SEMINAR IN HISTORY
Meeting Times: Fridays, 9:25am-12:05pm
Meeting Location: Robinson 202
Instructor: William D. Carrigan
Office: Robinson 216 O
Office Hours: MW 2pm-3pm and by appointment
Phone: 856-256-4500 x3986
Email: carrigan@rowan.edu
Overview: This is the capstone course offered by the Department of History, and it is the
final requirement for students seeking a baccalaureate degree in history. Students in the
course have the opportunity to apply the knowledge that they have gathered as a history
major and to thereby craft a major research paper (25-35 pages in length). Each paper
should be based on the extensive use of primary sources, should be informed by the
relevant historiography, and should demonstrate a degree of originality. In addition, each
paper should be well organized, crisply written, and appropriately documented. Finally,
students will be expected to be able to translate their written findings into an impressive
oral report.
Topics: Students have the opportunity to choose their own research topics, subject to
completing certain preliminary steps required of all papers and the approval of the
instructor. Students are strongly encouraged to choose topics within American history
because of the expertise of the instructor and because of the difficulty of finding
sufficient sources. The default theme of the course is the history of New Jersey due to
the relative ease of acquiring primary sources related to this topic. Students without
strong preferences for a topic are encouraged to choose, in collaboration with the
instructor, a research topic in the history of New Jersey. Additional, perhaps
overlapping, areas in which the instructor has expertise and the ability guide specific
research projects include: history of the American West, history of the American South,
the Civil War and Reconstruction, historical memory, and the history of violence in the
United States.
Grading: Your final paper represents your only grade for the course. You are, however,
required to come to class, and there will be numerous required assignments due before
the final paper. Attendance will be taken and class assignments will be collected and
read by the professor. Assignments will not be rigorously graded, but failure to turn in a
satisfactory assignment (an assignment that merits a B- or above if a grade was assigned)
or the failure to turn in the assignment ON TIME will lead to the student having a certain
number of points deducted from their final course grade. Missing a class session results
in the loss of two points from the final course grade. Turning in an unsatisfactory writing
assignment or failing to turn the assignment in at all will result in the loss of three or
more points for each missed assignment. Students will have the opportunity to make up
any missed assignment or missed class session, but this make up work will be longer,
more detailed, and in general more demanding than the original assignment. One should
make every effort to complete the work on time and to attend class regularly. If
unavoidable circumstances emerge, however, these makeup options ensure that the
opportunity for a high grade still exists.
Portfolio: The Department of History requires that all history majors submit a portfolio
as part of their graduation requirements. The current policy of the Department is for
these portfolios to be turned in to the instructor teaching Seminar. Thus, I will collect
your portfolios during the final examination time period schedule for this class. Specific
requirements of the portfolio can be found online at: www.rowan.edu/history.
Required Texts: The following books are required reading for the course and should be
available at the Rowan bookstore.
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
(7th Edition). University of Chicago Press, 2007. Paper. ISBN-13: 978-0226823379.
Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History.
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1995). Paper. 0-8070-4311-7.
Required Assignments: The following assignments are required for this course.
Specific due dates are listed on the syllabus. Each of these assignments will be explained
in great detail in class and in additional handouts.
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Personalized Syllabus: 1-2 pages.
Historiographical Essay with Annotated Bibliography: 3-5 pages.
Preliminary Prospectus and Bibliography: 2-3 pages.
Paraphrased Notes of Primary Sources with Copies of Original Documents
Appended. 2 pages plus appended documents.
Revised Prospectus with Hypothesis/Tentative Thesis, Revised Bibliography, and
Paper Outline: 5-7 pages.
Narrative Paper and Timeline. 3-5 pages plus one page timeline.
Rough Draft. 25 – 35 pages.
Peer Review. 2 pages.
Final Draft. 25 – 35 pages.
o Minimum Number of Primary Sources: 20
o Minimum Number of Different Categories of Primary Sources: 3
o Minimum Number of Secondary Sources (some of which must be peerreviewed): 5
Oral Report. 10 minutes.
Required Presentations: In addition to the final oral report, students will be required to
make presentations on specific readings and assignments related to their research topic.
All students will make at least three presentations by the end of class. In all instances,
failure to make an adequate presentation will result in the student being assigned an
additional paper to complete or in the loss of three points on your final grade for the
course.
Citatation Style: All papers must employ the Chicago Manual of Style. This means that
papers must use footnotes and not the author-date or Modern Language Association
(MLA) style. One of the required texts for the class is Kate L. Turabian’s condensed
version of the Chicago Manual of Style. For more information, see the following
websites detailing the Chicago style at the addresses listed.
University of Chicago Style: Citing Internet Sources
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite7.html
Exhaustive documentation on citing internet sources using Chicago style/
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, Q and A
WEEK-TO-WEEK SCHEDULE
January 25: Introduction
Overview: Discussion of Course in General and Personalized Syllabus
Requirements in Particular. This syllabus follows the same schedule as the main
syllabus for the course but inserts in several locations the specific readings that
the student is doing to complete the requirements. For example, the personalized
syllabus must list the specific readings required for February 15 and February 22,
and it might also include the readings necessary for later weeks as well. I
encourage students to use this personalized syllabus as a way to help you keep
momentum on your project. Drafts of this personalized syllabus will be due on
February 8th, but I will also collect a final version of this syllabus along you’re
your final draft. Finally, there will be some discussion of the main themes of the
history of New Jersey and some guidance for seeking topics in that field.
February 1: Power and the Production of History.
Overview: First hour will be spent in discussing Trouillot’s book and the ideas
therein. This will be followed by the sharing of student research ideas. Short
Individual Meetings with the Instructor will conclude the class.
Assignment: Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the
Production of History
February 8: Discussion of Historiography.
Overview: Discussion of the importance of historiography and the ways that
historians can contribute to the growth of knowledge in their fields. Specific
attention will be paid here to the history of New Jersey.
Assignment: First Draft of Personalized Syllabus Due.
February 15: Monograph Presentations.
Overview: Read and report in class on a monograph related to your research.
This monograph should be the most important work in the general field you are
researching, not necessarily the one specifically on your topic. For example, if a
student is studying busing in New Jersey during the Civil Rights movement, they
would not present on a book on busing in New Jersey but instead on Boston
Against Busing, the most important book on busing during the Civil Rights
Movement.
February 22: Secondary Source Presentations.
Overview: Students will find, read, and report on the secondary literature
specifically related to their topic. In the busing example above, this means
finding, reporting, and presenting on all books and articles that deal with busing
in New Jersey.
Assignment: Historiographical Essays with Annotated Bibliography of
Secondary Sources Due.
February 29: Presentations of Prospecti.
Overview: Students will present their plans for the research paper. First, this plan
will include how the student sees their work contributing to the existing
historiography and a hypothesis to guide the collection of research materials.
Second, this plan will include a bibliography of secondary sources built upon
work done by students in previous two weeks. Third, this plan will contain a
preliminary list of the archives and libraries the students believe house the key
primary sources needed to complete their paper. If a student wants to use a
collection of primary sources from a web site, they must find the actual physical
location of the primary source (unless the material first appeared on the web and
never as a document otherwise). They need not visit this location, but the location
of the originals is critical for verification by other historians. Similarly, students
wishing to use primary sources published in edited collections should also pay
attention to the physical location of the original documents. During this class, we
will also spend some time reviewing paraphrasing with an eye toward the
following week’s assignment.
Assignment: Prospectus with Preliminary Bibliography of Primary and
Secondary Sources.
March 7: Presentations of Primary Source Research Materials.
Overview: Students will discuss as a group and then in individual meetings with
instructor about their initial successes and failures in primary source research.
Assignment: McDowell, Chapter Five; Paraphrased Notes of Primary Sources
with Copies of Original Documents Appended.
March 14: No Class. Work on Research Papers.
March 21: Spring Break
March 28: No Class. Work on Research Papers.
April 4: Discussion of Research Collected and Analyzed To Date.
Overview: This class will discuss the research collected over the previous four
weeks and the work required to turn this research into a finished paper. A revised
prospectus is due. This prospectus must include not only the hypothesis or
tentative thesis of the paper, its relationship to the historiography, and a revised
bibliography but also a paragraph outline of the entire paper. This outline should
include not only topics of paragraphs but also sources and evidence that support
the topic of the paragraph.
Assignment: Revised Prospectus Due.
April 11: Discussion of Plagiarism, Footnotes, and Proper Citation Methods.
Overview: Group discussion related to citing materials properly, followed by
each student meeting with the instructor individually to discuss their revised
prospectus and outline.
Assignment: Skim Kate L. Turabian and be able to cite common sources such as
books, articles, and newspapers.
April 18: Discussion of Peer Review Exercise.
Overview: We will discuss the peer review exercise at the beginning of class.
This will be followed by individual meetings with the instructor.
Assignment: Rough Draft Due.
April 25: Discussion of Revising Papers.
Overview: Students will meet with the individual whose paper they have peer
reviewed. In addition, there will be a discussion of how to revise one’s paper in
the final week. Finally, there will be a discussion of the req uirements of the
presentations to follow over the next two weeks.
Assignment: Peer Review Assignment Due.
May 2: Presentations, Part One
Overview: Students will present their research and conclusions to their peers.
Students should coordinate with the instructor ahead of time for any materials
needed or equipment required for their presentations. These presentations are to
be no more than 10 minutes and no less than 5 minutes.
Assignment: Final Drafts Due. Final Personalized Syllabus Due.
May 9: Presentations, Part Two
Overview: Final presentations by students. Discussion of the portfolio
requirement and their career as a history major at Rowan Univesity. Evaluations
of the instructor and the course will be collected.
Assignment: Portfolio Due.