Seminar in United States History
Fall 2013
The object of this course is to learn and practice the research techniques used by historians. Our focus this semester will be on the history of The University of Virginia. There are rich materials in Alderman Library’s Special Collections and Manuscript divisions as well as in the general secondary literature. Increasingly, materials are available through electronic resources. You will produce a significant research paper on a topic of your choosing, approved by me.
We will spend the first few weeks reading and discussing methodologies and resources for carrying out research projects centered on The University of Virginia. We will also read some general materials about U.Va., exploring the kinds of resources you will be using for your own projects. These readings will introduce you to possibilities, and will start you thinking about interesting ways to combine research materials. During the first three weeks, I will expect you to learn enough about the University’s history so that you can identify a topic you want to explore.
Your major goal in this course is to learn how to combine a variety of unpublished sources in order to shed light on a topic that has not been thoroughly documented. Assignments will be due regularly throughout the semester to help you structure your work, and to build the component parts of your project. The major final product for this course will be a research paper of about 25 pages (double-spaced) with footnotes (or endnotes) and a full bibliography. You will submit a draft about a month before the final products are due.
Discussion is a critical part of this course. We will spend the first several weeks of the class discussing readings focusing on university history. At the end of the course, we will be discussing one another’s papers, offering constructive criticisms, and you will be evaluated on your commitment and ability to offer productive feedback to your classmates. Students will be divided into teams, based on research topics, and will workshop one another’s materials. Papers will be graded on the basis of content, research, style, organization, and clarity.
Readings for the class will be available through Collab and will involve serious exploration of on-line materials. This class meets the second writing requirement.
