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Professor: Steve Estes
Office: Stevenson 2070 D
E-mail: steve.estes@sonoma.edu
Phone: 707.664.2424
Office Hours: M 1-3:00 / W 1-2:00
Class Meets: Wednesdays 2-5:40
Course Objectives:
This graduate seminar explores the philosophical underpinnings and methodological
tools of modern historical scholarship. We begin with the broad questions of
why historians study the past and how it has been done over the last few centuries.
Then we look at the methods employed by different types of historians, statistical
analysis, oral history interview techniques, genealogical research, cultural
critique, etc. Finally, we discuss the uses of history: museum exhibitions,
historic sites, scholarly publishing, political propaganda, and commercial enterprises.
By the end of this course, graduate students will have a solid foundation for
choosing a thesis topic and/or research focus as well as the basic tools to
execute first-rate historical research. I view history as straddling the divide
between social sciences and the humanities, and so I hope that students will
come to see that good historical scholarship marries the craft of research with
the art of writing.
Texts:
John Lewis Gaddis, Landscape of History
Georg Iggers, Historiography in the Twentieth Century
Jack Temple Kirby, Mockingbird Song
Jill Lepore, The Name of War
David M. Oshinsky, Polio
Allesandro Portelli, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories
Joan Wallach Scott, Gender and the Politics of History
+ Reserve Readings
Course Requirements:
Classroom Participation & Reading: As a graduate history seminar, meeting
once a week on Monday afternoons (2:00 pm -5:40 pm), students must keep up with
the reading and participate in class discussions. (Participation is 10% of the
final grade.)
Discussion Leading: At the beginning of the term students will choose one week to lead the discussion. You must come to consult with me the week before you lead the discussion, and on the day of class, turn in a 1-2 page outline of the discussion questions and activities planned for that day. (Leading the discussion is 15% of your final grade.)
Weekly Essays: There is a written assignment due almost every week in this class. For some weeks, this is simply a one page, single-spaced book review in the style of the American Historical Review or the Journal of American History. In other weeks there is a particular research question or methodological exercise. You may choose not to turn in two of the written assignments (except for the research proposal and oral history transcript). If you do them all, I will drop the lowest two weekly assignment grades. (Each assignment is worth 5% of the grade for a total of 60%.)
Public History Assignment: Throughout this course, you will be working on a public history project. This is a service learning assignment. In other words, you will be learning the skills of a public historian as you provide a service to a local community or historical institution. I have several potential projects lined up at museums or historical societies in Napa and Sonoma Counties. You are also free to set up your own public history project individually or with a local institution or group (e.g. Petaluma Historical Museum, Sonoma County Museum, etc.). Each project will require 20-30 hours of work over the course of the semester. (Six to eight visits to the historical society, for example.) At the end of the semester, you will turn in a 5-7 page paper that explains the work you did, the relevant historical scholarship, and (if possible) the reception to your work by the public. I will also ask for a written evaluation (one-page) of your work by the supervisor or director of the historical site. (This project is 15% of your final grade.)
Week I: Introduction 1.28
Required Reading: None
Part 1: Student Introductions & Discussion of Reviews
Part 2: View Ken Burns Civil War (Part 1); Discuss Use & Method
of Documentary Film
Week II: Landscapes of History 2.04
Required Reading: John L. Gaddis, Landscapes of History
Required Writing: Book Review (1 page single-spaced)
Part 1: Space & History Discussion
Part 2: Science & History Discussion
Week III: Historiography 2.11
Required Reading: Georg Iggers, Historiography in the Twentieth Century
Required Presentation: Favorite History Book
Required Writing: Using Iggers account of the evolution of modern historiography,
critique or defend the following position: “Historical objectivity is
a myth. All historical writing is by necessity perspectival (that is to say
biased in ways that reflect the conscious agenda of the writer and/or the unconscious
influences of their experiences).” (1 page single-spaced)
Part 1: Favorite History Book Presentation
Part 2: Student Led Discussion
Week IV: Ideology and Identity (Part 1) 2.18
Required Reading: Joan Wallach Scott, Gender and the Politics of History
(pp. ix-92) and Bryce Traister, “Academic Viagra: The Rise of American
Masculinity Studies” American Quarterly (June 2000): 274-304
(Available through JSTOR).
Required Writing: Compare and contrast the agendas, methods, and sources of
feminist history and masculinity studies. How do masculinity studies and feminist
history compare to traditional (older) historical scholarship? Is the focus
on masculinity in history simply a ploy for men to study themselves once again?
Required Internship: By this week, you must have started your public history
internship.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading & Reviews
Part 2: “Masculinist” History Discussion
Week V: Ideology and Identity (Part 2) 2.25
Required Reading: Scott, Gender and the Politics of History (pp. 93-222)
Required Writing: Critique or defend the following: Strict adherence to ideology
(whether it be feminism, communism, capitalism, nationalism, or the like) constrains
historical methodology and analysis more than it furthers the search for historical
truth. (1 page single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Gendering the Discipline Discussion
Week VI: Public History 3.04
Required Reading: Leon & Rosenzweig, History Museums in the U.S.
(Intro, Chapter 1, Chapter 7—On-reserve at the library) and Randolph Starn,
“A Historian’s Brief Guide to New Museum Studies” American
Historical Review February 2005, 110(1): 68-98 (Available in the Academic Search
Premier database)
Required Writing: What is the role of museums in educating the public about
the past? How do museums balance education and entertainment? What is the relationship
between academic scholarship and public history? (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Book
Part 2: Internship Update/Brainstorming Session
Week VII: The “New” Military History 3.11
Required Reading: Jill Lepore, The Name of War
Required Writing: Book Review (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Debate: History of Peace vs. History of War
Week VIII: Regional and Environmental History (Part 1) 3.18
Required Reading: Jack Temple Kirby, Mockingbird Song (Preface-Chapter
3)
Required Writing: Research project proposal (2 pages, single-spaced)
Your proposal include a discussion of the topic you would write about, questions
you would bring to the research, and sources available for your proposed (possibly
hypothetical) MA thesis project. It should conclude with a paragraph on the
wider significance of such research and its relationship to other scholarship
on the topic.
Part 1: Student-Led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Proposal Presentations
Week IX: Regional and Environmental History (Part II) 3.25
Required Reading: Jack Temple Kirby, Mockingbird Song (Chapter 4-Epilogue),
and an Environmental History article of your choice. (Searchable and
viewable through JSTOR)
Required Writing: Book Review (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Presentation of Environmental History Articles
Week X: History of Science 4.01
Required Reading: David M. Oshinsky, Polio
Required Writing: Book Review (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Discussion: Polio and AIDS
Week XI: Oral History Workshop 4.08
Required Reading: “Oral History Interview Guidelines” by United
States Holocaust Museum Staff (pp. v-54) at http://www.ushmm.org/archives/oralhist.pdf
and Estes, Ask & Tell Introduction, Chapter 1, and Appendix (on
reserve)
Required Writing: Come up with a topic and plan for a local oral history project.
What era, place, events, etc. will you focus on? Who will you interview? What
will you do with the interviews once they are completed (archives, performance,
museum exhibit, scholarly research, popular publication, etc.)? (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Critique the Professor
Part 2: Practice Oral History Interviews
Week XII: Spring Break 4.15
No Class
Week XIII: Oral History Practice and Theory 4.22
Required Reading: Allesandro Portelli, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other
Stories
Required Writing: How does your experience conducting and transcribing an oral
history interview compare with the theories of oral history that Portelli explores?
(1-page, single-space)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of Reading
Part 2: Oral History Interview Presentations
Week XIV: Public History (Part II) 4.29
Required Reading: Robert R. Weyeneth, The Architecture of Racial Segregation:
The Challenges of Preserving a Problematic Past” The Public Historian
(Fall 2005): 11-44; Various Authors, Roundtable on the Smithsonian’s National
Museum of the American Indian, The Public Historian (Spring 2006):
45-90; and a virtual tour of National Museum of the American Indian. (Hardcopies
of The Public Historian are available in the library stacks: 2005-ARS,
2006-current periodicals on second floor.)
Required Writing: How have public historians struggled to incorporate a multicultural
past and contemporary ethnic communities into their work? To what extent do
these same challenges face more purely academic (or non-public) historians?
(1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student-led Discussion of the Book
Part 2: Virtual Tour of Museums
Week XV: Local History & Material Culture 5.06
Required Reading: Leon & Rosenzweig, History Museums in the U.S.
(pp. 294-320).
Required Viewing: Antiques Roadshow
Required Writing: Museum Exhibit Review (1 page, single spaced)
Visit a museum in the Wine Country or the Bay Area and pick a historical exhibit
in the museum on which you will write a review. How does the exhibit use historical
research, sources, and material culture? How does it engage viewers from different
age groups, education levels, and cultural backgrounds? Be prepared to present
your exhibit critique to the class.
Part 1: Presentation of Exhibit Critiques
Part 2: View and Discuss Antiques Roadshow
Part 2: Discussion of Role/Importance of Local History (Assign Mystery Artifacts)
Week XVI: Material Culture & Historical Sleuthing 5.13
Required Research: Determine the provenance of your mystery artifact. When was
it made, by whom, and for what purpose? What does it tell us about the society
and era in which it was made? In other words, what is its historical significance?
Required Writing: Artifact Research Report (1 page, single-spaced)
Part 1: Student Presentations of Artifacts and Their Historical Significance
Final Exam 5.20 (2-3:50 a.m.)
Required Writing: Public History Project Due
Part 1: Report on Public History Projects