Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2020 - HIST 814 G100

Historical Methods (5)

Class Number: 3406

Delivery Method: Remote

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 9 – Dec 8, 2020: Fri, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

This course introduces students to the principal analytical frameworks that have shaped historians’ work over the past half century. Students will examine both the theoretical justifications historians have given, and the practical concerns historians have faced, in selecting these frameworks for analysis. Perhaps the most important question with which students will grapple is: How have historians mined their sources in order to give credence to their representations of the past? Students will discover that, regardless of the contexts and sources they are examining, particular problems of interpretation and representation arise time and time again among practitioners of the discipline.

Course delivery:   All seminars will be held (synchronously) Fridays 9:30am-12:20pm Pacific time via Zoom.

Grading

  • Weekly responses 30%
  • Presentation 10%
  • Term paper 40%
  • Class participation 20%

NOTES:

Important notes:

·         Please note that almost all teaching at SFU in Fall 2020 will be conducted through remote methods. Enrollment in this course acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

·         Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class

Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction

Joan Scott, Gender and the Politics of History

Edward Said, Orientalism

Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Spivak, eds., Selected Subaltern Studies

Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being

Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2020

Teaching at SFU in fall 2020 will be conducted primarily through remote methods. There will be in-person course components in a few exceptional cases where this is fundamental to the educational goals of the course. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).