America Life and Politics in the 1960s
History 499-002: Senior Seminar
Spring 2006
Prof. David Hamilton
1755 Patterson Office Tower
257-3104/dehami01@uky.edu
Hours: Tuesday, 10-12
http://dlmedia.uky.edu/classes/HIST499_002/
History 499 is the Department of History’s Senior Seminar and is required of all
History majors, who must earn a grade of C or better in order to qualify for graduation.
The main purpose of the course is to teach students the skills of researching and writing
an independent historical research paper.
History 499 is an upper tier writing-intensive course that satisfies the University’s
recently implemented Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR). As a result, in order to
pass the course, students must also meet the GWR requirements (see below).
America in the 1960s is the topic of the course. This was a tumultuous period in
American history, and it is also a period that still generates intense emotions and widely
different perspectives. Your task is to select a topic pertaining to some aspect of the
1960s, research it thoroughly, and write a serious paper about it. We will start the
semester by devoting our first few class meetings to an overview of the decade and how
historians have interpreted some of the major events and developments of the 1960s.
Required Readings:
David Burner, Making Peace with the 60s
David Farber and Beth Bailey, The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s
Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History (5th
edition)
Recommended:
William Strunk and E.B. White, Jr., The Elements of Style (4th edition)*
Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves
*(Elements of Style and Eats, Shoots & Leaves may be found in bookstores
and are also easily available at Amazon.com.)
Course Requirements and Expectations:
1) Attend all class meetings, small-group meetings, and individual conferences
(students who miss classes, meetings, and conferences should expect a lower final grade);
2) Participate in discussions (some portion of each discussion will involve
questions over the assigned readings);
3) Meet deadlines and turn assignments in when they are due.
1
4) The course is an intensive writing course, and written work must be polished
prose that is free of errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax and based on
extensive reading and research. Papers and drafts of papers that do not meet these
expectations will be returned ungraded and the student will be asked to meet with a
consultant from the Writing Center to address specific problems.
Graduate Writing Requirements (GWR):
To pass the course and fulfill the upper tier GWR requirement, students must
submit all formal writing assignments and earn a grade of C or better on each assignment.
Any major assignment that receives a grade of D or below must be revised and
resubmitted. Failure to achieve a C grade on the final version of any major writing
assignment will result in failing the course. Both the first and final drafts of the major
paper are defined as major writing assignments.
GWR Expectations:
Write a paper that is essentially free of mechanical errors (grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and syntax) and awkwardness, using a style that is appropriate to the purpose
and audience.
Demonstrate an ability to discover, evaluate, and clearly present evidence in support of
an argument in the subject area and utilize documentation that conforms to the formats
and the citation conventions of the subject area.
Be aware that composing a successful text frequently takes multiple drafts, with varying
degrees of focus on generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.
Write a capable, interesting essay about a complex issue (discipline-specific) for a
general university audience.
Grading:
Class participation and preparation for individual and small-group meetings: 20
percent
First essay: 10 percent
Second essay: 10 percent
Prospectus: 5 percent:
Draft of introduction: 5 percent
Oral presentation: 5 percent
First draft of major paper: 20 percent
Final draft: 25 percent
Plagiarism:
The penalties for plagiarizing another writer’s prose or ideas are stiff, and they
may include a failing grade in the course or expulsion from the University. Students are
expected to retain all research notes used in writing the paper and must be able to produce
these when they turn in a draft of the paper.
2
Major Paper:
Every student must write a research paper on an approved topic. The papers may
be based either largely on primary sources or they may be a more traditional term paper
based largely on secondary sources. In either case, the final paper must be based on
extensive research with multiple sources. Furthermore, the paper must strive to make an
argument or investigate a claim. It is necessary to identify a topic that is neither too
broad nor too narrow. The Vietnam War, the presidency of John F. Kennedy, Martin
Luther King, and Kentucky during the 1960s are examples of topics that are too broad.
Grading of the Major Paper:
An A or A- paper is clearly written and well organized. It demonstrates that the writer
has read with care his or her source materials and has a strong grasp of the sources.
These papers offer a sustained and well-developed argument that makes clear the
historical context of the subject, is supported by extensive evidence and examples, and is
based on a critical reading of the sources.
A B+ or B paper demonstrates many of the qualities of an A paper but is less wellorganized and clearly written, the argument is not as clearly formulated or presented, and
the quality and extent of the research is not on the level of an A paper. Some of these
papers are insightful but based on limited sources. Others are descriptive with no
convincing or clear argument.
A B- paper usually demonstrates a command of the basic subject of the paper but pays
less attention to historical context, does not develop an argument, and has weaknesses in
use of evidence, writing, and organization.
A C paper offers little more than a summary of ideas and information. It makes little
attempt to pose an argument or to analyze a problem. These papers are usually based on
insufficient sources or inadequate sources and suffer from factual errors, unclear writing,
and poor organization. Often, too, they fail to meet the requirements regarding length
and the use of proper systems of citation.
A D paper has serious flaws in the student’s command of the subject or has major
deficiencies with its prose and organization.
An F paper demonstrates no serious attention to the subject.
Suggested Topics and Sources:
Students interested in writing a paper based largely on primary sources may use
newspapers and magazines, government documents, and archival manuscripts for
research materials. The University of Kentucky’s Special Collections in M. I. King
Library contains several excellent collections of papers. These include:
Bert Combs, governor from 1959-1963
3
John Sherman Cooper, U.S. Senator and opponent of Vietnam War
A. B. “Happy” Chandler, former governor and powerful political figure
Thurston Morton, U.S. Senator
Rogers Morton, Secretary of the Interior and influential Republican political leader
Wilson Wyatt, lieutenant governor and powerful political figure
Appalachian Regional Commission, early anti-poverty program for Appalachia
Students interested in these topics or those students who might prefer to write a
paper based more heavily on secondary sources will find the bibliographical sections of
Making Peace with the Sixties and the Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s quite
helpful.
Meeting Schedule and Reading Assignments
Jan. 23: Read: Burner, introduction and chapters 1 and 2; Farber and Bailey, chapters 2
and 5 and pages 79-90, 109-17; Marius and Page, chapter 1.
Jan. 30: Read: Burner, chapter 3; Farber and Bailey, chapter 1; Marius and Page,
chapter 2.
Feb. 6: Read: Burner, chapters 4 and 5; Farber and Bailey, pp. 30-32, 44-63, 91-97,
125-156; Marius and Page, chapter 3.
Feb. 13: Read: Burner, chapters 6, 7 and epilogue; Farber and Bailey, chapters 3 and 8,
pp. 98-108, 118-24, 157-75.
Feb. 15 (Wednesday): Second essay due in Professor Hamilton’s mailbox (1719
Patterson)
Feb. 20: No Class.
Feb. 27: Consultations
Mar. 6: Research Prospectus and Book Review Assignment Due. Read: Marius and
Page, chapters, 4 and 5.
Mar. 13: Spring Break
Mar. 20: Consultations
Mar. 27: Introductions Due on Friday, March 24. Read: Marius and Page, chapters 6
and 7.
4
April 3: No Class
April 10: First drafts due in Professor Hamilton’s office (1755) or mailbox (1719).
April 17: Consultations
April 24: Presentations
May 4 (Thursday of exam week): Final drafts due in Professor Hamilton’s office or
mail box by 1:00 pm.
Major Paper Due Dates
Propose a Topic: Class members must submit a paper proposal via email by Monday,
February 20. This should be a one- or two-paragraph statement describing the topic.
Prospectus and Book Review summaries: On Monday, March 6, each class member
will present his or her topic to the class and also submit a research prospectus and copies
of three book reviews of a book pertaining to the topic and a one-page of summary of the
reviews.
Drafts of Introductions: Drafts of the introduction should be submitted via email by
Friday, March 24
First drafts: first drafts are due in Professor Hamilton’s office or mailbox on April 10th.
No electronic submissions of a paper!!
Presentations: Each class member will make an oral presentation about his or her paper
topic on April 24.
Final Drafts: After submitting the first draft, each student will meet individually with
Professor Hamilton to discuss the draft and how it might be revised. These suggestions
should be incorporated into the final draft. Two copies are to be turned in to Professor
Hamilton by 1:00 pm on Thursday, May 4. No electronic submissions -- paper copies
only!
5
Major Paper
Length, Font, Margins:
- Papers must be a minimum of 5,500 words of text and a maximum of 7,500.
- Use Times New Roman, 12 point font with standard margins
Title Page:
- Papers should have a title page with the paper’s title and your name.
- No binders or covers, please!
Page Numbers:
- The paper and all drafts of the paper must have page numbers.
- Use standard numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Citations:
- All papers and all drafts of the paper must use proper citations.
Undocumented papers or poorly documented papers will be returned without a
grade. On documenting sources, see Marius and Page, pp. 106-107, 159-61,
169-73, 178-84.
- All papers must use footnotes. Use standard numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) No
endnotes or MLA citations.
- The first draft and the final draft must have a complete bibliography that
conforms to the guidelines specified in Marius and Page.
Stylistic Conventions:
- Do not write in first person
- Use contractions sparingly or not at all.
- Always anchor a quote.
- Use block quotes sparingly.
Sources:
-
-
-
Papers may be based on either primary or secondary sources. Papers based on
secondary sources should have a minimum of fifteen sources and these must
include the major works pertaining to the topic. Reference works such as an
encyclopedia entry may be helpful in supplying background information, but
such sources do not count as a scholarly source.
Papers based largely on primary sources such as a manuscript collection,
newspapers and magazines, or government documents must also be based on
the pertinent secondary literature.
It is permissible to use web-based sources, but if the paper will rely heavily on
these sources, you must first have Professor Hamilton’s approval.
6