Office:Colbourn Hall (CNH) 537Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:50 P.M

HIS6159 Historiography

Dr. Peter L. LarsonCNH 516

Office:Colbourn Hall (CNH) 537Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:50 p.m.

Office Phone: 407-823-6466Spring 2012

Email: redit: 3 units (3,0)

Webpage:

Office Hours:Thursday, 3:00-4:00 p.m.& by appointment

Course Description

This course provides students with an introduction to historiography: the history and science of writing history. As the discipline of history is vast and complex, we will concentrate on a selection of important contributions to the field, exploring seminal works and theories as well as debates with which every modern historian must be familiar. In addition, this course will introduce students to the profession of history, covering topics from genres of historical works to participating in conferences to professional expectations and codes of conduct. Finally, this course will reinforce the requirements of the History M.A. program and begin preparation for the thesis.

Objectives

To explore the theories, methods, and debates relevant to modern historians.
To learn how to analyze historical debates and the contributions of different scholars accurately and fairly, in preparation for a student’s own contributions to the field.
To learn about the profession of history, from its history and development to expectations of professional historians today.
To lay the groundwork to complete the M.A. in History.

Required Texts

The following books are required and are available at the University Bookstore.Unless noted, earlier editions are acceptable.

Georg Iggers, Historiography in the Twentieth Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge, 2nd ed.(Wesleyan, 2005).
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error(George Braziller, 2008).
E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (Vintage, 1966).
Immanuel Wallerstein, World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction(Duke, 2004).
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Vintage, 1995).
Edward Said, Orientalism(Vintage, 1979).
James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (Yale, 1992).
Judith Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World (Oxford, 1999).
Kate L. Turabian et al., A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed. (Chicago, 2007). If you do not already own a copy, the current edition is highly encouraged.

Assignments

(further information will be available on the website for many of these assignments)

Participation25 points
Weekly Essays10 points
Leading Discussion(twice)15 points
Thesis Proposal Annotated Bibliography30 points
Historiographical Essay15 points
Attendance at event + paper5 points

Participation: This course is foundedupon active discussion.Students are required to have read all of the assigned readings before class and to arrive prepared for active discussion. Attendance is mandatory; one unexcused absence is tolerated, but each additional unexcused absence will result in the deduction of five (5) points.As a courtesy to myself and to your classmates, please turn off all phonesbefore class.Taping of classes is not permitted without prior permission.

Leading Discussion:Each student will lead discussion twice. This entails preparation of questions to help guide discussion, and a brief biographical presentation on the author under discussion.

Weekly Essay: A two-page (maximum!) reaction paper each week, starting the 26th. Some of these will be in response to a prompt, others are free response. These are not summaries, but a discussion of points on theory or method within the readings, as a foundation for what will be discussed in class. I am not looking for profound, philosophical statements, but clear identification of and honest engagement with the different approaches to history. The lowest grade will be dropped.

Thesis Proposal & Annotated Bibliography: An 8-12 page thesis proposal, with annotated bibliography, following the departmental guidelines. This assignment is designed to get you thinking about your thesis; this is not binding, but it’s a good idea to do your proposal for this class in the same field as you want to write your thesis.

Historiographic Essay: A 10-12 page essay that places your proposed thesis topic into a broader context.

Attend Event + paper: Attend one History Department event (such as the Pauley Lecture on 1/23, or the Department’s Research colloquium) and write a 2-4 page paper discussing the theories, methods, and/or approaches evident in the presentation. The week that you submit this, you do not have to submit the weekly paper.

Late Papers and Extensions: Late papers will not be accepted, except for an excused absence. Extensions generally will not be granted unless sought at least 48 hours in advance of the due date, and for good cause.

Style Guide: All papers must conform to the Chicago Style; use Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, andDissertations. Papers should be double-spaced, typed, with 1” margins all around. Fonts should be normal sized fonts (e.g. Times New Roman 12, Courier 10, Arial 10).

Other Course Policies

Office Hours: You can find me in my office during my stated office hours; if you cannot make the normal office hours, please contact me to set up an appointment.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the presentation (consciously or unconsciously) of someone else’s words or ideas as your own. Plagiarism is not limited to published works; it includes other students’ papers and web sites. You are expected to quote works by others, but under no circumstances should you incorporate someone else’s work into your own without proper citation. If you refer to someone else’s idea, or paraphrase it, even if there is not a direct quote, you must cite the source; unreferenced paraphrasing is plagiarism. If I detect plagiarism, the assignment will receive a zero and I shall report you according to departmental and University policies.

Grades: I will use these criteria when assigning letter grades:

93.00 to 100 = A87.00 to 89.99 = B+ etc.

90.00 to 92.99 = A-83.00 to 86.99 = B

87.00 to 89.99 = B+ 80.00 to 82.99 = B-

Reminder: grades below B- do not result in graduate credit for the course.

Disability Statement: Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course must contact me at the beginning of the semester to discuss what is necessary; otherwise no accommodations will be provided. Students must be registered with Student Disability Services, Student Resource Center Room 132, phone (407) 823-2371, TTY/TDD (407) 823-2116.

Schedule of Classes

1/12Introduction; The Profession of History

Professional Discussion: What do professional Historians do?

1/19History then and now: the history of the writing of modern History

Professional Discussion: CVs; Thesis proposal

Readings:

Iggers, Historiography in the Twentieth Century (entire)

Elizabeth A.R. Brown, “The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of

MedievalEurope,” American Historical Review 79:4 (1974): 1063-1088.

1/26Identifying Methods & Approaches

Professional Discussion: The Historiographical Essay

Readings: Using JSTOR and/or other library databases, download the following:

On Reconstruction

James M. McPherson "Abolitionists and the Civil Rights Act of 1875," Journal of American

History52:3 (1965): 493-510.

Eric Foner, "The Meaning of Freedom in the Age of Emancipation," Journal of American

History, 81:2 (1994), pp. 435-460.

Karin L. Zipf, “Reconstructing ‘Free Woman’: African-American Women,

Apprenticeship,andCustody Rights During Reconstruction,” Journal of Women's

History 12:1 (2000): 8-31.

On Feudal Europe

T. H. Aston, "The Origins of the Manor in England," Transactions of the Royal

HistoricalSociety, 5th ser. vol. 8, (1958), pp. 59-83.

Robert Brenner, "Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-Industrial

Europe," Past & Present 70 (1976): 30-75.

Kathleen Biddick, "People and Things: Power in Early English Development,"

Comparative Studies in Society and History 32:1 (1990): 3-23.

2/2Anthropology

Professional Discussion: Finding & Evaluating Sources / Peer Review

Readings:

Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error (entire)

Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” Daedalus 101:1 Myth,

Symbol and Culture (1972): 1-37.

2/9History from Below

Professional Discussion: Being Honest with Your Sources

Readings:

Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class, Chapters 1-6, 9, 13, 16.

2/16Cliometrics

Professional Discussion: Plagiarism & Ethical Conduct

Readings:

R.W. Fogel, “The New Economic History. I. Its Findings and Methods,” Economic History

Review n.s. 19:3 (1966): 642-56.

Paul E. Lovejoy, “The Volume of the Atlantic Slave Trade: A Synthesis,” Journal of

African History23:4 (1982): 473-501.

Stephen Haber, “Industrial Concentration and the Capital Markets: A Comparative

Study of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, 1830–1930,” Journal of Economic

History 51:3 (1991): 559–581.

John Hatcher, “Understanding the Population History of England, 1450-1750,” Past &

Present 180 (2003): 83-130.

E A Wrigley, “How Reliable is Our Knowledge of the Demographic Characteristics of

the English Population in the Early Modern Period?” in The Historical Journal 40:3

(1997): 571-595.

2/23 World Systems

Professional Discussion: Conferences

Readings:

Wallerstein, World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction(entire)

Jerry H. Bentley, “Sea and Ocean Basins as Frameworks of Historical Analysis,”

Geographical Review 89:2 (1999): 215-224.

3/1Foucault

Professional Discussion:

Readings:

Foucault, Discipline & Punish(entire)

3/8 SPRING BREAK

3/15 Postcolonialism

Professional Discussion:

Readings:

Said, Orientalism

Graham Huggan, “(Not) Reading “Orientalism,” Research in African Literatures 36:3

(2005): 124-36.DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE READ ORIENTALISM.

3/22 Subalterns

Professional Discussion: Grants & Research

Readings:

Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance

3/29 GenderProposals due

Professional Discussion: Publishing

Readings:

Joan W. Scott, “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” American Historical

Review 91:5 (1983): 1053-1075.

*Joan Kelly Gadol, “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” in Renate Bridenthal and

Claudia Koonz, eds. Becoming Visible: Women in European History (Houghton-

Mifflin, 1977), pp. 148-52.

Natalie Zemon Davis, “’Women’s History” in Transition: The European Case,” Feminist

Studies 3:3/4 (1976): 83-103.

*Sherry Ortner, “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?” in Women, Culture and

Society, ed. By Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere (Stanford, 1974), pp. 68-87.

Terry Castle, “Eros and Liberty at the English Masquerade, 1710-1790,” Eighteenth

Century Studies 17:2 (1983/84): 156-176.

Nancy Maclean, “The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the

Making of Reactionary Populism,” Journal of American History 78 (1991): 917-948.

4/5 Presentations

4/12 Race

Professional Discussion: Dealing with the discomfiting.

Readings:

Articles BA

4/19 Women’s History

Professional Discussion: Bias and historical insight.

Readings:

Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England (entire)

4/27 Historiographical essay due by 6pm