HST 301: Introduction to the Study of History

Spring, 2006

ILC 141, Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:15

Prof. Susan A. Crane
Office/Hours: Soc Sci 237A, TTh 3:30-4:30 and by appt.
scrane@email.arizona.edu

Course description

HST 301 is a new course intended to introduce History Majors to doing historical research. Students who have taken or are enrolled in HST 396 are discouraged from taking this course.

The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the nature and practice of writing history and to teach the critical reading, writing, research, and analytical skills necessary for history majors. This includes reading for argument and thesis; comparing and contrasting multiple points of view for an historical event; interpreting primary sources; the ability to track down and use scholarly resources; and writing clearly and persuasively.

Required Books and Readings

All assigned readings are available at the UA Bookstore and through ERes, the electronic reserves on Sabio. Required Texts available for purchase:

Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre

Charles Stewart et al, eds., Imagining the Twentieth Century (available as Course Packet)

ERes password = history

Assignment and Grading Information

Papers: All papers must be double-spaced and 12-pt. Font (except Research Findings, which have a unique format).

Papers = 75% of final grade

• 4 Research Findings (2-3 page bibliographies of resources)
• 3-5 page paper writing up oral history interview
• 2-3 page historians' debate paper

Class participation [25% of the final grade]:

Includes attendance, in-class discussion participation, quizzes and one-page papers.

Attendance Policy: if you know you will have to miss a class for legitimate reasons, you are expected to let the instructor know in advance. If you have three or more unexcused absences, your final grade will drop one letter grade.

Course Schedule

Jan. 12 Introduction to the Course – Discussion: What does it mean to remember the past? Assignment for Tues : visit the war memorials on campus. Write up a one-page description of your reactions to them. What do you think were the goals? Were the methods of achieving these goals successful?

Jan. 17 The Modern History of History -- Due: 1 page on memorials

Jan. 19 NO CLASS – Instructor out of town

Jan. 24 Read/discuss Lucian, "How to Write History" [ERes]

Jan. 26 Guest: Prof. Steve Johnstone. Due: 70-word summary of Lucian

Jan. 31 Learning History through Images

Read: Stewart, Imagining the Twentieth Century , pp. 2-51

Hand out in class: Research Findings assignment sheet

Feb. 2 Library Workshop with Ruth Dickstein – meet in Main Library Rm. 112 (Info Commons)

Feb. 7 Read: Stewart, Imagining the Twentieth Century, pp. 52-107 Due in class: Research findings #1

Feb. 9 Read/discuss Bonnie Smith, "What is a Historian?" [ERes]

Feb. 14 Read/discuss Bonnie Smith, "Gender and the Practice of Scientific History" [ERes] Due: 70-word summary of assigned reading

Feb. 16 Guest: Prof. Richard Eaton. Read: Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan , 1300-1761 , intro + chs. 5, 7 [ERes]

Feb. 21 Read/discuss: "A Memorable Decision…" [ERes] Guest: Prof. Helen Nader Due: Reading Response

Feb. 23 Read/discuss: Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre, pp. 1-61

Feb. 28 Library Workshop with Ruth Dickstein -- meet in Main Library Rm. 112 (Info Commons)

Mar. 2 Read/discuss: Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre, pp. 62-125

Mar. 7 View/discuss film: "The Return of Martin Guerre"

Due in class: Research findings #2, "Martin Guerre"

Mar. 9 View/discuss film: "The Return of Martin Guerre"

** Spring Break **

Mar. 21 Lecture: Historians and the Holocaust

Mar. 23 Read/discuss: Christopher Browning, "One Day in Josefow" [ERes]

Mar. 28 Debate: Browning vs. Goldhagen. Read: Daniel Goldhagen, "The Men's Deeds" [ERes]. Due in class: debate paper

Mar. 30 Oral History as Historical Method. Guest: Prof. Jadwiga PieperRead and discuss: Alessandro Portelli, "The Death of Luigi Trastulli" and Portelli, "What Makes Oral History Different?" [ERes]

Apr. 4 Oral History: Approaches, Development. Read and discuss: Charles Morrissey, "On Oral History Interviewing" and Alistair Thomson, "Fifty Years On" [ERes]

Apr. 6 Oral History: Project Choices, Interview Strategies. Read and discuss: Donald Ritchie, Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide (2003), pp. 47-83 Due in class: Project Goal Statement and Interview Questions for Oral History Assignment (2 copies)

Apr. 11 Oral History Presentations Due in class: 3-4 page Interview write-up

Apr. 13 Textbook Evaluation exercise

Due: Bring a history textbook to class

Apr. 18 Reading the Paper: Primary Sources in the Press

Due in class: Research Findings #3 Select a historical event or commemoration of a holiday. Find descriptions of this event/holiday in two newspapers, two times (at least 10 years apart). Assess how the news coverage presents the events. What are the similarities, what are the differences? Bring xeroxes or printouts of your sources to class with your paper.

Apr. 20 Guest Lecture: Prof. Richard Eaton, "What is World History?"

Apr. 25 Working in Archives. Meet in Special Collections, Main Library

Apr. 27 TBA

May 2 Final project: You will be given a LOC call number – choose a research topic based on that number – Due in class: Research Findings #4

ERes Readings

1. Lucian, "How to Write History" in Lucian, Works vol. 5 (Harvard University Press, 1959), 512 pages; pp. 3-73 (odd numbered pages only).
2. Bonnie Smith, "What is a Historian?" in her The Gender of History: Men, Women and Historical Practice (Harvard University Press, 1998), 306 pages; pp. 70-85.
3. Bonnie Smith, "Gender and the Practices of Scientific History," American Historical Review 100:4 (October, 1995), pp. 1150-1176.
4. Richard Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan , 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 320 pages. Read: intro, Chs. 5 + 7
5. "A Memorable Decision…", translated by Jeanette K. Ringold and Janet Lewis, Triquarterly 55 (Fall, 1982), pp. 86-103.
6. Christopher Browning, "One Day in Josefow" in Peter Hayes, ed., Lessons and Legacies: The Meaning of the Holocaust in a Changing World (Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1991), pp. 196-209, 365-66.
7. Daniel Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners (New York: Knopf, 1996), 622 pages; "Police Battalion 101" (Ch. 7) and pp. 534-545 (=notes for Ch. 7).
8. Alessandro Portelli, "The Death of Luigi Trastulli" in The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories (1991), 341 pages; 28 pp.
9. Alessandro Portelli, "What Makes Oral History Different" in R. Parks and A. Thomson, eds., The Oral History Reader (Routledge, 1998), 479 pages; pp. 63-74.
10. Alistair Thomson, "Fifty Years On: An International Perspective on Oral History," The Journal of American History , 85:2 (Sept, 1998), pp. 581-595.
11. Donald Ritchie, Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide (2003), 318 pages; pp. 47-83.
12. Charles Morrissey, "On Oral History Interviewing" in R. Parks and A. Thomson, eds., The Oral History Reader (Routledge, 1998), 479 pages; 8 pp.