HISTORY 300-01 (CRN 81898)
FALL 2014
INSTRUCTOR: DR. SCHMOLL
TUE/THU 10-12
CLASSROOM:
OFFICE: FT 201A
OFFICE HOURS: TUE/THU 9-10
Course
Description:
History 300 is
an upper-division, expository writing course that all History majors must
complete. The course satisfies the GWAR (Graduate Writing Assessment
Requirement) for any CSUB student who passes with a “C” (75 percent) or higher.
Its main goal is to develop the skills of writing, critical thinking,
historical research, and synthesis. Please note that
students must already have achieved a grade of “C” or better in English 110 (or
its equivalent) in order to take this course. They also must
REQUIRED TEXTS:
1. Conal
Furay and Michael Salevouris, The Methods
and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (3rd edition)
2.
Jonathan Spence, The Question of Hu (any
edition)
3. Any
Grammar Guide (see me in class for suggestions )
4. There
will also be occasional readings on the blog. I will announce these in class.
GRADING SCALE:
Research Paper 25%
Rough Draft of Research Paper 5% (pass/no pass)
Prospectus for Research Paper 10%
Walls and Fences 10%.
Films and History Essay 20%
Quizzes 5%
Peer review 5%
(pass/no pass)
Conference presentation 10%
Participation 10%
GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:
Research
Paper: (25%)
8-10 pages
(Times 12, double-spaced) Choosing a Topic: We will talk about
this in class, but you should begin thinking about a topic for this significant
assignment. You will be reading numerous sources and writing for many hours on this
topic, so it should be an historical issue that really interests you. You will
be using primary and secondary sources and you will be citing those sources in
Chicago Manual of Style format.
Prospectus for Research Paper: (10%)
How can you write a paper about a paper
you plan to write? Easy, it’s called a prospectus. Here are two great sites to
help with this process:
In essence, the prospectus is designed
to persuade your reader that your project is worthwhile. It should reveal some
level of excitement with your topic, and should provide justification for
choosing the topic (first person is allowed), a preliminary list of sources
that you have surveyed, and a description of the key works in the field. As
such, your prospectus will begin to place your topic within its
historiographical context.
Rough Draft of Research Paper: (5%)
You are required to bring a completed,
typed, printed rough draft to class on the _____ of November. When you do, you
will automatically receive 5% of the course grade.
Walls and Fences: (10%)
This is our first assignment and is due
rather quickly, so do not dilly dally. You must choose an historical wall or
fence. Here is a brief list of some possibilities:
Antonine
Wall
Aurelian
Walls
Berlin Wall
Botswana-Zimbabwe Border
Ceuta and Melilla Borders
(Spain-Morocco)
Dingo
Fence
Emmitsburg
Road Fence
Fence
around Manzanar Internment Camp
Fence
at Buckingham Palace
Great Wall of China
Great
Zimbabwe Walls
Green Monster
Hadrian’s Wall
Indo-Bangladeshi Barrier
Intramuros
Kremlin
Wall
Kuwait-Iraq Barrier
Long Wall
of Quảng Ngãi
(Vietnam)
Red Snake (Iran)
Sacsayhuaman
(Peru)
San Diego Border Fence
The Atlantic Wall
The Communards' Wall
The Korean Wall
The Lennon Wall (Prague)
The Peace Lines (Belfast)
The Walls of Constantinople
Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall
Wall of Jericho
Walls of Ávila
Walls
of Babylon
Walls of
Dubrovnik
Walls
of Troy
West Bank Separation Barrier
Western
Wall
You will do some simple research on your
wall/fence, using google, google scholar, and google books. You are allowed to
go to the library for this but not required. Your short essay will be 2 pages
long (double-spaced) and will place the wall or fence into its historical
context. How, when, and why did this wall/fence come about? Who does it
separate from whom? Was it successful in creating a separation?
Film and History Essay: (20%)
Choose a movie that portrays a
historical character, event, or theme.
Watch the film. Write an essay (2-3
page, double-spaced)
discussing
history as portrayed in the film. Your
essay should focus less on simple notions of accuracy/inaccuracy and more on
the meaning of this film’s use and representation of the past. How is history
re-produced in the film you are analyzing? What ideological stance is the
director establishing through the text of the film?
Here are some sites with helpful
information regarding film and history:
Conference Presentation: (10%)
In the final week of the course, you
will present the findings from your research paper to the class in a
“conference” setting. You will create a visual representation of the project
and will be expected to present your own findings as well as comment on a
classmate’s project.
COURSE
POLICIES
The Blog: http://history300fall2014.blogspot.com/
You need to sign
in to this blog this week.
You will also have short readings on the blog. I
will announce these in class.
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and
papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass
this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third
class meeting, you are missing 15% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter?
First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much
as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are
objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not
entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t
mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t
expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll
around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your
actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has
everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move
everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you
drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee,
and so on. It’s rude. There’s an old saying: better two hours early than two
minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent
tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation?
You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. And no, I’m not the jackass
who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points
in your face. If you are late a few (that means three) times, you will lose the
entire 10% participation grade. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely
because it is not persistent. It’s an accident. But if you are late several
times, you will not be able to receive a participation grade above 50%.
The
Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking
of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it
happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if
you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent
of the Participation grade. Any guesses? C’mon, you must have some idea. No,
it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny
and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart
rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed
book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera
ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime?
Texting. If you take out your phone one time to send or receive messages you
will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a
final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%,
it will become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is
on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of
our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to
never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your
fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to
do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and
right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Oh, and guess
what, this room is designed to give your teacher a perfect view of you with a
phone beneath the table; is that text message really worth 10% of the quarter
grade? Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to
tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s
incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend
to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters,
that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just
focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be
worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your
world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family,
your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So,
until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills,
promise me one thing: when you are in class or preparing for class, you have to
be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the
1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to
something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside
world for a while.
Participation: You do not need to be the person who
speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most
brilliant historical arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you
are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the
temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the
three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you
will receive a good participation grade!
Just being here
does not guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must be regularly
actively involved for that to be possible.
In fact, to get a
90% participation grade or higher, you must attend all classes, contribute
thoughtful comments to the larger class discussion every day, participate
actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting,
no using this course to study for other courses, no being late.
To get an 85%,
you can miss one class and must contribute at least one comment per week
to the large class discussion, participate actively with those around you, and
avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for
other courses, no being late.
To get an 80%,
you can miss one class and must participate actively with those around you, and
avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for
other courses, no being late.
To get a 75%, you
can miss two classes and must participate actively with those around you, and
avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for
other courses, no being late.
Show up tardy
more than once or fail to participate in the dialogue and the participation
grade will begin to diminish quickly.
Academic
Integrity
The principles of
truth and integrity are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers
and scholars. The University expects that both faculty and students will honor
these principles and in so doing will protect the integrity of all academic
work and student grades. Students are expected to do all work assigned to them
without unauthorized assistance and without giving unauthorized assistance.
Faculty have the responsibility of exercising care in the planning and
supervision of academic work so that honest effort will be encouraged and
positively reinforced.
http://www.csub.edu/studentconduct/documents/academicintegrity.pdf
Academic Honesty
This is a policy that you can find on the university
website. More than a policy, though, in history it is a way of life. You should
be giving sources as a part of your historical education; you should speak in
books and authors. Once it is part of your vernacular, you will see that citing
sources is not some silly academic requirement. It is a way of situating your
thinking within a world of ideas. If you take an idea, quote, piece of data, or
anything else from a source, cite it. Worry less about the exact citation style
and more about the delicate balance between your own ideas and those of other
scholars.
