Fall 2022 - HIST 400 D100
Methodology (4)
Class Number: 3948
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 7 – Dec 6, 2022: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Joseph Taylor
taylorj@sfu.ca
1 778 782-4400
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Prerequisites:
Admission to the honours program in history.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
An advanced seminar on historical methods. Focuses on the identification and analysis of sources in preparation for writing the honours essay.
COURSE DETAILS:
Photo credit: Photo by John Towner on UnSplash
CONTENT: We are a story-telling species, have been for at least 100,000 years, and we have mastered many narrative strategies from cave painting to Tiktok. The discipline of history is among the most peculiar of these narrative forms, yet also one of its most important. Its combination of literary presentation with rigorous fealty to empirical evidence has made it particularly influential and peculiarly resilient, especially in an era when the term “alternative facts” guides so much public discourse. This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of the historical discipline via a term-long research project that builds out from autobiography to family to national history. Students will think and talk about evidence, author, audience, voice, and narrative, and they will write first drafts of their own families in the context of Canadian history.
STRUCTURE: The seminar will meet weekly to discuss readings, resources, research, documentation, and writing. Because of the idiosyncratic nature of the term project, each student will write a single-authored final paper as well as interim drafts on each generation and context during the first half of the term. Meetings in the second half will taper as students work on full and revised drafts, working much more in groups and with the professor. The final draft is due the last week of the term.
Grading
- 1st Gen 5%
- 2nd Gen 5%
- 3rd Gen 5%
- Context 10%
- Peer Review 15%
- First Draft 20%
- Final Draft 40%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Strunk, William Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style. New York. Pearson Longman, 2009.
Weekly readings available via SFU Electronic Journals and Canvas.
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity website 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