrative
- READ: Peter Novick, That Noble Dream, Chapters 1, 5, 10, & 16
- READ: James Goodman, “Telling the Stories of Narrative History” in Course Packet
WEEK 9
October 23
- A Documentary History of the Atomic Bomb
- READ: Stoff, Fanton, and Williams, The Manhattan Project (read selectively)
WEEK 10
October 30
- Assessing Writing about the Bomb
- READ: Winkler, Life Under a Cloud
- READ: Choose another book about the atomic bomb for next week's assignment
WEEK 11
November 6
- Writing a Book Review
- READ: The 2 Book Reviews in Course Packet
- WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Use the book you have chosen about the bomb & write TWO 500-word reviews of it
Assignment due in class next week
WEEK 12
November 13
- History and Memory
- READ: Rosenberg, A Date Which Will Live
WEEK 13
November 20
- History Wars and the Writing of History
- READ: Linenthal and Engelhardt, History Wars
- READ: Descriptive Overview of Problem Based Learning Exercise in Course Packet
- ASSIGNMENT: Working in teams, propose how better to handle an Enola Gay exhibit
Assignment due in class next week
WEEK 14
November 27
- Problem Based Learning Exercise
- PRESENTATION: Each team will present its findings to class & turn in a 2-page proposal
WEEK 15
December 4
- How to Write an Op-Ed Article
- READ: Sample Op-Ed Essays in Course Packet
- WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Write an Op-Ed article (700 words)
Assignment due in the History Department office (Upham 254) by Friday, December 10
Allan M. Winkler
Department of History
Miami University
Last updated: August 15, 2006
URL: http://www.users.muohio.edu/winkleam/hst206.htm |