History 300, Section 3

Seminar in Historical Analysis

Christopher R. Jackson

Office: Science 224 (415) 338-6184.  Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, 10:00-11:30, and by appointment

e-mail:  jacksonc@sfsu.edu

web page:  http://bss.sfsu.edu/jacksonc

San Francisco State University Fall 2005

Tuesday, 4:10-6:55 HSS 151

What is history? How do we write history? Is there such as thing as "Truth" in history? What are the stakes of history, and its relation to our collective consciousness? Most history courses focus on the events of the past, and are chronologically, geographically, and thematically arranged. This course will instead concentrate on how history is done: where to find sources, how to think critically, how to research a topic, and how to write in the historical mode. These are skills that will serve you throughout life, and are best taught (in my humble opinion) through the study of history.

In addition, you will be required to complete the university library requirement and produce the certificate by session #8.

Required Reading:

1. Jules R. Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, 8^th ed. (New York: St. Martin’s, 2000).
ISBN 0312247656

2. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, The Pocket Handbook for History, 2^nd ed. (Thomson, 2004).
ISBN 0-759-39610-8

3. Ian Buruma, The Wages of Guilt (Phoenix, New Ed) ISBN 075381312

4. A.J.P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War (New York: Atheneum, 1983).
ISBN 0-689-70658-8

Additional materials will be photocopied and distributed in class or placed on reserve in the library.

Session 1 (8/30):

Introduction: What is History?

Planning a research project: selecting a topic, exploring the secondary literature, developing a thesis, locating primary sources.

Sign up for instructor consultations regarding research plans, and film review

Film: "Indians, Outlaws, and Angie Debo"

Reading: A.J.P. Taylor, Origins of the Second World War, chaps. I, II, VI,X, Preface, "Second Thoughts"; photocopies.

Gordon Martel, "Introduction:  The Revisionist as Moralist--A.J.P. Taylor and the Lessons of European History," in Gordon Martel, ed., The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered : A.J.P. Taylor and the Historians (London and New York:  Routledge, 1999), pp.1-15.

Norman Rich, "Hitler's Foreign Policy," in Gordon Martel, ed., The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered : A.J.P. Taylor and the Historians (London and New York:  Routledge, 1999), pp.119-139.

Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, chap.1.

Consult the following guidelines for writing a book review.

Session 2 (9/6):

Using the Internet: e-mail, Investigator, Melvyl, Gladis, WWW.

Reading: Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, chaps. 2, 3.

Session 3 (9/13):

Using an archive.

Reading:, Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, chap.4.

Review of A.J.P. Taylor’s Origins of the Second World War due (3-4 pages).  (See the following guidelines for writing a book review.)

Session 4 (9/20):

Using the library.

Preliminary research plan due

Reading: Buruma, entire.

Session 5 (9/27):

No class; individual consultations with instructor.

Film review due (3-4 pages)

Session 6 (10/4):

No class; individual consultations with instructor.

Survey of secondary literature due.

Reading: Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, chap.5.

Session 7 (10/11):

Historiography

Essay on historical memory due (5-7 pages).

Reading: Reader (on reserve at library).

Session 8 (10/18):

Survey of primary sources due.

Library certificate due.

Session 9 (10/25):

No class; individual consultations with instructor.

First draft of research project due (3 copies).

Session 10 (11/1):

Oral presentations and critiques.

Session 11 (11/8):

Oral presentations and critiques.

Session 12 (11/15):

Oral presentations and critiques.

Session 13 (11/22):

Oral presentations and critiques.

Session 14 (11/29):

Oral presentations and critiques.

Session 15 (12/6):

Final paper due.

Each of the assignments will be given a numerical grade. If no assignment is turned in, zero points will be given. You may, however, turn in your rough draft for your final paper, in which case it will be considered on the basis of 300 possible points. All points will all be totaled at the end of the semester for your course grade, according to the following formula:

933+ A

900-932 A-

867-899 B+

833-866 B

800-832 B-

767-799 C+

733-766 C

667-699 D+

633-666 D

600-632 D-

0-599 F

All work should be turned in on time, word-processed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides, stapled, with the assignment title, your name, in the top left corner of the first page. Do not use a title sheet, and do not put it in a binder or folder. All notations should be footnotes, not endnotes, numbered consecutively (in Arabic numerals) from first to last. Follow the rules of citation in The Pocket Handbook for History. Papers will be evaluated on the basis of both form and content. The page lengths prescribed are general guidelines, but papers much shorter than the specified length might be looked upon with suspicion, and papers much longer might be viewed with annoyance. Make sure you keep a copy for yourself.

Assignment #1: Book review of A.J.P. Taylor’s Origins of the Second World War (4-5 pages--100 points)

One of the most controversial books written during the post-war period is Taylor’s iconoclastic treatment of the outbreak of World War II. Why is this book so studied? Why is it so reviled? Read the chapters in Taylor’s book first, and then read the articles (photocopies distributed in class), and finally, read Taylor’s own "Preface" and "Second Thoughts." Based on your reading, evaluate Taylor’s thesis, method, and evidence.

Assignment #2: Preliminary research plan (1-3 pages, not including bibliography—50 points.)

After consulting with the instructor, begin work on a preliminary research plan. What subject are you planning on investigating? What have other historians said on the topic? What is the historical "problem" you wish to raise? What are the larger implications of this study? This paper is designed to focus your research project, as well as to provide a rough draft of your introduction and bibliography.

Assignment #3: Film review (3-4 pages— 50 points)

Historians have increasingly showed an interest in films, and the problematic manner in which they address historical issues. After consulting with the instructor, you will choose a historically-oriented film to review. (Note: not a documentary film.) When reviewing it, consider not only how accurate the depiction is to the historical record, but also how it has affected modern audiences’ perceptions of the past. How does the language of film inform the historical portrayal? What are the limitations of historical films? How well does it evoke the "mood" of the period? To what extent does it use history to cater to current interests? Be critical of how your film portrays its subject, but do not neglect to appreciate what it does for the subject. A number of historically-oriented film reviews are available from the American Historical Review, as well as from a collection of short reviews, Past Imperfect (on reserve in the library). Be sure to consult these, but do not plagiarize them; when using a criticism or idea of another author, you should always cite them. If the media center does not have a copy of the film you intend to view, you should consider renting it—do not attempt to write a review purely from memory.

Assignment #4: Essay on historical memory (4-5 pages--100 points)

The notion of "memory" has recently emerged as something related to, but distinct from, history. Where historians claim to portray what actually happened, studies of memory examine the place of historical events in a society’s collective consciousness.  In your essay you will examine the role of the memory in two different societies:  Japan and Germany after World War II.  Using your reading of Buruma’s book, compare  the role that memory and its relationship with history plays in Japanese and German societies.

Assignment #5: Survey of secondary literature (2-3 pages of analysis, 1-2 pages of bibliography, 1 page list of books and articles—50 points).

Use computer catalogs (e.g., Melvyl) to compile a list of five or more books by historians that may be related to the subject of your investigation. Also include 4-5 articles in scholarly journals that may be relevant. In your paper first analyze one of the works (presumably the one you think most significant for your work). How is it related to your subject? What sources does it use? Is there a distinctive method to it? Did it change your thinking about your topic? Second present an annotated bibliography of three or more secondary works that you know are relevant to your research topic; these do not have to be as carefully analytical as the first of the works, but you should have a grasp of how they relate to your topic. Finally, attach the list of five books and 4-5 articles. You should use this assignment to build your bibliography, and begin orienting your research vis-à-vis existing historiography.

Assignment #6: Survey of primary sources (2-3 pages--50 points)

Compile a list of some of the primary sources relevant to your project (and which can be obtained relatively easily). Analyze one of those sources in depth, preferably the one that will be most important to the project (e.g., parliamentary records, population statistics, a manuscript collection, an autobiography, a newspaper, oral interviews, etc.). How reliable is this evidence? What do you hope it will show? What are its limitations? Will it allow you to answer some of the questions you raised in your preliminary research plan?

Assignment #7: Oral presentations (15 minutes--100 points)

A large part of the way historians explore and test new ideas and material is through oral presentations. At professional conferences, colloquia, and workshops they present their research orally, attempt to interest and persuade their colleagues, and invite their criticism. In seminars, historians and students likewise discuss their research, hone their arguments, and avoid running into many minor (and some disastrous) mistakes.

Your assignment will be similar. You will present a summary of your research findings to the class, and listen to two critiques provided by your colleagues. You should not simply read a draft of your paper; rather, you should carefully summarize your subject, thesis, and evidence for the purposes of an oral presentation of approximately 15 minutes length. During these class sessions we will start with two or three presentations, followed by the critics, and, following a short break, repeat the process. You should practice your presentation several times and time it so that it does not run too long or too short.

Assignment #8: First draft of research project (8-12 pages--50 points)

This draft of your paper will serve as the basis for your oral presentation, and will be evaluated by your fellow students (and the instructor). It should be based largely on primary sources, and should include footnotes and a bibliography. Your introduction should refine your preliminary research plan, your next section should review the relevant historical literature, and then present your thesis. Next, you should analyze the primary sources you have discovered, and finally you should summarize your conclusions, relating your analysis to your thesis, and drawing out the wider implications of your work. Attach an annotated bibliography.

Assignment #9: Critiques (5 pages, 10 minutes--100 points)

Just as the oral presentation of research findings is an extremely important part of the process of writing a work of history, so is the act of giving criticism. While similar in intent to a book or article review, there is a major difference: the person whose work you are criticizing is staring you in the face. For that reason, critiques should be as constructive as possible, without being obsequious. They should also stick to the point. Nothing is more annoying than the "question" posed by a member of an audience at a panel discussion that merely attempts to parade the knowledge of the questioner without actually addressing the paper that was presented.

You will give both an oral, and a written critique of the draft paper—not simply the oral presentation. It should be about 10 minutes in duration, and about 5 pages in length. Evaluate the thesis, use of evidence, plausibility of the conclusion, organization, and writing style. You should also include questions that the author might wish to address and points that they might wish to clarify for the final version. You will present your critique orally in class, and provide a written copy for the author, and a copy for the instructor. On the copy for the instructor only, indicate what grade you would give the paper.

Assignment #10: Final research project (10-12 pages--300 points)

This will be a revised version of the first draft of the research project. If your paper was so perfect that it did not need revision, the grade will remain the same.

Proof of successful completion of Oasis (formerly the Library Certificate) is worth 50 points.

Your primary concern should be with primary sources, and less with what sounds like an interesting topic. The civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina is indeed an interesting topic, but do you read Serbo-Croatian? It is possible to do other topics, but only if you can read the language fluently. In general, it is better to stick to topics closer to home—the United States, California, and San Francisco. Likewise, it is wiser to look to more modern topics than older topics, where documentation is scanty.

Possible topics:

1. A local, state, or national elections. What were the issues? How did the candidates relate to the issues and to the voters? What were the results? Examples: the 1911 mayoral election in San Francisco, or the 1912 presidential election in San Francisco, or the 1932 presidential election in New York City, or the 1958 gubernatorial election in California.

2. An event, e.g., a strike, a development decision, the response to a natural disaster. What happened? Why? Examples: the 1901 San Francisco teamsters and waterfront strikes, the building of the Moscone Center, the damming of Hetch Hetchy, the San Francisco State strike of 1968-9.

3. Some aspect of life or work for some identifiable group at a particular place in some past time. What was the nature of the group? How did they live? Where did they work? How did the group establish a sense of identity and of group values? What was their relationship with the other groups in society? Examples: San Francisco working women in 1900, the black community of Oakland in the 1920s, some aspect of the Chinese experience in California in the 1880s and 1890s.

On campus:

De Bellis collection, 6^th floor of the library. (Rare and archival materials dealing with the history of Italy, especially music.)

Labor Archives and Research Center, 480 Winston Drive. (Archival materials dealing with labor and the Left in northern California.)

Special Collections/Archives, 6^th floor of the library. Rare and archival material, especially on SFSU.

Sutro Library, 480 Winston Drive. (A wide-ranging collection dealing with family history and genealogy, the West, Mexico, the history of printing, and more.)

Elsewhere in San Francisco:

California Historical Society, San Francisco. (Archival materials dealing with the history of the state; restricted hours.)

San Francisco History Room, San Francisco Public Library (Civic Center). (Documentary and published materials dealing with the history of the city.)

On the Peninsula:

National Archives, Pacific Sierra Branch, San Bruno. (Archival materials from federal agencies active in the West and in the Pacific; microfilmed copies of US census manuscripts.)

Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. (Especially strong on central Europe and the former USSR; access restricted.)

In the East Bay:

Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. (US history, especially California and the West.)

Government Documents, Doe Library, UC Berkeley. (Access to government documents, including parliamentary records of various countries.)

Judah L. Magnes Museum (houses the Western Jewish History Center). 2911 Russell Street, Berkeley.

Extensive collections of Jewish institutions and families in the thirteen western states. Call for an appointment (510) 549-6932.