ResearchandWritingf08

The Big Picture.
What do historians do? How do they do what they do? For what reasons do they do the things they do? These questions are at the heart of this course and by the end of the term it is my hope that each of you will have developed your own answers for each one. While not all of you plan to become professional historians, understanding and mastering for yourselves the intellectual skills that historians use will serve you well as history majors and in whatever future direction you may choose to pursue in life.

It is said that, given the current degree of flux in the economy, most of us will change jobs multiple times in the course of our lives. I would suggest to you that the person most prepared for this environment is not the person with a set of skills that is in demand now but may not be in the future. Rather, the person who is probably most prepared to meet the challenges of this world is able to define and approach problems readily, to think critically and creatively about those problems, interpret complex information in a variety of forms, write and otherwise communicate solutions clearly and with precision and detail, and is able to see the bigger picture of which his or her work is a part. In this class you will work to improve your mastery of all of these tasks and skills. As a history major you are preparing for many futures, not just one, and after finishing this course you will be closer to having the ability to meet with confidence whatever comes your way. This is why I am always particularly excited to be teaching this course, because it is as much about possibilities and potential and it is about intellectual endeavor.

The Nitty Gritty Stuff.
In general this will be a practical course driven by particular exercises and projects as opposed to a course whose focus is on mastering a body of knowledge about a particular time and place (e.g. the English Civil War or the Great Depression era). Having said that, I have framed the course a bit by making its theme the Atlantic world between 1400 and 1900 in order to make our work this term more manageable.

We start the term with an introduction to what historians do and to the Atlantic world in very general terms. Then we move quickly on to a specific case study of one part of the Altantic World, New Netherland, c. 1600-1700, which will be the main focus of our course work this term. As we come to grips with what historians have written about New Netherland we will also consider more carefully what kinds of primary sources (i.e. documents) there are for the history of this North American Dutch colony and how to interpret and use them. Some of the themes we will address are Dutch/Amerindian encounters, which we will compare with European/Amerindian relations and European/South African relations; how the economy worked in New Netherland, how the cultures and societies in the region operated who the major ethnic groups involved were; and what governmental structures there were. Along the way I will introduce you to the mechanics of bibliography and footnotes and give you opportunities to interpret some actual sources. With the knowledge that you have gained from these discussions and exercises you will then write three papers: a book review, a bibliographic essay, and a research-based essay, which are the main papers for the course. We will then conclude the course with a unit on recent controversies in historical work and you will present the results of your final paper, the source analytical essay. This is a sizeable amount of work, but if we work together you can all be successful.

Required Reference Works:
Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History, sixth edition (New York: Longman, 2007).

Requirements:
Course work consists of three major elements: attendance and participation in discussion and activities, informal writings, and formal writings (i.e. papers).

1. Attendance and Discussion (75): I cannot stress enough that timely attendance and regular participation in discussion and other classroom activities will count heavily in your grade and that effective participation almost always improves performance in the pressure situations. I will gauge attendance and participation on a daily basis and you can earn as many as 2.5 points per class meeting.

2. Informal Writings (50): I will assign short writing exercises to help focus our discussions and to prepare you for major assignments. The emphasis in these assignments will vary from paper to paper. For each informal writing you can earn participation credit. See under credit for participation for their precise value in the marking scheme.

3. In-Class Source Analytical Essays (50): These will ask you to apply your skills in analyzing primary and secondary sources after you have had some practice with these skills and are a mandatory part of the course.

4. Presentation (50): Each of you will need to make a ten-minute presentation of the results of your work during the scheduled final examination period for this course.

5. Meet the Prof: As this is a discussion-based course, the better I know each of you, and the better each of you knows me, the more effective our time in the classroom with be. With that in mind, I ask that, at some point during the first few weeks of term, each of you should stop by my office during office hours to introduce yourself . This will allow me to gain a better sense for what your specific interests and needs are as they pertain to the course.

6. Credit for Participation: For each regular day of class you attend class and participate you can earn up to 5 points. You can earn up to 50 points for the 5 Informal Writings, and 50 points for the 2 In-Class Source Analytical Essays, and 50 points for the Presentation. Thus, you have a potential for earning 225 points. I hold you responsible for 200 points, meaning that you need at least 180 points for an A in participation, 160 for a B, 140 for a C, and 120 for a D. Below 120 points is a failing mark in participation.

Papers (550 Points):You will have to write one short and two longer, formal essays for this course: a book review, a bibliographic essay and a research paper. All papers must be typed and the second paper will involve a rough draft. You must turn in a rough draft that is substantially equivalent in length to the final paper you intend to turn in. The book review (500-600 words) will be worth 75 points; the bibliographic paper (6-8 pages) will be worth 175 points, and there will be automatic deductions of 5 points for each page short of the minimum six full pages; and the research paper (10 pages) will be worth 300 points and will focus on some aspect of New Netherland. Of that 300 points, 30 will be given for turning in a rough draft of at least 7 full pages in length, with reductions of 5 points for each page less than the full 7 pages. In addition, there will be a deduction of up to 30 points, at my discretion, for not participating in the peer review process for the research paper. All papers are to be typed, double-spaced and in Times Roman 12-pt. font. They must also be appropriately footnoted in each case (please see me if you have any doubts on this matter as footnoting is crucial in this course). Due dates for the papers are listed below. General guidelines for papers are available by clicking the hypertext in this sentence. You can access specific guidelines for each of these projects by looking for the due date of each paper below, where you will find hyperlinks that will take you to a page containing additional information needed to write the various papers.

Calculation of your mark: In this course 750 points is a perfect score. Thus an A requires a minimum of 675 points, a B at least 600 points, a C at least 525 points, a D at least 450 points. Anyone earning less than 450 points fails the course and earns a mark of F.

Classroom Environment: Talking to your classmates or others outside the context of classroom activities is rude and will not be tolerated. Reading outside materials, listening to music, taking telephone calls on your cell phone, and similar non-class related activities are equally unacceptable. I expect all students to be respectful of one another's right to speak and express opinions. Disagreements and different viewpoints are welcome, but debates should not involve insults. Finally, food and drink are permitted in class as long as courtesy is observed; e.g. if you haven't quite finished your cup of coffee, do bring it along to class, but turning the classroom into a cafeteria is not permissible.

Attendance: As noted above, regular attendance is crucial to your success in this class. If you miss class regularly, your grade will suffer. I would also like to note that frequent lateness in coming to class and frequent early departures will also be penalized as these habits are rude to your fellow classmates and to me as the instructor. I will take attendance daily in this class and an absence is an absence and will be counted as such.

Student Email: Student email accounts and other services may be found at http://studentmail.cameron.edu The User Name Construction link provides information about user names and passwords. Students should check their Cameron email regularly regardless of whether or not they have other email accounts. A student who wishes to be contacted at an address other than Cameron email should be sure to keep a current preferred address on record in MyCU.

Preparation: All assignments for a given day, whether reading or writing, are to be completed before the class meets on that day. I also recommend that you take notes as you read and during lectures and discussions as this will make studying for the quizzes and writing the papers for the class less of a challenge.

Paper Submission Procedure: All papers receiving academic grades (i.e. papers or formal writings) for this course will be submitted via the CU Turn It In portal. Instructions for how to do this will be forthcoming in good time for the submission of the first paper. No paper submission of such work will be acceptable so do not ask.

Late Papers/Formal Writings: The following policy applies to all late papers for this course that will receive a letter grade, with the exception of the first draft of the Research Paper, which must be turned in by 4:30 p.m. on November 6 to avoid any deductions, and the final draft of the Research Paper, which must be turned in by 4:30 p.m. on the specified due date (December 11, 2008) to receive credit. All papers other than these drafts of the Research Paper that are submitted at any time on the day that the paper is due will be considered on time. Papers submitted after that date, no matter what the reason may be, will be automatically marked down one grade. You will then have seven days from the original due date to turn in the paper. If in that time you are unable to complete and submit the work, the paper will receive a zero.

Late Informal Writings: No late informal writings will be accepted, so don't ask. Remember, though, that your participation grade is a composite of your performance in class and your marks on informal writings and I have designed the grading system to allow you a "head start." Thus, as long as you manage to achieve the necessary points for participation, it will not matter to me how you do so. Although I will obviously keep track of what you do by way of participation, I would advise you to remain aware of where you stand for yourself so that you know whether or not you are achieving the level of participation for which you are hoping to receive credit.

Missed Quizzes, In-Class Essays, and Examinations: There are no make-ups for any quizzes or in-class essays given as part of this course or for the final presentation. In addition, as noted below, there are substantial penalties for failing to take the in-class assessment essays and there are no re-takes. Please make a note of this.

Academic Dishonesty: Each student is expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty
and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, will be subject to disciplinary action. Additional information is provided in the Cameron University Code of Student Conduct http://www.cameron.edu/student_development/student_conduct/As per Section 4.07 of the CU Student Handbook: "Each student is expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty¦ will be subject to disciplinary action." For examples of academic dishonesty please see the full version of Section 4.07 at: http://www.cameron.edu/student_development/student_conduct/academic.html

Among the most serious offenses a student can commit is plagiarism, which is the representation of the work of another as your own. In all of the writing you do for this course you must make clear to me which ideas in a paper are your own and which come from someone else. This is especially important for any formal essays you write. In such essays you must cite all primary and secondary sources you use in accordance with the proper conventions. Instructions on the basics of citation may be found under the general guidelines for papers and can and should be consulted before any formal essays come due. If for some reason you do not choose to examine this page, know that you will not be exempt from following its guidelines. In cases of plagiarism, the Department of History and Government at CU follows the plagiarism policy in the current "Student Handbook," as described in Sections 4.07 and 4.08 of the CU Code of Student Conduct. Penalties for plagiarism as defined by the Student Code of Conduct include:

1) The student may be required to perform additional academic work/project not required of other students in the course;

2) The student may be required to withdraw from the course with a grade of "W" or "F"; or

3) The student's grade in the course or on the examination or other academic work affected by the dishonesty may be reduced to any extent, including a reduction to failure.

Please heed this warning as I am quite serious about it.

Disability Statement: As per the Office of Student Development, "It is the policy of Cameron University to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law. Students with disabilities who need classroom accommodations must make their requests by contacting the Office of Student Development at (580) 581-2209, North Shepler Room 314."

Website for this office:

http://www.cameron.edu/sss/disability.html#1727.

Materials for this course

"A Good Relationship and Commerce" The Native Political Economy of the Arkansas River Valley	Duval, Kathleen
American nations : encounters in Indian country, 1850 to the present / edited by Frederick E. Hoxie,	(no author)
Correspondence, 1647-1653 / translated and edited by Charles T. Gehring.	(no author)
Correspondence of Jeremias van Rensselaer	A.J.F. van Laer, editor and translator
Correspondence of Maria can Rensselaer, 1669-1689	A, J. F. van Laer, editor and translator
Council minutes, 1655-1656 / translated and edited by Charles T. Gehring.	New Netherland. Council.
Court and Notarial Records, Beverwyck, Fort Orange & Rensselaerswyck, c. 1648-1669, Part 1	VARIOUS
Court and Notarial Records: Beverwyck, Fort Orange, & Rensselaerswyck, c. 1648-1669, Part 2	VARIOUS
Crime and law enforcement in the Colony of New York, 1691-1776 / Douglas Greenberg.	Greenberg, Douglas.
Cultures in contact : the impact of European contacts on native American cultural institutions, A.D.	(no author)
Death of a notary : conquest and change in colonial New York / Donna Merwick.	Merwick, Donna.
Dutch and English on the Hudson : a chronicle of colonial New York / by Maud Wilder Goodwin.	Goodwin, Maud Wilder, 1856-1935.
The Dutch-Munsee encounter in America : the struggle for sovereignty in the Hudson Valley / Paul Ott	Otto, Paul Andrew.
Early Dutch Expansion in the Atlantic Region, 1585-1621	Enthoven, Victor
Essays in colonial history presented to Charles McLean Andrews by his students.	(no author)
The Fabricated Region: On the Insufficiency of "Colonies" for Understanding American Colonial Histor	Bodle, Wayne
Glory of the Mohawks, the life of the venerable Catharine Tekakwitha, by Rev. Edward Lecompte, S.J.;	Lecompte, Edouard, 1856-1929.
Historic contact : Indian people and colonists in today's northeastern United States in the sixteent	Grumet, Robert Steven.
The human tradition in colonial America / edited by Ian K. Steele and Nancy L. Rhoden.	(no author)
Implicit Understandings: Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting on the Encounters Between Europeans an	Schwartz, Stuart
In the shadow of slavery : African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 / Leslie M. Harris.	Harris, Leslie M. (Leslie Maria), 1965-
Labor in colonial New York, 1664-1776.	McKee, Samuel D., 1896-
Laboring and dependent classes in colonial America, 1607-1783 / Marcus Wilson Jernegan.	Jernegan, Marcus Wilson, 1872-1949.
Leisler's Rebellion; a study of democracy in New York, 1664-1720.	Reich, Jerome R.
The life and times of Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks, 1656-1680. By Ellen H. Walworth.	Walworth, Ellen Hardin, 1858-
Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664, edited by J. Franklin Jameson.	Jameson, J. Franklin (John Franklin), 1859-1937. ed.
New York City, 1664-1710 : conquest and change / Thomas J. Archdeacon.	Archdeacon, Thomas J.
One man's trash is another man's treasure / [Alexandra van Dongen ... et al.].	(no author)
Putting the Ocean in Atlantic History: Maritime Communities and Marine Ecology in Northwest Atlantic	Bolster, Jeffrey
The Records of New Amsterdam From 1653 to 1674, Anno Domini, Vol. 1, Pt. 1	Berthold Fernow, editor
The Records of New Amsterdam From 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini, vol. 1 Pt.2	Berthold Fernow, editor
The Red King's rebellion : racial politics in New England, 1675-1678 / Russell Bourne.	Bourne, Russell.
Revisiting New Netherland : perspectives on early Dutch America / edited by Joyce D. Goodfriend.	(no author)
Selections from: In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives About a Native People	Dean R. Snow, Charles T. Gehring, and William A. Starna, Editors
Sex, love, race : crossing boundaries in North American history / edited by Martha Hodes.	(no author)
This Is The Mark of the Widow	Mitchell, Laura
Through a glass darkly : reflections on personal identity in early America / edited by Ronald Hoffma	(no author)
Women and freedom in early America / edited by Larry D. Eldridge.	(no author)

Course Component	Component Point Value
Participation	200
1 Book Review	75
1 Bibliographic Essay	175
1 Research Paper	300
Total of All Categories	750

Date	List of Topics	Readings, Assignments, and Activities
8-19	Introduction: The Basics of History & the Origins of the Atlantic World 1	Read (to review): Stuart B. Schwartz, "Introduction," in Implicit Understandings: Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting on the Encounters between European and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era, edited by Stuart B. Schwartz (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994): 1-13 (CU Library Reserve); A Short Guide, Chapter 1.
8-21	Origins of the Atlantic World 2	Read: W. Jeffrey Bolster, "Putting the Ocean in Atlantic History: Maritime Communities and Marine Ecology in the Northwest Atlantic" American Historical Review113, no. 1 (February 2008): 19-47 (CU Library Reserve); A Short Guide, Chapter 2.
8-26	Whose North America 1?	Read: Nicholas Canny, "Writing Atlantic History: or, Reconfiguring the History of Colonial British America," Journal of American History 86 (December 1999): 1093-1114 (JSTOR); Victor Enthoven, "Early Dutch Expansion in the Atlantic Region, 1585-1621," in Riches from Atlantic Commerce: Dutch Transatlantic Trade and Shipping, 1585-1817 (Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2003), 17-47 (CU Library Reserve). Turn In: Informal Writing #1
8-28	The Basic Standards for Historical Writing; Whose North America 2?	Read: Wayne Bodle, "The Fabricated Region: On the Insufficiency of 'Colonies' for an Understanding of American Colonial History," Early American Studies 1, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 1-27 (CU Library Reserve); A Short Guide, Chapter 3, the first half of Chapter 5 on taking notes.
9-1	Labor Day: University is Closed
9-2	Introducing: the Frontier, the Case of the Mid-Atlantic Region	Read: First read: selections from the New Netherland Project Web-Site entitled: "Fort Amsterdam," under main map heading Manhattan; "Staten Island," "Nut Island," and "Hudson River" under main map heading "Hudson River"; and "Fort Nassau," and "Fort Orange," under main map heading "Albany" (on class web syllabus); then read: Paul Otto, The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006), 1-17, 36-77 (CU Library Reserve).
9-4	Thinking in Historical Terms & Classifying Sources; The Trans-Appalachian Frontier	Read: Jeremy Adelman and Stephen Aron, "From Borderlands to Borders: Empires, Nation-States, and the Peoples in Between in North American History" American Historical Review 104, no. 3 (June 1999): 814-841 (Academic Search Elite). Turn In: Informal Writing # 2
9-9	The Trans-Mississippi Frontier	Read: Kathleen Duval, " 'A Good Relationship, & Commerce': The Native Political Economy of the Arkansas Valley," Early American Studies 1, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 61-89 (CU Library Reserve).
9-11	The Frontier in Southern Africa 1	Read: Selection from Paul Otto, The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006), 179-200 (CU Library Reserve)
9-16	The Frontier in Southern Africa 2 & The Tradition of Primary Source Critique	Read: Laura Jane Mitchell, " 'This is the Mark of a Widow': Domesticity and Frontier Conquest in Colonial South Africa," Frontiers: A Journal of Women's History 28, nos. 1 & 2 (2007): 47-76 (CU Library Reserve); A Short Guide, Chapter 4.
9-18	Where's Your Frontier?	Read: A selection from the class archive or a journal article accessed via the CU Library on an Atlantic world frontier encounter; n.b. you can (and for practical reasons you should) incorporate this selected article into informal writing #3. Turn In: Informal Writing #3
9-23	Introducing New Netherland the Settlement Colony and Introduction to the Finer Points of the Class Archive	Read: Selections from the New Netherland Project Web-Site entitled: "Pavonia," "Colen Donck," and Esopus," under main map heading Hudson River; "Rensselaerswijck," "Beverwijck," and "Albany," under main map heading "Albany"; Beverwijck, 17-57. Meet: at CU Library
9-25	The Establishment of Beverwijck	Read: Beverwijck, 99-156.
9-30	Beverwijck's Ties to Amerindians and Atlantic Commerce	Read: Beverwijck, 156-206. Turn In: First Description of Research Topic and Thesis.
10-2	Everyday Life in Beverwijck	Read: Beverwijck, 206-236, 237-244, 249-254.
10-7	Everyday Life in Beverwijck	Read: Beverwijck, 274-316 or 317-364. Turn In: Informal Writing #4
10-9	Rules for Effective Writing	Read: A Short Guide, the second half of Chapter 5 on writing drafts and Chapters 6-7. Turn In: Informal Writing #4
10-14	Bibliography and Footnotes	Read: A Short Guide, Chapters 8
10-16	NO CLASS--Fall Break	Turn In: Book Review of Venema (will be considered on time through Saturday, October 18).
10-21	Effective Research Strategies for the Library	Turn In: Draft of Bibliographic Essay Meet: at CU Library
10-23	Using Your Sources and Expanding on Them 1
10-28	Using Your Sources and Expanding on Them 1	Pick Up: Draft of Bibliographic Essay; Turn In: Informal Writing #5
10-30	Using Your Sources and Expanding on Them 2
11-4	Using Your Sources and Expanding on Them 2	Turn In: Bibliographic Essay
11-6	Draft Critique Day--In Class Peer Review	Turn In: draft of Research Paper, due at 4:30 p.m. Mandatory Participation (1 grade reduction from Research Paper mark for failure to attend and participate)
11-11	Draft Discussion Day	Discuss: 1st draft of Research Paper Pick Up: instructor-corrected draft of Research Paper
11-13	Draft Discussion Day	Discuss: 1st draft of Research Paper Pick Up: instructor-corrected draft of Research Paper
11-18	Assessment Essays	Write: In-Class Source Analytical Essays: Attendance Mandatory (1 grade reduction from Research Paper mark for failure to attend)
11-20	Progress Report Conferences & Historiography Extra
11-25	Progress Report Conferences & Historiography Extra	Turn In: 2nd draft of Research Paper
11-27	NO CLASS--Thanksgiving Holiday
12-2	Draft Discussion Day	Discuss: 2nd draft of Research Paper Pick Up: instructor-corrected draft of Research Paper
12-4	Draft Discussion Day	Discuss: 2nd draft of Research Paper Pick Up: instructor-corrected draft of Research Paper
12-11	Final Research Presentations	Turn In: Research Paper by 4:30 p.m. Present: Final Results from Research Projects, 5-7 p.m. Attendance Mandatory (1 grade reduction from Research Paper mark for failure to attend)

History 2133 - Fall 2008
Introduction to Historical Research and Writing

What is this Course About?

General Policies:

Schedule of Readings, Topics, Assignments, and Activities

History 2133 - Fall 2008 Introduction to Historical Research and Writing

What is this Course About?

General Policies:

Schedule of Readings, Topics, Assignments, and Activities

History 2133 - Fall 2008
Introduction to Historical Research and Writing