Professor: Christopher J. Bilodeau
E-mail: bilodeac@dickinson.edu
Office: 302 Denny Hall
Office Hours: Mondays 2:45-4:00pm,
Thursdays 2:45-4:30pm, or by appointment
Office Phone: 717 245 1385
Introduction to Historical Methodology
History 204, Fall 2015, Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30pm
112 Denny / Archives Classroom, Waidner-Spahr Library
This course is one of the core courses (with 404) for a major in History at Dickinson College, and focuses on the foundation of historical inquiry. As such, students will learn the methods and practices of historians in making, developing, and sustaining arguments, amassing evidence, citing scholarship, and analyzing primary and secondary sources. Through selected reading and discussion about the nature of history, and through projects related to the conduct of historical research, students will be introduced to the art and technique of the discipline.
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE COURSE:
Learning Goals:
Students in the class will be expected to work on the following:
- Develop historical perspectives
- Express themselves clearly, both in writing and in discussion
- Locate relevant information
- Identify key historical issues and debates
- Support plausible historical arguments
Readings: Students must read the assignments for the appropriate date. Books are available for purchase at the Bookstore, and copies have been placed on reserve at the Library.
Required Books:
Salevouris, Michael J., and Conal Furay, eds. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide. 4th ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. ISBN#: 978-1118745441.
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN#: 978-0195171570.
Gross, Jan T. Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. New York: Penguin, 2002. ISBN#: 978-0142002407.
Tey, Josephine. The Daughter of Time. New York: Touchstone, 1995. ISBN#: 0684803860.
Assignments: Final grades will rest on the following percentages. You must complete all requirements in order to pass the course.
Historical Methods essay: 15%
Exercises in Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History: 10%
Archive Collection Analysis / Document Analysis / Primary Source Assignment / Secondary Source Assignment: 20%
Proposal and Bibliography: 10%
Final Paper: 30%
Participation: 20%
Questions on the Readings: There will be a venue on the website that is connected to the course. Starting in Week 2, students are responsible for putting their thoughts on the course’s website, at http://blogs.dickinson.edu/hist204-fall15/. In these entries (the equivalent of 1-2 typed pages) students will discuss an historical topic that comes from their classwork—either the readings for the class, student research, or (ideally) intersections of the two. Questions on readings will be given out ahead of time, and later entries will discuss your own progress on your research papers.
Tablet Initiative: This class is part of a “Teaching with Technology” initiative at Dickinson called “The Mobile Classroom.” The goals of the tablet computer initiative are to explore the use of mobile technologies in the classroom and identify impacts of mobile technology on teaching and learning.
Each student will be presented with a tablet computer at the beginning of the semester. To pick up your tablet, please go to the Media Center in the basement of Bosler Hall to sign it out for the semester. Ryan Burke, the technology liaison to the History Department, will come to class on September 9 to give you a brief overview of the tablet and answer initial questions you might have. You will be responsible for bringing your tablet to each class to facilitate discussions of the readings or in-class exercises that require their use.
Odds and Ends:
Contacting me: Contacting me by email is best; only on rare occasions will you be able to contact me in my office by phone. I must admit that I am a bit old-fashioned when it comes to email. If you write me an email, please have a salutation (e.g., “Dear Prof. Bilodeau”), ask your question in complete sentences, with correct punctuation and capitalization, and end with an appropriate sign-off (e.g., Sincerely, Jill Student). I hope none of this comes off as excessively prim on my part, but politeness and civil discourse are essential for the equal exchange of ideas, whether face-to-face or electronic. You are also welcome to drop by during my office hours, listed above.
Classroom etiquette: I am sure that students do not realize how distracting it is when they get up (or come in late) during a class. Unfortunately, it is. I hope you’ll respect my request that you do your best to abstain from this practice during the class period. Emergencies of course will be recognized as such, but please do your best to remain in the classroom for the duration of the class period. As well, please turn off your cell phones before entering the classroom. And texting in class is never allowed.
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity will be taken very seriously in this course. Students who violate College rules on scholastic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary action, which include the possible failure of the course and/or dismissal from the College. For a laughably brief take on this complicated issue, follow these guidelines: 1) do your own work; clear any collaborations ahead of time and give full credit; 2) cite your sources fully and explicitly; and 3) for quotations, use quotation marks and cite fully; for summary or paraphrase, cite fully and explicitly at the end of the relevant paragraph or sentence. For further details, please read carefully and be familiar with the Community Standards on the Dickinson College website.
Accommodating Students with Disabilities:
Dickinson College makes reasonable academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students requesting accommodations must make their request and provide appropriate documentation to the Office of Disability Services (ODS) in Biddle House. Because classes change every semester, eligible students must obtain a new accommodation letter from Director Marni Jones every semester and review this letter with their professors so the accommodations can be implemented.
The Director of ODS is available by appointment to answer questions and discuss any implementation issues you may have.
ODS proctoring is managed by Susan Frommer at 717-254-8107 or proctoring@dickinson.edu. Address general inquiries to Stephanie Anderberg at 717-245-1734 or e-mail disabilityservices@dickinson.edu.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Week 1, September 2, Introduction to the Course: “Thinking Aggressively” about History
Reading: “Manuel de Londono de Molina’s Last Will and Testament, Medellin, Columbia, 1807.”
Assignment: None.
Week 2, September 9, Detectives and Historians
Reading: Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, complete; Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 2, “The Nature of History: History as Reconstruction”: 13-26.
Assignment: Exercises for Salevouris and Furay, eds., Chapter 2: all exercises, pp. 21-26.
Week 3, September 16, The Archives and Primary Sources
Reading: Durba Ghosh, “National Narratives and the Politics of Miscegenation”: pp. 27-44, and Jennifer S. Mulligan, “‘What is an Archive?’ in the History of Modern France”: pp. 159-83, on class website; Furay and Salevouris, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 8, “Reading History”: pp. 131-50.
Assignment: Exercises for Furay and Salevouris, The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 8: all exercises in Set A, and exercise 1 in Set B, pp. 141-50.
Week 4, Tuesday, September 22, ARCHIVE COLLECTION ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT DUE BY 12 NOON.
Week 4, September 23, Doing History
Reading: Furay and Salevouris, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 10, “Evidence,” Chapter 11, “Oral Histories, Statistics, and Photographs,” and Chapter 12, “Interpretation”: pp. 169-239.
Assignment: Exercises for Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 10: all exercises in Set A, and exercises 1-4 in Set B: pp. 179-96; Chapter 11: exercises 1 and 2 in Set A, and exercise 1 in Set B: 211-16; Chapter 12: exercises 1, 2, and 4 in Set A, and exercises 1, 2, and 4 in Set B: 227-39.
Week 5, Tuesday, September 29, DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT DUE BY 12 NOON.
Week 5, September 30, The Landscape of History, Part I: Time, Space, Structure, Process
Reading: Gaddis, The Landscape of History, Chapters 1-4: 1-70; Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 3, “Historical Thinking: Continuity and Change,” and Chapter 7, “Libraries Real and Virtual”: pp. 27-35 and 103-14.
Assignment: Exercises for Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 3: all, pp. 37-42; (Do no exercises for Chapter 7).
Week 6, Tuesday, October 6, SECONDARY SOURCE ASSIGNMENT DUE BY 12 NOON.
Week 6, October 7, The Landscape of History, Part II: Complexity, Causation, and Individuals within Societies
Reading: Gaddis, 71-151; Salevatouris and Furay, eds., Chapter 4, “Historical Thinking: Multiple Causality in History,” and Chapter 5, “Historical Thinking: Context”: pp. 43-81.
Assignment: Exercises for Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 4: all, pp. 37-42; and Chapter 5: exercises 1 and 2 in Set A, and exercise 2 in Set B: pp. 55-63.
Week 7, Sunday, October 11: Film, Ida, 7pm, 235 Weiss
Week 7, October 14, History, Politics, and Film
Reading: Jan Gross, Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland, complete; Salevatouris and Furay, eds., Chapter 1, “The Uses of History,” and Chapter 9, “History on Film”: pp. 3-6 and 151-63 (Do not read exercises).
Assignment: None.
Week 7, October 16, PRIMARY SOURCE ASSIGNMENT DUE BY 5PM.
Week 8, October 21, Examples of Historical Arguments
Reading: Natalie Zemon Davis, “The Rites of Violence: Religious Riot in Sixteenth-Century France,” Past & Present 59 (1973): 51-91; James Axtell and William C. Sturtevant, “The Unkindest Cut, or Who Invented Scalping?,” William and Mary Quarterly 37 (1980): 451-72; and E.P Thompson, “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism,” Past & Present 38 (1967): 56-97.
Assignment: Historical Methods Essay Due
Week 9, October 28, Proposals
Reading: Salevouris and Furay, eds., The Methods and Skills of History, Chapter 6, “Telling a Story” and Chapter 13, “Writing for Your Reader”: pp. 83-90 and 241-48. (Do not read exercises for either chapter).
Assignment: Proposal, with Bibliography, due
Week 10, November 4, Work Week (Instructor available in Archives for student inquiries)
Week 11, November 11, Work Week (Instructor available in Archives for student inquiries)
Week 12, November 18, Work Week (Instructor available in Archives for student inquiries)
Week 13, November 25, Thanksgiving Break
Week 14, Sunday, November 29, GROUP 1 PAPERS DUE TO ALL STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTOR BY 5PM
Week 14, December 2, Peer Review, Group 1
Week 14, Friday, December 4, History 204 Dinner, 170 W. Pomfret Street
Week 15, Sunday, December 6, GROUP 2 PAPERS DUE TO ALL STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTOR BY 5PM
Week 15, December 9, Peer Review, Group 2, and Summation of Class
FINAL PAPER DUE: Saturday, December 19, by 5:00pm
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