FALL 2002
COURSE SYLLABUS: HISTORIOGRAPHY HIST 500
3 SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS
THIS IS A WEB-ENHANCED COURSE
I. LOCATOR INFORMATION
Instructor's Name: Dr. Dianne W. Oyler
Office Location: TSA 115 Office Phone: 672-1946
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 3-6 and Tuesday & Thursday 2-4 p.m.
OR BY APPOINTMENT
Alternate phone: Department Secretary 672-1573
E-Mail: doyler@uncfsu.edu
II. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
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This course introduces students to fundamental questions about the nature of history and to the varieties of history that different answers to these questions have inspired. Students will investigate the kinds of questions historians ask about the past, the relationship between theory and evidence in historical writing, and the varieties of evidence historians use to reconstruct the past. Objectives At the end of this course, successful students will have the following knowledge and skills: · Knowledge: · philosophical issues related to the nature of history · contemporary approaches to history · recent historiographical controversies · Skills: · ability to write a critical review · ability to research and discuss historiographical issues · ability to use the Internet to research historiographical debates Teaching Strategies This class is taught as a seminar. Students should be prepared to discuss assigned readings weekly, to lead discussions as assigned, and to present the results of their own research in class. Students should also be prepared to discuss the works and presentations of guest speakers. |
III. TEXTBOOKS
· Davidson, James West and Mark H. Lytle. After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection. 3d ed. McGraw-Hill, 1992.
· Rampolla, Mary Lynn. A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. 2d ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998.
· Wilson, Norman J. History in Crisis? Recent Directions in Historiography. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1998.
Fage, J.D. "The Development of African Historiography." (26-40) in General History of Africa, I. Methodology and Prehistory edited by J. Ki-Zerbo. UNESCO/California Press, 1981.
Feierman, Steven, "African Histories and the Dissolution of World History" (167-212) in Africa and the Disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities. Edited by Robert H. Bates, V.Y. Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy FSU Library E332.2 G 67 1997Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. New York: Hill & Wang, 1957. FSU Library HV4046.N6 R58 1957
Tonkin, Elizabeth. "Subjective or Objective? Debates on the Nature of Oral History," pp. 83-96, in Narrating our Past: The Social Construction of Oral History, London: Cambridge University, 1995.
Vansina, Jan"The Use of Ethnographic Data as Sources for History," (66-124) in Emerging Themes of Africn History. edited by T. O. Ranger London: Heinemann, 1968.
Wright Donald R. "Uprooting Kunta Kinte: On the Perils of Relying on Encyclopedic Informants."
V. EVALUATION CRITERIA/GRADING SCALE:
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS AND DUE DATES
| No. | Assignment | Weight | Due Date |
| 01 | First Presentation |
5% |
See outline and guides for specific |
| 02 | First Historiographic Essay |
20% |
|
| 03 | First Essay Critique |
5% |
|
| 04 | Second Presentation |
5% |
|
| 05 | Second Historiographic Essay |
20% |
|
| 06 | Second Essay Critique |
5% |
|
| 07 | Third Presentation |
5% |
|
| 08 | Third Historiographic Essay |
20% |
09 Participation 15%
Grades and their numerical equivalents are as follows:
Numerical Limits Letter Grades
92 and above A
83 - 91 B
73 - 82 C
72 and below F
Incompletes are granted only if the student is unable to complete specific course requirements for reasons beyond his or her control. Incompletes are granted only if the student contacts the instructor before the end of the term, and then only if the instructor agrees that the circumstances merit an incomplete. The student and the instructor must complete an Incomplete Grade Form. Students who do not contact the instructor before the end of the term will receive a grade of F (0) on all missing work.
Late Work
Students are responsible for all work assigned in this class, whether or not they are present. Assignments must be completed on time. Late work will be penalized one letter grade unless you have a good excuse, and no assignments will be accepted more than one week late.Students may rewrite two of the essays. Rewrites are due one week after the instructor hands graded assignments back to the class, whether or not you attend class that day.
Make-ups for missed examinations and quizzes are given at the discretion of the instructor. The absence must be excused under the same conditions as absence from class. In general, make-ups must be taken within one week of the original date of the exam.
Attendance
Attendance is required. Excessive absence (more than 2 absences for weekly classes) can affect the participation grade.Tardiness disrupts the class and is also discouraged. Any student arriving after the instructor has finished calling the roll may be considered tardy, and two incidents of unexcused tardiness count as one unexcused absence. Students who arrive late should check with the instructor at the end of class to make sure they are not marked absent.
Students are expected to remain in class until they are dismissed, unless they have received prior permission from the instructor to leave early. Early departure from class will be treated the same as tardiness--two such occurrences will constitute an unexcused absence.
Excuses for tardiness and absence will be accepted at the discretion of the instructor. Written documentation may be required, especially for lengthy or repeated problems. Students should bring excuses to the instructor's attention as soon as possible--before the event if it is foreseeable, immediately after if not. Excuses for tardiness should be discussed with the instructor immediately after the class for which the student is tardy; excuses for absence should be discussed the first day the student returns to class. With rare exceptions, excuses will not be accepted after these dates. Students may make up one unexcused absence or two unexcused tardinesses by writing a report on the material covered during the missed class. The report must be typed, 2-3 pages long (500-750 words).
Participation
All students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned material. This implies that students should read the material before class. Perfect comprehension is not expected at the beginning of class, but students should be familiar with the topic and the major points, and they should have identified areas they do not understand well enough to ask focused, intelligent questions about them. The instructor reserves the right to give unannounced quizzes or other assignments to check students' preparation.
There are three principal ways students can participate:
Students are expected to observe normal courtesy in class. They are expected to pay attention to the instructor, to take detailed notes, to refrain from personal conversation, and to avoid any other behavior that disturbs others. A student who does not observe these courtesies may be asked to leave the room.
Academic Honesty
Students should be aware that a university is a community of scholars committed to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge and truth. Without freedom to investigate all materials, scrupulous honesty in reporting findings, and proper acknowledgment of credit, such a community can not survive. Students are expected to adhere to the highest traditions of scholarship. Infractions of these traditions, such as plagiarism (cheating), are not tolerated. Misrepresenting someone else's words or ideas as one's own constitutes plagiarism. In cases where plagiarism occurs, the instructor has the right to penalize the student(s) as he or she thinks appropriate. One guideline holds that the first offence results in failure of the assignment, the second offence in failure of the course.
Team assignments require a special note. Each member of the study team is expected to contribute to the assignment. Every member of the team gets the same grade for the assignment. A student who does not contribute is essentially misrepresenting someone else's words and ideas as one's own. This is academic dishonesty, and it will be treated as such.
ALL WEB READING CAN BE FOUND ON THE BLACKBOARD SITE UNDER EXTERNAL LINKS.
Aug. 21 INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
Aug. 28 PROBLEMS OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapters 1-2;
Thucydides: On Inventing Speeches from History of the Peloponnesian War (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/thucydid.html)
Lord Acton: Inaugural Lecture on the Study of History (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1906acton.html)
Gerald W. Schlaback: A Sense of History: Some Components (http://www.unc.edu/courses/westciv/readings/schlabach.html)
James H. Robinson: Why Study History Through Primary Sources
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html)
The Need for Source Criticism: A Letter from Alexander to Aristotle (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/alexfake.html)
Sept. 4 & 11 EXAMPLES OF HISTORICAL DEBATES
READINGS
Sept 4 The Holocaust
Daniel Goldhagen "Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust":
Recent Writings by Daniel Goldhagen esp. "The New Discourse of Avoidance" (http://www.goldhagen.com/)
Norman Finkestein, "Articles and Reviews relating to the Goldhagen Thesis ( see
esp. Finkelstein's Response to Goldhagen); (http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/id72.htm)
Ralph Blumenthal, "A Scholarly Dispute on the Cause of the Holocaust" http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/id80.htm
Richard John Neuhaus: A Critical Essay (http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9608/articles/review_essay.html)
H-Net (http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~german/discuss/goldhagen/)
Discussion Log-Keyword Search on "Goldhagen" and Finkelstein"
Sept. 11 Africa in World History-The Afrocentri Debate
Martin Bernal, "The Pre-Greek Roots of Western Culture" http://lns-earth.mit.edu/~alford/athena.html
Mary Lefkowitz "Points of View: Not Out of Africa" http://www.wellesley.edu/CS/Mary/contents.html
Stanley M. Burstein "The Challenge of Black Athena: An Interim Assessment in the Ancient History Bulletin http://www.trentu.ca/ahb/ahb8/ahb-8-1c.html
John R. Lenz, Ancient Histories and Modern Humanities http://www.depts.drew.edu/classics/links/bernal.html
Paul Kekai Manansala The Afrocentric Debate http://members.tripod.com/kekaitiare/afro1.htmGrisso, "The Black Athena Debate" <http://www.theafrican.com/Magazine/Athena/intro.htm>
Sept. 18 HISTORY AND THEORY-INTERPRETATIONS OF ANDREW JACKON
READINGS:
Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/) http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/chapter1.html http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/corporations/docs/turner.html
Alexis de Tocqueville, "Principle Causes which Tend to Maintain the Democratic Republic in the United States" http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/1_ch17.htm http://www.tocqueville.org/
Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (1950) Read the "Prologue and Chapter XI http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/home.htm http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/prologue.html http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap11.htmlRogin, Michael Paul. Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian UNC Wilmington E93 R8 1975 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap11.htm
Davidson & Lytle, Volume 1, Chapter 4
READINGS
Wilson, Chapter 4
Davidson & Lytle, Chapter 8
Riis, How the Other Half Lives. (Reserve) http://www.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html
Oct. 2 SOCIAL HISTORY AND ORAL EVIDENCE
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 4
Davidson & Lytle Chapter 7
American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html)
Gordon-Reed Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (reserve)Donald R. Wright "Uprooting Kunta Kinte: On the Perils of Relying on Encyclopedic Informants" (reserve)
Oct. 9
ACTORS-GENDER
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 5
Davidson and Lytle, Chapter 13
Joan Wallach Scott, "Part I: Toward a Feminist History" Gender and the Politics of History (reserve)
Betty Friedan "The Sexual Solipsism of Freud"
(http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/friedan.htm)
Guest Speaker: Dr. Susan Franzblau "Androcentricity"
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 3
Geertz, Thick Description http://xroads.virginia.edu/g/DRBR/geertz2.txt (http://homepages.utoledo.edu/nlight/thckgrtz.htm)
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. Montaillou: Promised Land of Error. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Introduction (reserve)
Oct. 23 INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
READINGS:
Modern European Intellectual History: An Introduction http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture1a.html
Stephen E. Lucas, "The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence http://www.decofindependence.com/decstyle.html
The Declaration of Independence http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm
Oct. 30 RATIONAL ACTOR THEORY AND PUBLIC POLICY-THE DECISION TO DROP THE ATOMIC BOMB
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 5
Davidson and Lytle, Chapter 12
The Enola Gay Exhibit (final version) (http://www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal103/gal103_former.html)
The Enola Gay exhibit Controversy http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~asia/threads/thrdenola.html
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 6
Michael Foucault, "What is an Author?" http://foucault.info/documents/foucault.authorFunction.en.html
Mary Klages, Summary and Analysis of "What is an Author?" http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/foucault.html
John R. Durant, "Summary and Analysis of What is an Author?" http://mh.cla.umn.edu/ebibjd1.html
Tim Spurgin, "Readers Guide to "What is an Author?" http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/english/courses/60A/handouts/author.html
Jean Baudrillard, " In the Sadow of the Millennium" (http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=104)Jean Baudrillard, "DisneyWorld Company" (http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=158)
DisneyLand Paris Home Page
Tokyo DisneyLand Official Home Page
"Town Building is No Mickey Mouse Operation" http://hellskitchen.net/develop/news/mp121497.html
Nov. 13 World History
Wilson, Chapter 7
Feierman, "African Histories and the Dissolution of World History" (reserve)
Fage, J.D. "The Development of African Historiography." (26-40) in General History of Africa, I. Methodology and Prehistory edited by J. Ki-Zerbo. UNESCO/California Press, 1981. (Reserve)
Vansina, Jan"The Use of Ethnographic Data as Sources for History," (66-124) in Emerging Themes of Africn History. edited by T. O. Ranger London: Heinemann, 1968.
African Historiography Dr. Dianne Oyler
Nov. 20 VIRTUAL DISCUSSION-HISTORY AND QUANTIFICATION
READINGS:
Wilson, Chapter 3
Andrew Dowdle, "The Protomodern Presidence" (reserve)
Guest Speaker: Dr. Andrew Dowdle
Dec. 4 Wrapping Up
IX. REFERENCES
Bates, Robert H., V.Y. Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr. (Editors). Africa and the disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993
Bentley, Michael. Modern Historiography: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2001.
Dowdle, Andrew J. "The Protomodern Presidency." Unpublished paper. 1999.
Fage, J.D. "The Development of African Historiography." (26-40) in General History of Africa, I. Methodology and Prehistory edited by J. Ki-Zerbo. UNESCO/California Press, 1981.
Feierman, Steven. "Africa in History: The End of Universal Narratives." In After Colonialism: Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements, 40-65. Edited by Gyan Prakash. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Feierman, Steven. "African Histories and the Dissolution of World History" (167-212) in Africa and the Disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities. Edited by Robert H. Bates, V.Y. Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993
Gilderhus, Mark T. History and Historians: A Historiographical Introduction. 4th Edition Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. FSU Library E332.2 G67 1997
Gray, Wood et al. Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History 2nd Edition. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 1964.
Klor de Alva, Jorge. "The Postcolonization of (Latin) American Experience." In After Colonialism: Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements. Edited by Gyan Prakash. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. Montaillou: Promised Land of Error. New York: Vintage Books, 1979.
Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. New York: Hill & Wang, 1957. FSU Library HV4046.N6 R58 1957
Rogin, Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian. New York: Vintage Books, 1976. UNC Wilmington Library E93 R8 1997
Scott, Joan Wallach . Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia University Press. 1988
Tonkin, Elizabeth. Narrating Our Past: The Social Construction of Oral History. London: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Vansina, Jan"The Use of Ethnographic Data as Sources for History," (66-124) in Emerging Themes of Africn History. edited by T. O. Ranger London: Heinemann, 1968
Veeser, H. Aram (Editor) The New Historicism. New York: Routledge, 1989.
Web Resources
"American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology." 1996-1998. (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html> (17 August 02)
Baudrillard, Jean. "DisneyWorld Company." 4 March 1996. (http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=158) (17 August 02)
___. "In the Shadow of the Millennium." September 1998. (http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=104)> (17 August 02)
Bernal, Martin. "The Pre-Greek Roots of Western Culture" <http://lns-earth.mit.edu/~alford/athena.html> (18 August 02)
Blumenthal, Ralph. "A Scholarly Dispute on the Cause of the Holocaust" http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/id80.htm (17 August 02)
Burstein, Stanley M. "The Challenge of Black Athena: An Interim Assessment in the Ancient History Bulletin <http://www.trentu.ca/ahb/ahb8/ahb-8-1c.html> (18 August 02)
The Declaration of Independence <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm> (19 August 02)
de Tocqueville, Alexis "Principle Causes which Tend to Maintain the Democratic Republic in the United States" <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/1_ch17.htm> (18 August 02) <http://www.tocqueville.org/> (18 August 02)
"Disneyland Paris Home Page." <http://www.disneylandparis.com/disney/smain.htm> (17 August 02
Durant, John R. "Summary and Analysis of What is an Author?" <http://mh.cla.umn.edu/ebibjd1.html> (18 August 02)
"The Enola Gay and the Atomic Bomb." January 1995. <http://www.nhk.or.jp/nuclear/e/text/sumiso.htm> (17 August 02).
"The Enola Gay Exhibit." 9 January 1999. <http://www.nasm.edu/GALLERIES/GAL103/gal103.html> (17 August 02).
Finkelstein, Norman G. "Articles and Reviews relating to the Goldhagen Thesis". <(http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/id72.htm) > (17 August 02)
Michael Foucault, "What is an Author?" <http://foucault.info/documents/foucault.authorFunction.en.html> (17 August 02)
Friedan, Betty. "The Sexual Solipsism of Freud." 1963. (http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/friedan.htm (18 August 02)
Goldhagen, Daniel J. "Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust". 1996. <http://www.historyplace.com/pointsofview/goldhagen.htm> (17 August 02).
\ ___. "Recent Writings by Daniel Goldhagen". <http://www.goldhagen.com/welcome.html> (17 August 02).
Geertz, Clifford. "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture." 17 Sept 1994. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/g/DRBR/geertz2.txt> (17 August 02)
Grisso, "The Black Athena Debate" <http://www.theafrican.com/Magazine/Athena/intro.htm> (18 August 02)
H-Asia Smithsonian Enola Gay Exhibit Controversy. 10 Feb.- 25 Sept. 1995. <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~asia/threads/thrdenola.html> (17 August 02).
H-Net (http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~german/discuss/goldhagen/) (17 August 02)
H-Net, Humanities and Social Sciences Online. <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/>
Klages, Mary. "Summary and Analysis of 'What is an Author?'"
<http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/foucault.html> (18 August 02)
Lefkowitz, Mary "Points of View: Not Out of Africa" <http://www.wellesley.edu/CS/Mary/contents.html> (18 August 02)
Lenz, John R. " Ancient Histories and Modern Humanities" <http://www.depts.drew.edu/classics/links/bernal.html> (18 August 02)Lord Acton: "Inaugural Lecture on the Study of History" (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1906acton.html) (17 August 02)
Lucas, Stephen "The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence <http://www.decofindependence.com/decstyle.html> (17 August 02)Manansala, Paul Kekai. "The Afrocentric Debate" <http://members.tripod.com/kekaitiare/afro1.htm> (18 August 02)
"Modern European Intellectual History: An Introduction" <http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture1a.html> (19 August 02)
The Need for Source Criticism: A Letter from Alexander to Aristotle (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/alexfake.html) (17 August 02)
Neuhaus,Richard John. A Critical Essay (http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9608/articles/review_essay.html) (17 August 02)
Pollan, Michael. "Town Building is No Mickey Mouse Operation." 14 December 1997. <http://hellskitchen.net/develop/news/mp121497.html> (17 August 02).
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1890. Hypertext ed. David Phillips, 1995. <http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html> (18 August 02).
Robinson, James H. Why Study History Through Primary Sources (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html) (17 August 02)
Rogin, Michael Paul. Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian UNC Wilmington E93 R8 1975 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap11.html>> (18 August 02)
Schlaback, Gerald W. A Sense of History: Some Components (http://www.unc.edu/courses/westciv/readings/schlabach.html) (17 August 02)
Smith,Henry Nash Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (1950) Read the "Prologue and Chapter XI <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/home.htm> (18 August 02) <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/prologue.html> (18 August 02) <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap11.html> (18 August 02)
Spurgin, Tim "Readers Guide to 'What is an Author?'" <http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/english/courses/60A/handouts/author.html> (18August 02)
Thucydides: On Inventing Speeches from History of the Peloponnesian War (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/thucydid.html) (17 August 02)
Tokyo DisneyLand Official Home Page. <http://www.tokyodisneyland.co.jp/> (16 August 1999).
Town Building is No Mickey Mouse Operation <http://hellskitchen.net/develop/news/mp121497.html> (18 August 02)
Turner, Frederick Jackson "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/) (18 August 02) http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/chapter1.html (18 August 02) http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/corporations/docs/turner.html (18 August 02)