History 200 - Doing History: An Introduction
Fall 2013: MWF 10:00-10:50am (Wyatt 311)
Professor Katherine Allen Smith
email: kasmith2@pugetsound.edu
phone: (253) 879-3906 (campus ext. 3906)
office hours: Wyatt 142 - Tues. 11-1 and Fri. 11-12 (and by appointment)
“The memory delights in brevity, yet the events of history are nearly infinite.”
- Hugh of Saint Victor, medieval theologian (d. 1141)1
“[Historians] choose the data. We draw the conclusions. We choose to speak. And this
choice involves us in responsibilities, as we are all aware. We need to ask ourselves: to
whom are we speaking? But let me put that aside for the present. We have another, overriding responsibility. The dead
have no voice but ours. How best can we find the voices of our dead, and speak of patterns and principles to which
they would have assented, however shruggingly?”
- Eleanor M. Searle, American historian (d. 1999)2
“An acute sense of history, the feeling of being in the middle of a story fraught with meaning, which must have had a
beginning somewhere and will somewhere have an ending, in which the pattern will be completed and revealed, is
characteristic of a highly self-conscious culture. […] Fully and humanly against reason, we are determined to work
out the pattern of our plot, even after we realize that no one dies at the end, but in the middle of everything, and is
born into the middle as well.”
- Nancy F. Partner, American historian3
Description: This course is intended to serve as an introduction to history for prospective or recently declared
majors or minors, and to prepare them to succeed in upper-division courses in the History Department. In the
first unit of the course, students will learn about the craft of history, including its history as a discipline, the rise of
various schools of historical thought and their methodologies. In the last three units of the course, students will
practice the craft of history, learning to read primary sources closely and critically, identify and engage with modern
historians’ arguments, and diving into a research project on a topic developed in consultation with the instructor.
Since my own training and research focuses on the history of Western Europe in the medieval and early modern
periods, we will read many sources related to that period, and research projects will address some aspect of
European history pre-1700. That said, there is no expectation that students will already have any background in
premodern or European history.
Course Objectives: All students will have the opportunity to
• become familiar with the kinds of primary and secondary sources commonly used by historians,
and with the methods of analysis that can be applied to these sources;
• gain experience with the kinds of writing assignments often encountered in college-level History
classes, including close readings of primary sources, reviews, and research papers;
• acquire the research skills needed to locate and assess the value of historical sources and other
resources, including reference works, books, journal articles, databases, and websites;
• and carry out research on a subject of special interest to them, culminating in a final paper
showcasing the historical research and writing skills developed over the semester.
1 “The Three Best Memory Aids for Learning History,” in The Medieval Craft of Memory: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures,
ed. and trans. Mary Carruthers and Jan Ziolkowski (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), 39.
2
“Possible History,” Speculum 61/4 (Oct. 1986): 779-86 (quoting 779).
3
“Making Up Lost Time: Writing on the Writing of History,” Speculum 61/1 (Jan. 1986): 90-117 (quoting 90-91).
Texts: The required texts listed below are available for purchase at the campus bookstore. Additional
readings may be found online (as noted in the schedule of classes below).
• Robert Bartlett, The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the Middle Ages (Princeton,
2004) ISBN: 0691126046
• John H. Arnold, History: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000) ISBN: 019285352X
• Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 7th ed. (Boston, 2012) ISBN: 0312610416
• Kate L. Turabian, A Guide for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed. (Chicago, 2013)
ISBN: 0226816389
• History 200 Course Reader (Readings designated ‘CR’ in syllabus)
Requirements and Evaluation:
1) Class Participation (including attendance): I may give short lectures from time to time, but our
class will be primarily discussion driven. Class discussion is not a spectator sport! In a discussion-based class,
everyone shares responsibility for making each meeting a success (i.e., an interesting and lively, rather than
dull and awkward, fifty minutes of our lives). I will do my part, and expect each of you to do yours by coming
to class with reading done, notes, questions, and any assignments in hand, prepared to share your ideas and
listen to your colleagues. Your participation grade – 13% of the final grade – reflects not only your physical
presence in the classroom, but your level of engagement with the material. Please come prepared to think
and talk about history, and be kind enough to refrain from texting, reading for other classes, surfing the web,
or anything else that constitutes rude or distracting behavior during class time. Finally, since you cannot
participate if you are not in class, regular attendance is essential to your success in this course (on which, see
more under ‘Other Policies’ below).
2) Six Short Writing Exercises: As noted in the schedule of classes below, you will often be asked
to bring in short written exercises or, during the last weeks of the class, materials related to your final
project. These are not busy-work; all the exercises are designed to help you master specific skills and
complete major assignments in a timely fashion. For example, I may ask you to draft part of a short essay
the week before the assignment is due, or to write up an outline of your research paper in advance of the
due date for the first draft. As an added incentive to doing the exercises conscientiously, I will sometimes
(though not always) collect them, and I will grade six of them for a total of 12% of the final grade. Here
are the dates when the graded exercises are due: Sept. 9th, Sept. 27th, Oct. 11th, Oct. 23rd, Nov. 15th, and Dec.
7th. Please note that these exercises are all due at the beginning of class on the days listed, and that I will not accept late
exercises or emailed exercises except in cases of documented serious illness or other emergencies.
3) Three Short Essays: In addition to the short writing exercises, there are three formal short
essays: a 2-3-page response to Robert Bartlett’s Hanged Man, due Sept. 20th; a 3-4-page close reading of a
primary source or sources related to the reign of Richard III, due Oct. 7th; and a 3-4-page review of a
scholarly article published in an academic journal, due Nov. 1st. These are worth, respectively, 5%, 15%,
and 15% of the final grade. Detailed handouts of each assignment will be distributed in class well in
advance of the due dates.
4) Research Project: The culmination of your History 200 experience will be a research paper
based on primary sources and informed by secondary scholarship. The entire second half of the semester
will be dedicated to the research and writing process. The first draft of your paper (8 pp. minimum) is due
on Nov. 25th and the final draft (10 pp. minimum) on Dec. 18th in lieu of a final exam. The first draft is
worth 15% of the final grade; the final draft is worth 25%. I will supply you with a number of handouts on
the research project, including details on exactly what should be included in the first and final drafts.
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Breakdown of Final Grade:
class participation: 13%
6 short writing exercises: 12%
3 short essays: 5%, 15%, 15%
final paper, first draft: 15%
final paper, final draft: 25%
______
100%
Grading Scale: All assignments and participation will be graded on a 100-point scale from A to F. Here are the
numerical equivalents of each grade: A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+(77-79); C
(74-76); C- (70-73); D (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (0-59).
Help with Research and Writing: I am available to discuss readings and assignments, offer research
advice and discuss writing strategies during office hours and by appointment. Once we move into the
fourth and final unit of our course, there will be designated research or writing days (not ‘days off’) when we
will not meet as a group. I will be available in my office on these days during our usual class time and I
encourage you to stop by to discuss your research progress.
I also encourage you to make use of two additional resources this semester: the staffs of Collins
Library and the Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching. We will have library workshops with our
History liason librarian, Peggy Burge, but please feel free to make an individual appointment to meet with
her to discuss your research. I guarantee she will help you find sources you would have otherwise missed! In
addition, Peggy will offer an on-demand workshop on Zotero, a great research management tool, for
interested History 200 students. She may be reached by email (pburge@pugetsound.edu) or phone (ext.
3512), and you can make an appointment for a research consultation with Peggy by filling out an
appointment request form online at https://pugetsoundhostmaster.wufoo.com/forms/researchconsultation-request-pb/. We’ll work with our Collins Library Archivist, Katie Henningsen
(khenningsen@pugetsound.edu), who is another great resource for History students interested in working
with original materials (not just in History 200, but in History 400, summer research projects, etc.).
The Center (located in Howarth 109) is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to improve
their writing, is trying to master a new writing form or learning to write in a new discipline, or who just
needs help getting started on an assignment. You can make an appointment with one of the peer writing
advisors by emailing writing@pugetsound.edu or calling ext. 3404. Thanks to the Center, we will have our
own writing liaison, Maya Steinborn, a History major and veteran of History 200, who will visit our class
occasionally and will be available by appointment to help with assignments throughout the semester.
Other Policies:
Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to your success in this course, and you will find that I take
attendance at every meeting. I understand that illness and emergencies occur in the course of a fourteen-week
semester, and will not penalize you for missing up to two classes. If, however, you miss more than this generous
allotment, be advised that I will deduct ½ letter grade from your participation grade for each additional absence.
Please be advised that I reserve the right to withdraw any student from the class for excessive unexcused absences, normally defined
as more than 6 absences over the course of the semester. If you become gravely ill or have a family emergency that will
take you out of class for several days, please get in touch with me so we can arrange for you to stay on track in
the course.
Academic Honesty: All students are expected to abide by the guidelines concerning academic honesty
outlined in the Logger Handbook (at http://www.pugetsound.edu/student-life/student-resources/studenthandbook/academic-handbook/academic-integrity/) Violations of honesty in research (i.e., inventing or
falsifying sources or data) or writing (i.e., borrowing the arguments or words of others without attribution), or
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the defacing or destruction of library materials will result in a grade of ‘0’ for the assignment in question and, at
the instructor’s discretion, dismissal from the course.
Emergency Information: Please review university emergency preparedness and response procedures
posted at www.pugetsound.edu/emergency/. Familiarize yourself with hall exit doors and the designated
gathering area for your class and laboratory buildings. If building evacuation becomes necessary (e.g.,
earthquake), meet your instructor at the designated gathering area so she/he can account for your presence.
Then wait for further instructions. Do not return to the building or classroom until advised by a university
emergency response representative. If confronted by an act of violence, be prepared to make quick
decisions to protect your safety. Flee the area by running away from the source of danger if you can safely
do so. If this is not possible, shelter in place by securing classroom or lab doors and windows, closing
blinds, and turning off room lights. Stay low, away from doors and windows, and as close to the interior
hallway walls as possible. Wait for further instructions.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Unit I. What is History? What do Historians Do?
In this class we will move from the abstract to the concrete, and the first few weeks will accordingly be dedicated to big questions
about the nature of historical knowledge. We will begin by tackling (notice I didn’t say ‘answering’) the biggest question of all:
‘What is history?’ Is history an art or a science? When we speak of the ‘historical record,’ are we talking about a universally agreedupon set of facts, or something more elusive? We will consider the issue of historical objectivity, and explore how historians have
addressed the problems of bias and presentism. This unit will introduce you to various strategies historians have used to get at the
past, as well as the assumptions upon which these are based. By the end of the unit, you should have gained a sense of ‘historicalmindedness,’ and be starting to think like a historian.
(W) Sept. 4th - Introductions
*No reading due today!
In class: History Department Questionnaire
(F) Sept. 6th - Historians, Truth, and the Search for the Past
- History 200 syllabus (read it carefully, please!)
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 1-5
- Arnold, Very Short Introduction, ch. 1-3
 Arnold insists that ‘history’ and ‘the past’ are different things. Think about how he defines history’s relationship to
the past and present. How does history relate to truth, imagination, rhetoric, and philosophy? What are the most
important qualities for historians to possess? Is there a difference between ‘composing’ and ‘doing’ history?
(M) Sept. 9th - Sources, Sleuthing, and Interpretation
- Arnold, Very Short Introduction, ch. 4-5
(CR, 3-9) Shannon McSheffrey, “Detective Fiction in the Archives: Court Records and the Uses of Law in
Late Medieval England,” History Workshop Journal 65 (Spring 2008): 65-78.
(CR, 10) The Case of Agnes Wellys v. William Rote (1475), ed. and trans. Shannon McSheffrey in Love and
Marriage in Late Medieval London (TEAMS, 1995), 81-82.
 Using the discussion in Arnold’s Introduction as a framework, write a 1-2pp. assessment of McSheffrey’s article,
focusing on her use of evidence. What kinds of sources (primary or secondary) does she use, and how does she deal
with their limitations? What kind of history is she doing – political, economic, social, cultural – and how can you tell?
*Graded writing exercise #1.
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(W) Sept. 11th - One Extraordinary Story
- Bartlett, Hanged Man, Preface and ch. 1-4
 The Hanged Man addresses some of the challenges of ‘doing history,’ and is also a great introduction to the
premodern European world and the various kinds of sources medieval people left behind. As you read, follow the
story but also pay close attention to how Bartlett has chosen to tell it.
(F) Sept. 13th - Setting the Story in Context
- Bartlett, Hanged Man, ch. 5-8
 How does Bartlett contextualize his story of the hanged man? What kind of background information does he offer
to the reader, and how does this enhance the reader’s understanding of the story? Does Bartlett give any hints about
where his own sympathies lie?
(M) Sept. 16th - Witnesses, Memory, and Speculation
- Bartlett, Hanged Man, ch. 9-10, 12
- (CR, 12) The Story of Joanna of Marden, from the Canonization Process of Thomas of Cantilupe, 1307
 As you finish Bartlett’s book, reflect on how he uses his sources and paces himself as a storyteller. Were you
surprised at the way the story unfolded? How does Bartlett deal with gaps in the sources? Does he convince you of
the importance of William Cragh’s story? What sorts of histories could you imagine writing on the basis of the story
of Joanna of Marden, another account taken from the same document (the canonization process of Thomas of
Cantilupe) that is the basis for Bartlett’s narrative?
(W) Sept. 18th Objectivity, Relativism, and the Task of the Historian
- Arnold, Very Short Introduction, ch. 6-7
 Arnold identifies two sorts of modern historians: “those who believe that people in the past were essentially the
same as us; and those who believe that they were essentially different (p.96).” How does adherence to one or the
other of these views shape how the historian ‘does history?’ Which camp would you place Robert Bartlett and
Shannon McSheffrey in? Which (if either) camp do you identify yourself with?
Unit II. Working with Primary Sources
Why are primary sources of such value for ‘doing history?’ What are the limitations and even dangers of certain kinds of primary
sources? What is the difference between close reading and forcing a source to say what we want it to? In this unit we will work with
archival, edited, and electronic primary sources and cultivate the close reading skills that allow historians to make the most of their
evidence. By the end of the unit, you should be able to read primary sources closely and critically, and transform a close reading of a
source into a written piece of historical analysis.
(F) Sept. 20th - Library Visit: Meet the Primary Sources (meet in Library, Shelmidine Room)
-(WEB) Video: “Making Manuscripts” (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010), 6 min., available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o
(WEB) Overview of medieval books of hours: definition and structure, available at
www.medievalbooksofhours.com/basic_tutorial/tutorial_basic_structure.html
 Today we’ll explore the raw materials of history, focusing on a single type of primary source, the book of hours. In
addition to examining some leaves from medieval manuscripts, we’ll look at digital and paper facsimiles, and Peggy
Burge will highlight issues of preservation and accessibility, and give us a tutorial on finding the modern editions and
translations that make these types of sources more accessible to historians. For a quick guide to finding primary
sources in Puget Sound WorldCat: http://research.pugetsound.edu/content.php?pid=499170&sid=4157155
Please note that food, drink, and ink pens are not permitted in the Shelmidine Roome. Bring pencils to write with!
Short essay #1 on Barlett’s Hanged Man (2-3 pp.) due Sept. 20th at the beginning of class
(see handout for a details of the assignment)
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(M) Sept. 23rd - Library Visit: Primary Sources for the English Civil War (Library, Shelmidine Room)
(WEB) Graham Goodlad, “Charles I: Author of His Own Downfall?” History Review (2001), at
http://www.historytoday.com/graham-goodlad/charles-i-author-his-own-downfall-0
(CR, 13-15) Vivienne Larminie, "Herle, Charles (1597/8-1659)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 61
vols, gen. eds. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Howard Harrison (Oxford, 2004), 26:780-82.
(CR, 16-25) Sharon Achinstein, “Texts in Conflict: The Press and the Civil War,” in The Cambridge Companion
to Writing of the English Revolution, ed. N.H. Keeble (Cambridge, 2001), 50-68.
(Moodle) Charles Herle, A fuller answer to a treatise written by Dr. Ferne… (London: J. Bartlet, 1642)
 Today we’ll consider one of the Library’s newest archival acquisitions, a 1642 pamphlet by Charles Herle dealing with
the right of subjects to resist kings, in light of some complementary electronic archival sources from the same period.
To prepare for class, everyone will read Larminie’s biography of Charles Herle and Herle’s treatise (on Moodle). We’ll
divide up the secondary reading, so that everyone will read either Goodlad’s article or Ahinstein’s piece.
(W) Sept. 25th - Reading (edited) Primary Sources Critically
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 6-14 (review)
(CR, 26-32) An account of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066: William of Poitiers, Deeds of Duke
William, ed. Elisabeth van Houts, The Normans in Europe (Manchester, 2000), 102-07 and 118-25.
(CR, 33) Account of William I from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Internet Medieval Sourcebook
 Practice applying Rampolla’s analytical methods to William of Poitiers’ account, and come to class prepared to
answer all applicable questions about this text.
(F) Sept. 27th - ‘Documents of Practice’ vs. ‘Documents of Theory’
Documents of practice are records that purport to convey facts or describe actual occurrences. Such
documents include legal, economic, and institutional records, such as charters recording land transactions, letters,
chronicles, wills, and inventories. Documents of theory are prescriptive or hortatory records that show the world as
their writers thought it should be, and promote particular values, beliefs, or models of behavior. Such documents
include law codes, political or theological tracts, sermons, and literature of all kinds.
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 29-33
(CR, 34-39) Documents of practice: 1) a charter from the monastery of Cluny and 2) coroners’ rolls
(CR, 40-43) Documents of theory: 1) a poem on war and 2) procedures for isolating lepers
 Write a 1-2-page close reading of the source you find most interesting. As a researcher, what do you see as the
strengths and weaknesses of this source (i.e., what kinds of questions can/can’t it be used to answer)? What can you
extrapolate from the source alone about the outlook of the person who wrote it, their values, hopes, fears? What
might you be able to do if you had a large number of similar sources? What other kinds of sources might enrich your
reading of this source? *Graded writing exercise #2.
(M) Sept. 30th - Case Study: The Enigma of Richard III
(CR, 44-50) Lacey Baldwin Smith, Thie Realm of England, 1399-1688 (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 58-70.
(CR, 51-60) John Gillingham, “Interpreting Richard III,” in Richard III: A Medieval Kingship (New York: St.
Martin’s, 1993), 1-19.
(WEB) The Richard III Society, Mission Statement and History, at http://www.richardiii.net/aboutus.php
(CR, 61-78) Primary sources for Richard III’s character and usurpation of the throne, in Richard III: A
Sourcebook, 2nd ed. Keith Dockray (Thrupp, Gloucestershire: Sutton, 1997), 1-14, 48-66.
(WEB) Portrait of Richard III, c.1520, Royal Collection Trust, available at
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/403436/richard-iii-1452-85
(WEB) Statue of Richard III by James Walter Butler, 1980, in Castle Gardens, Leicester, available at
http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/growth-and-history/statuesandsculpture/kingrichardthird/
 The controversial reign of Richard III offers lots of scope for historical debate. Compare the assessments of
Richard presented by Smith, Gillingham, and the Richard III Society: to what extent are these based on historical
evidence, and to what extent on something less tangible? Now read the primary sources edited by Dockray, evaluate
their reliability, and develop your own historically minded assessment of Richard’s character and usurpation.
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(W) Oct. 2nd - Case Study: The Enigma of Richard III, cont.
(CR, 79-95) Primary sources for the Princes in the Tower and Richard III’s death at Bosworth, in Richard III:
A Sourcebook, 2nd ed., ed. Dockray, 74-83, 94-103, 118-131.
(WEB) “Richard III: DNA Confirms Bones are King’s,” BBC News-Leicester, Feb. 4, 2013, available at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882
(WEB) Sean Lang, “The Discovery of Richard III: A Propaganda War,” History Today blog, Feb. 6, 2013,
available at: http://www.historytoday.com/blog/2013/02/discovery-richard-iii-propaganda-war
(CR, 96-100) N.H. Bramwell, and R.W. Byard, “The Bones in the Abbey: Are They the Murdered Princes? A
Review of the Evidence.” The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 10.1 (1989): 83-7.
(WEB) Alan Travis, “Why the Princes in the Tower are Staying Six Feet Under,” The Guardian, Feb. 5, 2013,
available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/05/princes-in-tower-staying-under
 Read the primary sources for the ‘Princes in the Tower’ and Richard death at Bosworth: how much historical
evidence is there for Richard role in his nephews’ disappearance? Why has this debate divided modern scholars so
bitterly? Do the accounts of the Battle of Bosworth shed any light on Richard as a person and a king? Now read the
remaining articles: how have modern scientific and archaeological discoveries complicated the debates about Richard
III and the lost princes? Would you support the exhumation and DNA-testing of the skeletons found in the tower?
Why or why not?
Unit III. Working with Secondary Sources
In addition to reading primary sources, historians use each other’s work (in the form of scholarly articles, monographs, essay
collections, etc.) to develop their own pictures of the past. Historians often disagree, and this is reflected in the secondary sources
on a given topic; scholars who approach the same question through different sources might arrive at opposite conclusions, or
scholars might read the same body of sources and come away with quite different interpretations. Sometimes the dominant
interpretation of a particular historical question changes dramatically over time, as historians uncover new evidence or develop
new methods of interpreting old sources. In this unit, you will become a more critical reader of secondary sources, able to assess
their usefulness and reliability, and to identify and critique an author’s thesis.
(F) Oct. 4th - Reading Secondary Sources like a Historian
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 16-21
(WEB) Patrick Rael, “How to Read a Secondary Source,” in Reading, Writing, and Researching, available at:
http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/secondary.htm
(CR, 101-109) Jonathan Riley-Smith, “Crusading as an Act of Love,” History 65 (1980): 177-92; repr. in The
Crusades: Essential Readings, ed. Thomas F. Madden (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), 32-50.
 Read Riley-Smith’s article, write a 1-2-sentence summary of his thesis, and identify a possible criticism or weakness
of the thesis. What counterarguments can you think of that might undermine the writer’s claim?
(M) Oct. 7th - Identifying and Evaluating Arguments
(JSTOR) David Nirenberg, “Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain,” The
American Historical Review 107/4 (Oct. 2002): 1065-1093.
or (JSTOR) J. Russell Major, “’Bastard Feudalism’ and the Kiss: Changing Social Mores in Late Medieval and
Early Modern France,” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 17/3 (Winter 1987): 509-535.
 Whichever article you choose to read, summarize its thesis in no more than two sentences (and try for one
sentence), and come prepared to present the article to your colleagues who did not read it. You should be able to
discuss the author’s sources and methodology, point to specific strengths and weaknesses of the argument, and give
an overall evaluation of the piece. *Sign up for individual meetings on research topics next week
Short essay #2 on The Enigma of Richard III (3-4 pp.) due Oct. 7th at the beginning of class
(see handout for a detailed description of the assignment)
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(W) Oct. 9th - Casting a Wider Net
(CR, 110-117) Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, “The Cruel Mother: Maternity, Widowhood, and Dowry in
Florence in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries,” in her Women, Family, and Ritual in Renaissance Italy
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 117-131.
(CR, 118-130) Barbara A. Hanawalt, “Violent Death in Fourteenth- and Early Fifteenth-Century England,”
Comparative Studies in Society and History 18/3 (Jul. 1976): 297-320.
 What was the stated goal of each article? How did the authors use their sources to achieve these (or not)?
Compare Hanawalt and Klapisch-Zuber’s approach to those of Bartlett, Riley-Smith, Nirenberg, and Major. What is
gained and/or lost by a quantitative approach to a historical problem? Which of these historians’ approaches to their
sources appeals to you most, and why?
(F) Oct. 11th How to ‘Gut’ a Book
(WEB) Peggy Burge, Guide to distinguishing monographs from other kinds of secondary sources, available at our
library course page: http://research.pugetsound.edu/hist200Smith.
 Set aside time before today’s class to find a book on your research topic on Puget Sound WorldCat
(http://pugetsound.worldcat.org). Locate several possible titles, limiting your search to the Collins Catalogue, then
spend time browsing the nearby shelves when you go to pick them up. The book you select should be a monograph
(i.e., a study of a single subject, normally by a single author), with footnotes (or endnotes) and a bibliography. Once
you’ve chosen a book, spend no more than two hours ‘gutting’ it, and fill out the gutting worksheet handed out in
class. Then, find at least one book review and compare it with your impressions. Bring your book, completed
worksheet, and review(s) to class. *Graded writing exercise #3
TIP: Find book reviews by searching for the book’s author and title (in quotes) in the following databases
(via Collins Library): JSTOR, Academic Search Premier, and ProQuest Research Library Complete.
**Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair is Sat. Oct. 12th- Sun. Oct. 13th**
(See handout for optional extra credit assignment)
(M) Oct. 14th Using and Writing Reviews
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 36-37
(WEB) “On Writing Book Reviews,” a guide by Catherine Lavender, Professor of History at the City
University of New York: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/review.html
(CR, 131-137) The following reviews:
1) Reviews of Dyan Elliott, Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock: by Penelope D. Johnson in
American Historical Review 99/1 (Feb. 1994): 172-73; and by Glenn Olsen in Speculum 70/2 (Apr. 1995): 36364.
2) Reviews of Jay Rubenstein, Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse, by James Naus, in
The Historian 75/1 (2013): 212-13; and by Jonathan Riley-Smith in The Catholic Historical Review 98/4 (2012):
786-87.
3) Reviews of R.I. Moore, Formation of a Persecuting Society: Power and Deviance in Western Europe, 950-1250, by
Miri Rubin in Speculum 65/4 (Oct. 1990): 1025-27; and by Robert E. Lerner in The Journal of Interdisciplinary
History 19/4 (Spring 1989): 659-60.
 Which of these reviews did you find the most (and least) helpful? Why? How closely did the various reviewers
follow the guidelines for writing reviews outlined by Rampolla and Lavender?
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Unit IV. Research Project
In this final unit of the class, you will put the historical tools you’ve acquired to use in a research project culminating in a
substantial piece of written work. Research is a craft, and you should think of yourself as an apprentice, mastering the tools of
the researcher’s trade so you can produce a polished final product. Producing a convincingly argued, solidly researched, and well
written piece of historical scholarship takes lots of time and energy – in fact, the two months or so left in the semester is not
much time for this kind of project! Expect to run into roadblocks: you may not be able to find sources you were counting on,
materials ordered from SUMMIT or ILL may take longer to arrive than you anticipate, and you may need to revise your
working thesis several times. To keep things manageable and help you stay on track, we will break down the research process
into stages: an initial stage where you cast a wider net, followed by a period of reading and following up new leads, and finally
several weeks of outlining, drafting, and revising your paper.
(W) Oct. 16th - Getting Started: Finding a Topic and Defining a Problem
- Turabian, Manual, 1.1-2.4 (pp. 5-23)
 Do some process writing to brainstorm research topics. Write down subjects, events, and/or figures you are
interested in, and the question(s) you hope to be able to answer in your paper. Bring what you’ve written to class.
(F) Oct. 18th - Library Research Workshop (meet in Library, room 118)
- Turabian, Manual, 3.1 (pp. 24-27)
At today’s workshop, Peggy Burge will provide an overview of important reference tools and show us how to locate
sources on Puget Sound WorldCat and use research databases to find scholarly articles. You should come away with
some promising references to follow up next week.
 Before our session, locate an entry in a subject encyclopedia that is relevant to your research, read the entry, and
bring a copy of it to our library class. Start by consulting the list of subject encyclopedias Peggy Burge has compiled
on our course webpage: http://research.pugetsound.edu/hist200Smith
*If you have a wireless enabled laptop, please bring it to today’s workshop.
Reminder: if you are interested in setting up an on-demand class to learn how to use Zotero to manage your
research, email Peggy Burge this week with possible meeting times!
**Fall Break: No classes Oct. 21st-22nd**
(W) Oct. 23rd - Keeping Track of Your Research
- Turabian, Manual, 3.2-4.4 (pp. 27-46)
 By now you need to choose a method for taking and organizing notes on your research. If you have not already
done so, choose a note-taking format and create two notes that reflect two sources (primary sources, articles,
monographs, etc.) in their entirety. If you are taking notes electronically, print out two hard copies of two complete
notes to bring to class, one set to work with in class and one set to turn in to me. *These notes = Graded writing
exercise #4.
(F) Oct. 25th - Academic Honesty and the Effective Use of Sources
(WEB) Puget Sound Policy on Academy Honesty, in The Logger, at http://www.pugetsound.edu/x4718.xml
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 98-105
(CR, 138-140) David D. Kirkpatrick, NY Times articles on the Stephen Ambrose plagiarism scandal
(CR, 141-142) Richard Goldstein, “Stephen Ambrose Dies at 66,” NY Times, Oct. 14, 2002
(CR, 143) Joanne Meyerowitz, “History’s Ethical Crisis: An Introduction,” Journal of American History 90/4
(March. 2004): 1325-26.
(CR, 144-145) Joyce Seltzer, “Honest History,” Journal of American History 90/4 (Mar. 2004): 1347-50.
 What is your reaction to the 2002 scandal involving popular U.S. historian Stephen E. Ambrose? Would Ambrose
have been guilty of plagiarism as defined by the Logger? Why or why not?
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(M) Oct. 28th - Citations and Bibliographies (and why they are so important!)
- Turabian, Manual, 15.1-17.10 (pp. 135-215) NB: Read 135-43; you may skim the remainder of the assigned
pages, but please do the exercise below and bring it to class.
 Write out and bring in the following: 1) a footnote citation of a journal article; 2) a bibliographic entry for a book
review in an academic journal; 3) a bibliographic entry for a website; and 4) a footnote citation of a monograph.
(W) Oct. 30th - Individual Research (No Class)
 If you haven’t yet selected a scholarly article to review for the assignment due Nov. 1st, do this today. If you’ve
already found your article, work on your review or use the footnotes to identify additional sources.
(F) Nov. 1st - Engaging with Other Scholars
*No reading today: your only responsibility is to come to class on time with two hard copies of your completed
article review, which we will work with in class.
Short essay #3: review of a scholarly article (3-4pp.) due Nov. 1st at the beginning of class
(see handout for details on the assignment)
(M) Nov. 4th - Individual Research (no class)
 Get your working bibliography in order, focusing on locating primary sources, and fleshing out any other category
of sources (e.g., monographs, journal articles) where your bibliography looks thin.
(W) Nov. 6th - Working with the Language of Your Sources
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 106-111
 Bring in a hard copy of one of the primary sources you will use for your paper (or part of the source if it is very
long) to work with in class today.
(F) Nov. 8th - Individual Research and Writing (no class)
 Read, take good notes, and continue to follow up new leads. If you are stuck, make an appointment to see me or
Peggy Burge for research help. *NB: I’ll be at a conference from Nov. 7th-10th, so there are no office hours today.
(M) Nov. 11th - From Research Question to Thesis
- Turabian, Manual, 5.1-5.6 (pp. 49-62)
 Type up your working thesis in 1-2 sentences and bring it into class.
(W) Nov. 13th - Individual Research and Writing (no class)
 If you aren’t happy with your working thesis, revise it with colleagues’ suggestions in mind. Also spend time
hunting for new sources, targeting gaps in your research. Read footnotes and bibliographies, browse Collins’ stacks,
and search PugetSoundWorldcat to fill in holes in your working bibliography of primary and secondary sources.
(F) Nov. 15th - Developing Your Outline
- Turabian, Manual, 6.1-7.3 (pp. 63-75)
 Write up a draft outline, making it as detailed as you can, and including your draft thesis and at least one quotation
from a primary source you plan to use in your paper. Bring two copies of the outline with you to class, and be
prepared to explain your organizational choices. *This outline = Graded writing exercise #5.
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(M) Nov. 18th - Tackling the First Draft
- Turabian, Manual, 7.1-7.11 (pp. 73-83)
(CR, 146-155) Robert C. Williams, “Narrative and Explanation,” in The Historian’s Toolbox: A Student’s Guide to
the Theory and Craft off History, 2nd ed. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2007), 90-109.
 Go back and revise your outline after reading Turabian and Williams, noting at least one place where you might use
narrative to good effect. Using Williams’ example, write out a chronology of the most significant dates and
corresponding events related to your project.
(W) Nov. 20th - Revisions, Introductions, and Conclusions
- Turabian, Manual, 9.1-10.3 (pp. 100-110)
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 59-62 and 65-67
 Use the discussion in Turabian’s Manual (10.1) as a guide to revise your paper’s introduction. Bring two typed,
double-spaced copies of your revised introduction with you to class.
(F) Nov. 22nd - Individual Writing (no class)
 Push ahead with your rough draft, fleshing out the main body of the paper before returning to your introduction
and tackling the conclusion. Remember to cite your sources as you write – it will be much harder to reconstruct all
these citations at the end!
(M) Nov. 25th - Exchange of Drafts
 Your only assignment is to finish your draft and print out three copies (one for me and two for peer reviewers)
Rough drafts (8 pp. min.) drafts of final papers are due at the beginning of class on Nov. 25th.
Please bring 3 copies of your draft to class.
**Thanksgiving Break: No Classes Nov. 27th-Nov. 29th
(M) Dec. 2nd - Revisions: Workshop with Peer Reviewers
 Today I’ll return my copy of your draft with comments, and you’ll be able to exchange feedback with your authors
and editors. Bring in the two drafts you’ve edited, along with two copies of your typed comments for each draft.
(You’ll return the papers and one set of comments to each author, and one set of comments to me). *Your 2 peer
reviews = graded writing exercise #6. *Sign-up for individual meetings this week to discuss research progress.
(W) Dec. 4th- Individual Meetings and Writing Time (no class)
 Read my comments and those of your peer reviewers carefully before we meet, and come to our meeting prepared
to talk about your concrete plans for revising the first draft in the next two weeks.
(F) Dec. 6th - Writing Workshop
- Turabian, Manual, 11.1-11.5 (pp. 109-119)
 Use Turabian’s suggestions to rewrite at least two pages of your paper, paying careful attention to sentence
structure, active/passive verbs, and pronoun usage. Bring in two copies of the revised pages to class.
(M) Dec. 9th - Individual Writing and Revising (no class)
 Keep working on your revisions: fill gaps in your evidence, make sure your argument is clear and consistent
throughout, and polish your language. Be sure you have footnotes wherever you need them!
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(W) Dec. 11th - Last Class: Final Revisions and Polishing
- Rampolla, Pocket Guide, 70-76
- Turabian, Manual, 9.1-10.3 (pp. 98-108) (review)
 Revise your introduction one more time. Be sure it makes a claim, positions your argument within the topic’s
historiography, and addresses the ‘so what’ question. Now tackle your conclusion, so that it restates your claim as
clearly as possible and suggest its wider implications, Finally, assess the title you have chosen: Is it clear? Accurate?
Suggestive of your claim? Intriguing?
**Final Papers due Tues, Dec. 18th by noon in my office**
(see handout for check-list of what needs to be turned in)
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