History 522T: Research Seminar in European History – Spring, 2008

Topic: Violence in Pre-Modern European history     HomePage        Bottom

Murder of Coligny in the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, 1572.

                 

Location: H-126 Time: M, 7-9:45   Office Hours: M, 5-6 p.m., MW, 3-4 pm.

Office: H-710E       

Telephone: (714)278-7045                                               

Fax: (714)278-2101

Email: gbrunelle@fullerton.edu

Web Site: http://faculty.fullerton.edu/gbrunelle

Required Readings (Available at the Little Professor Book Center, 725 North Placentia Avenue, Fullerton, (714)996-3133.)

David Nirenberg, Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages, (Princeton UP, 1996), ISBN: 0-691-05889

Julius Ruff, Violence in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800, (Cambridge UP, 2001), ISBN-10: 052159894X

Robert C. Davis, The War of the Fists: Popular Culture and Public Violence in Late Renaissance Venice, (Oxford UP, 1994), ISBN-10: 0195084047

Recommended Reading (in fact, highly recommended reading): Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, available in any bookstore.

Course Description:

The purpose of the History 522T course is to allow students to apply the skills of reading, writing, and research with primary and secondary documents they have acquired during their graduate training. The course is topical, but I generally try to be flexible especially if students are working on a thesis and wish to produce a paper related to that project. In the course of this semester, students will begin by reading together in a seminar format a series of books designed to provide them with a common body of knowledge related to the topic of the course. The readings will also present various methodological approaches and geographical settings exposing students to the various ways in which historians have examined the topic. This exercise is intended to accomplish two things. First, students will have a sufficient common background to discuss each other's research in class. Second, students may find inspiration (or useful sources) from the reading to help them craft a paper topic, find sources, and select an appropriate methodological approach for their own research.

The paper which students will write during the course of this semester will be an analytical paper rather than merely a narrative. Students will choose a topic of interest, then find primary sources which they can use to answer a question they have devised. In doing so, they will learn about the creative tension central to the historian's discipline, the ever present struggle between the questions one can imagine, and the sources which determine how, and if, those questions can be answered. They will then form a theory about how their question should be answered, and structure an argument, using their primary and secondary sources as evidence, to support their conclusions.

I have chosen as a topic for this semester "Violence in Pre-Modern Europe." As the required readings demonstrate, this is a broad and flexible topic, because violence, and especially religious violence, took many different forms, both state sponsored and extrajudicial, both public and private. Many factors conditioned it, including gender, class, region, culture, and ethnicity. Thus from a practical sense, the possible paper topics in which students are likely to find suitable primary sources are manifold. By the same token, religious violence is a central theme of early modern European history, and of pre-modern Europe's contacts with the rest of the world. No problem in early modern historiography is more significant than understanding the nature and causes of religious violence.

Learning Goals:

In this class students will produce a significant paper based on primary sources. This paper should be viewed as a draft of an article or a thesis chapter. In the process of completing this assignment, they will:

1. Improve their ability to craft a hypothesis

2. Hone their analytical skills

3. Obtain further practice working with primary sources

4. Hone their writing skills

5. Improve their ability to structure an argument supporting a conclusion

As part of their class participation, students will be required to discuss the readings and the progress of their research with the class. Therefore they will also:

1. Improve their oral communication

Finally, in the course of this class, students will master a body of historical content regarding the problem of religious violence in pre-modern Europe, in the form of both primary and secondary sources. Thus they will:

1. Master an appreciable portion of historical literature regarding pre-modern religious violence

2. Understand the historiography of the sub-field of early modern European history in which they are working well enough to position their own research within it.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed in three areas. Foremost among them will be the content of the paper itself, which must contain a cogent analysis of a historical question and an argument upholding a hypothesis, and based on a sound reading of primary and secondary sources. Students will also be assessed on their communication skills, both oral and written. I will assess their ability, preparedness, and willingness to read and discuss the assigned readings in class, and to discuss on a regular basis the progress of their work on their papers, as well as their ability to write, edit, and revise their papers so as to improve their ability to write clearly and cogently. Lastly, I will be assessing student research skills, including their ability to locate the primary and secondary sources and to mold these sources into evidence to support their arguments.

For further information, please see attached Criteria for Assessment.

Grading:

Students will be graded on two things:

1. Class participation - 1/5 of the final grade. By class participation, I mean attendance, preparedness, and participation in class discussion, not only of the secondary readings but also of the progress of the student's own research.

2. The paper itself – 4/5 of the final grade. A "complete" paper shall consist of: a written, and approved, paper proposal; an annotated bibliography; an outline; a draft; a revised final draft. In order to receive full credit for your paper, you must hand in all of these elements with the final version of the paper. The rationale for this requirement is twofold. Besides the obvious practical issue that it makes it harder for students to simply "custom order" the paper from one of the many enterprises offering this serve (or at least significantly more costly), it also permits students to focus on the process of crafting a research paper. A "complete" paper will have an annotated bibliography and endnotes, and be 20-25 pages long.

Guidelines for Research Papers

 Ø      Whatever the minimum length of the paper, if it hits only the minimum, the last page must be at least a full page – thus 10-12 pages means ten full pages, not 9 ½.   

Ø      If you use footnotes rather than endnotes, add one full page to the minimum.

Ø      You need to have at least as many sources as the minimum number of pages assigned in the paper – thus a 10-12 page paper requires at least ten sources.

Ø      Sources cited in the bibliography must be used in the notes.

Ø      You may not use the books assigned and discussed in class as sources for your papers!  You may use them as background, but they do not count toward the minimum number of sources required for the paper.

Ø      You should have at least as many notes as there are paragraphs in your paper, and probably more, unless you list multiple sources in notes at the end of each paragraph.  A single note of a single source for an entire paragraph is rarely sufficient.  You must be able to back up what you say.

Ø      Do not assume that you only have to offer citations (footnote or endnote) for quotes.  You must be able to show where all the information you are using in your paper, whether quoted or not, came from.

Ø      One quote per three pages of your paper is the maximum.

Ø      You must use at least three journal articles in your research papers – chapters in edited collections are not the same thing!

Ø      Do not rely exclusively on one or two sources, with strings of “Ibid.” or repeated citations from the same source.  If more than a fourth of your notes are coming from a single source, that is too many!

Ø      Papers must have a footnote and a bibliography, using Turabian or the Chicago Manual of Style formatting.

Ø      Always number pages! 

Ø      Proofread carefully for grammar, spelling and style!  If you have questions about writing, read Strunk and White, The Elements of Style or make an appointment with the folks at the campus Writing Center.

Ø      Your papers must have a clear introduction where you state the problem or question you are addressing, and your thesis (how you are answering the question or responding to the problem! 

Ø      Do not hand in a rambling narrative.  Your paper must have an introduction, with a thesis, a body of argument and evidence, and a conclusion. 

Ø      Papers must be double spaced, with one inch margins.  Use a twelve font. 

Ø      Do not double double space between paragraphs.  That’s why we indent five spaces at the beginning of paragraphs.

Criteria for Assessment of Student Performance on Essay Exams and in other Writing Assignments

 

  1. For a grade of “A”, a student’s work must articulate clearly a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the themes, topics, and historical problems in question.  Where the questions call for it (most of the time) students’ essays must reflect an understanding not only of what happened, but of how and why it happened (cause and effect), and not only of what the author of the class readings said, but what those reading mean, and their significance in furthering our understanding of the historical themes and problems discussed in class.  Book reviews must elucidate and explain the author’s interpretation.  Essay exam answers should answer the question asked completely, or discuss the problems or questions in the assignment thoroughly and completely, in the form of a persuasive and clearly articulated argument with a thesis, evidence for and explanation of that thesis, and a conclusion.  Essays should cover all of the relevant evidence from the material discussed in class.   Factual inaccuracies should be absent or very few in number, and writing should be well-focused, organized, and coherent.  The writing in papers and take-home exams should be proofread thoroughly and contain few or no errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and style.  Research papers should be well documented with properly formatted footnotes or endnotes, and a properly formatted bibliography when the assignment calls for one. 
  2. For a grade of “B”, a student’s work articulates a clear understanding of the themes, topics, and historical problems in question.   Where the questions call for it (most of the time) students’ essays must reflect an understanding of what happened, and essays will also discuss how and why it happened (cause and effect), although less thoroughly and persuasively than in the case of an “A” paper.  When discussing assigned class readings or works under review, students will attempt to analyze not only what the author of the readings said, but what those readings mean.  Book reviews must elucidate and explain the author’s interpretation.  Essay exam answers should answer the question asked, or discuss the problems or questions in the assignment, in the form of an argument with a thesis, evidence for and explanation of that thesis, and a conclusion, and most of the relevant evidence supporting the answer should be included.   Factual inaccuracies should be few in number, and writing should be well-focused, organized, and coherent.  The writing in papers and take-home exams should be proofread thoroughly and contain few errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and style.  Research papers should be well documented with properly formatted footnotes or endnotes, and a properly formatted bibliography when the assignment calls for one
  3. For a grade of “C”, a student’s work articulates some understanding of the themes, topics, and historical problems in question.   Where the questions call for it (most of the time) students’ essays will reflect clear understanding of what happened, and contain some, but inadequate, discussion of how and why it happened (cause and effect).  When discussing assigned class readings or works under review, students will analyze what the author of the readings said, sufficiently to show that the student has done the reading, and include at least some discussion of what the reading means.  Book reviews will state the author’s interpretation, although they will discuss it inadequately or incompletely.  Essay exam answers will answer the question asked only partially, or discuss some of the problems or questions in the assignment, although they will likely lack a thesis, and contain inadequate supporting evidence.   Factual inaccuracies should still be few in number, and writing should be coherent and show some evidence of organization.  The writing in papers and take-home exams should show some evidence that it has been proofread and contain a moderate number of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and style.  Research papers should contain some documentation with properly formatted footnotes or endnotes, and a properly formatted bibliography when the assignment calls for one
  4. For a grade of “D,” a student’s work articulates a poor or incomplete understanding of the themes, topics, and historical problems in question.   Where the questions call for it (most of the time) students’ essays will reflect a weak understanding of what happened, and little or no comprehension of how and why it happened (cause and effect).  When discussing readings in class or works under review, students will attempt to analyze what the author of the class readings said, but will fail to discuss, or discuss poorly, what those reading mean.  Book reviews will lack an explanation of the author’s interpretation.  Essay exam answers will answer the question asked incompletely, or discuss the problems or questions in the assignment inadequately, and lack an argument with a thesis.  Evidence for and explanation of that thesis, or the conclusion, will be lacking and little of the relevant evidence supporting the answer be included.   Factual inaccuracies will be numerous and the writing will lack focus, coherence, or organization.  The writing in papers and take-home exams will not be proofread thoroughly and contain numerous errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and style.  Research papers will be poorly documented and footnotes, endnotes, and/or bibliography will be incomplete or improperly formatted.
  5. For a grade of “F”, a student’s work articulates a little or no understanding of the themes, topics, and historical problems in question.   Where the questions call for it (most of the time) students’ essays will reflect poor understanding of what happened, and little or no comprehension of how and why it happened (cause and effect).  When discussing readings in class or works under review, students will analyze poorly what the author of the class readings said, but will fail to discuss what those reading mean.  Book reviews will lack an explanation of the author’s interpretation and discuss inadequately the subject of the book.  Essay exam answers will not answer the question asked, or fail to discuss the problems or questions in the assignment.  They will ramble, lack an argument and contain little or none of the relevant evidence supporting the answer.   Factual inaccuracies will be plentiful, and the writing will lack focus, coherence, and organization.  The writing in papers and take-home exams will not be proofread and will contain numerous errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and style.  Research papers will be poorly documented and footnotes, endnotes, and/or bibliography will be incomplete or improperly formatted.

 

 

Turnitin.com

Please note that due to the small but significant minority of students who plagiarize, either the first or final draft of your paper must be handed in via Turnitin.com.  I will not grade any papers without a Turnit.com report.  You must also hand a hard copy of the paper in to me.  Students will find a Powerpoint presentation on how to use Turnitin at: http://fdc.fullerton.edu/technology/turnitin/default.htm.  I will also discuss Turnitin the first day of class.  The class ID number is 2068905 and the password is “Password.”  Rather than wait to be caught plagiarizing, deliberately or inadvertently, I strongly urge you to submit your drafts and review your reports on them yourselves.  If your papers contain more than 24% material from other sources (i.e., yellow or above on your report), even if cited correctly, this constitutes too many quotes or otherwise “borrowed” material, and the paper should be revised to reduce this.  If you have quoted from sources and not cited them, you must cite them in the revised version.  If I catch you “borrowing” too many quotes from legitimate sources, I will require you to rewrite your paper in your own words.  Failure to do so will result in an “F” for the paper.  If I find that you’ve purchased the paper from an “essay mill,” I will drop you from the course and report you for academic dishonesty.

Weekly Assignments:

Week One (1/21) Note: Campus is closed Martin Luther King Day – no class!

Week Two (1/28): Introduction. Discussion of the goals of the class and the paper assignment. Also, background on the early modern period.

Week Three (2/4): Ethnic violence and persecution of minorities in medieval Spain.

Reading: Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, all.

Week Four (2/12): Reading: Ruff, Violence in Early Modern Europe, all.

Written paper proposal due this week. The proposal should consist not only of a topic, but also of a question about the topic which the student will seek to answer using primary sources. Possible primary sources to answer the question should also be identified.

Week Five: 2/18 President’s Day observed – no class!!!

Week Six (2/25): Case studies of violence in a particular location. Reading: Davis, Wars of the Fists. Discussion of proposals. This week students will be required to bring to class and share with their classmates revised paper proposals. These will be the final versions of their proposals. These proposals should now contain a question and a hypothesis. Students should also be prepared to discuss the primary sources upon which they intend to base their papers. What is a thesis, and why must every research paper have one?

Week Seven (3/3): Working annotated bibliographies are due this week. By annotated, I mean that rather than merely listed their sources, students should add brief statements regarding how the most important of them, and especially the primary sources, are assisting them in their research. Students should be prepared to discuss in class the progress of their research, including their main question and thesis.

Week Eight (3/10): I will return your annotated bibliographies and we will discuss the progress of your research.

Week Nine (3/17): Revised working annotated bibliographies are due this week. Students should be prepared to discuss in class the progress of their research.

Week Ten (3/24): Return working bibliographies. In class discussion of research progress.

Note: The week of 3/31-4/6 is spring break. NO CLASS!

Week Eleven (4/7): Paper outlines and updated annotated bibliographies now due. The outlines should begin with the central question or problem of the paper, and a thesis statement. Individual appointments with the instructor to discuss progress.

Week Twelve (4/14): Return outlines and updated annotated bibliographies. In class discussion of research progress.

Week Thirteen (4/21): Individual appointments with instructor as needed.

Week Fourteen (4/28): Paper drafts due. Please note: By a draft, I do not mean a rough draft that has not even been put through "spell checking" yet. Please proofread before you hand it in. Individual appointments as needed.

Week Fifteen (5/5): Return drafts. In class discussion of the research process. Students should be prepared to give a brief oral presentation discussion their research and its results. What is the thesis and main argument supporting it in their paper?

Week Sixteen (5/12): Final drafts of papers due, no later than 8 p.m.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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