HST 300 • The Historical Imagination • Winter 2012
Instructor: Richard H. Beyler
Tel.: 503.725.3996 • E-mail: r.beyler@pdx.edu
• Web page: web.pdx.edu/~drrb
Office: Cramer 441-O • Drop-in office hours: TuTh 12:00-13:00; otherwise by
appointment
The main agenda of the class is twofold:
• Introduction to the basics of historical research
and writing. We will analyze different
types of historical sources, consider research strategies, and practice forms
of citation and other conventions of historical writing.
•
Introduction to and reflection on history as a scholarly discipline and on its philosophical
and methodological problems. In other
words, we will be concerned with historiography–the historical and
philsophical study of history as a branch of learning.
In some class meetings, we will switch between these
two aspects of the course; some sessions may cover predominantly one or the
other. The course is aimed at history
majors or minors at the transition between lower-division (100- and 200-level)
and upper-division (300- and 400-level) coursework. I assume that you have already had some
introduction to history and that you are planning to take more history
coursework in the near future. If this description
doesn’t apply, you are still welcome in the class, but please talk with me
about your circumstances.
Texts: The following
required texts are available for purchase at the PSU Bookstore and are also on
reserve at the PSU Millar Library:
Evans, Richard J. In
Defense of History. Rev. ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.
Grafton, Anthony. The
Footnote: A Curious History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Howell, Martha C., and Walter Prevenier. From
Reliable Sources. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.
Iggers, Georg G. Historiography
in the Twentieth Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern
Challenge. Rev. ed. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2005.
Rampolla, Mary. A
Pocket Guide to Writing in History. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2010.
Requirements:
The grade for the class is based on the
following components. More details will
be provided for each of these assignments.
1) Attendance
and participation. Regular
attendance and participation in various in-class activities and discussions are
required. 6%
2) On approximately a weekly basis, we will be doing
an in-class exercise on citation style. Each of these that you complete successfully,
up to 6, counts 1.5% = max. 9%
3) An article analysis
of the argument, evidence, and implications of an article from a historical
journal, chosen from a list to be distributed.
15%
4) Two short response
essays (each ca. 3 pp.), primarily based on our assigned reading, due weeks
IV, VII, and X. Guiding questions will
be distributed about a week in advance.
You might think of these as a kind of rolling take-home essay mid-term
exam. You must turn in papers at two
due dates; you may skip one of them.
You may turn in only one paper at each due date; this means you cannot
make up for a prior missed assignment by turning in multiple papers later
on. If you turn in papers on all three
due dates, I will (again) count the top scores towards your grade and discard
the lower one. 2 @ 10% = 20%
5) A research
report, in which you use a variety of research tools to identify a variety
of sources on a chosen topic. The report
includes a description of the reference tools you used, an annotated
bibliography of the sources you located, and a revised statement of your topic. 20%
6) A final exam with identification
questions and an essay question, based on assigned readings, lectures, and
discussions. 30%
If you need academic
accommodations for a disability, please contact the Disability Resource
Center as soon as possible, if you haven’t done so already (Smith 116, tel.
503-725-4150), and have them let me know what accommodations would be
appropriate.
Anticipated Schedule (subject to change)
Week I.
Reading: skim through
Rampolla. (You should familiarize
yourself enough with the contents to be able to refer to it as needed
throughout the term.)
Tu 1/10. Orientation to the class. Thinking as a historian about the history of history.
Th 1/12. Ancient precedents.
Week II.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier,
Introduction; begin Grafton.
Tu 1/17. Historiography in the medieval and early
modern era.
Th 1/19. Enlightenment philosophies and histories.
Week III.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier,
chaps. I-II.A; continue Grafton.
Tu 1/24. Library orientation: meeting room TBA.
Th 1/26. The emergence of the modern historical
discipline in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Due:
research report stage I.
Week IV.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier,
chaps. II.B-III; finish Grafton.
Tu 1/31. Discussion of Grafton, H&P (Intro., I-III).
Th 2/2. Theories of progress: Comtean, Hegelian, Marxist, and others.
Due:
response essay #1
Week V.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier,
chap. IV.A; begin Iggers.
Tu 2/7. National(ist) histories.
Th 2/9. The re-organization of academia in the 19th
century.
Due: sign-up for article analysis.
Week VI.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier,
chap. IV.B; continue Iggers.
Tu 2/14. Intersections of sociology, anthropology,
psychology, and historiography ca. 1900.
Th 2/16. New historiographical currents in the 20th
century (I).
Week VII.
Reading: finish Iggers.
Tu 2/21. Discussion of Iggers, H&P (IV).
Th 2/23. New historiographical currents in the 20th
century (II).
Due: response essay #2
Week VIII.
Reading: Howell & Prevenier, chap. V; begin Evans.
Tu 2/28. From modernism to postmodernism
Th 3/1. Philosophical perspectives and controversies: facticity, objectivity, relativism.
Due:
research report stage II.
Week IX.
Reading: continue Evans.
Tu 3/6. Emerging methodologies: world history, environmental history, etc.
Tu 3/8. Examples from my own work: historiography of science in Germany.
Week X.
Reading: finish Evans.
Tu 3/13. Discussion of Evans, H&P (V).
Th 3/15. Conclusions.
Due: research report (completed); article analysis
essay; response essay #3.
Exam Week.
Tu 3/20, 10:15-12:05 (NOTE
TIME!). Final exam.