Independent Study

History Syllabus
Historiography

History is like experience and old age: wisdom is what one

learns from it
~Gordon S. Wood~
2016-2017
Rm. A2
Gold 3
Instructor:
Office Hours:

Mr. Robertson
philip.robertson@asu.edu
Tuesday & Thursday: 7:45 - 8:20

I. Rationale:
This course exists to give students a chance to dive deeper into the history of their
choosing. To gain research, critical thinking, and writing skills that require a high level of
maturity.
II. Course Aims and Outcomes:
Aims
Students will develop an understanding of why we study history, the ways we study history,
and the importance of studying history. We will then take this understanding of theory and
philosophy and apply it to our research on a topic of choice within history.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, students will display knowledge in the following forms:

Participation
5 Discussion Briefs: (1-2 Pages per Brief)
Historical Analysis Paper (25 - 30 Pages)
Interview
Presentation (15 min)

III. Format and Procedures:

Students will largely be working independently to research and write about their chosen
content. Students will be expected to meet with me at least once a week, participate in
discussions, and complete coursework by specified deadlines. It is advised to complete the
readings at the beginning of the week to help in your writing process.
If absent from class, you will be expected to take responsibility and have homework/project
due on the specified date. Deadline extensions will only be given for unusual circumstances
(i.e. funeral, extreme illness, etc).
IV. Course Requirements:
1. Class attendance and participation policy: Students will be required to meet weekly

with me and actively participate in discussions. As the semester moves along it is

encouraged that students help others with complications that arise in their research and
writing process. Students will be required to proof read others work during the process to
help create the best possible work.
2. Course readings:
1) Required text: Course Packet
a) Carr, Edward Hallett. "What is history?". New York: Vintage, 1961.
b) Elton, G. R.. "The Practice of History". New York: Crowell, 1967.
c) Wood, Gordon S. "The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of
History". Penguin, 2008.
d) Jenkins, Keith. "Re-thinking History." (1991).
e) Gaddis, John Lewis. "The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the
Past". Oxford University Press, 2002.
2) Supplemental texts for weekly discussions
3) Student Research Materials
V. Grading Procedures:
1. Course Items Graded:
a. Participation (10%)
b. Discussion Briefs (2% x 5)
c. Presentation (20%)
d. Interview (10%)
e. Peer Editing (5%)
f. Final Paper (45%)
VI. Academic Integrity

Each student in this course is expected to abide by the ASU Preparatory

Code of Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course
for academic credit will be the student's own work. For this course,
collaboration is allowed in the following instances: Peer Review,
Participation, and Research.
You are encouraged to research together and to discuss information and
concepts covered in class. You can give "consulting" help to or receive
"consulting" help from such students. However, this permissible cooperation
should never involve one student having possession of a copy of all or large
parts of work done by someone else, in the form of an e-mail, an e-mail
attachment file, a diskette, or a hard copy or other reasons than to peer
review.
Should copying occur, both the student who copied work from another
student and the student who gave material to be copied will both
automatically receive a zero for the assignment. Penalty for violation of this
code can also be extended to include failure of the course and ASU
Preparatory Academy discipline.
VII. Accommodations for students with disabilities
In compliance with the ASU Prep policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss
appropriate academic accommodations that may be required for student with disabilities.

Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during the first three weeks of the
semester, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made. Students are
encouraged to register to verify their eligibility for appropriate accommodations.
VIII. Inclusivity Statement

We understand that our members represent a rich variety of backgrounds

and perspectives. The History Independent Study program is committed to
providing an atmosphere for learning that respects diversity. While working
together to build this community we ask all members to:
share their unique experiences, values, and beliefs
be open to the views of others
honor the uniqueness of their colleagues
appreciate the opportunity that we have to learn from each other in
this community
value each others opinions and communicate in a respectful manner
keep confidential discussions that the community has of a personal (or
professional) nature
use this opportunity together to discuss ways in which we can create
an inclusive environment in this course and across the ASU
Preparatory Academy community
IX. Tentative Course Schedule: (May change to accommodate guest presenters &
student needs)

W
k

Class
(Week Of)

Readings and
Learning Materials

Topic

(Have Read by)

Assignments
(Due the Week
of)

August 1

Introduction
Course Overview Syllabus

August 8

Out of Class Reading

OBrien, Keith. What

Happened to Studying?

Submit: GRN

August 15

The Debate Begins!

Carr, Edward. "What is

History?" Ch. 1

Submit: Discussion
Brief #1

August 22

Traditional vs. Postmodernism

Elton, G. R.. "The Practice

of History" Ch. 1

Submit: Discussion
Brief #2

August 29

Change is here,
but is it here to stay?

Wood, Gordon S. The

Purpose of the Past" Ch. 1

Submit: Discussion
Brief #3

September 6

The Debate Continues!

Jenkins, Keith. "Rethinking History." Ch. 1

Submit: Discussion
Brief #4

September
12
September
19

Gaddis, John Lewis. The

Landscape of History. Ch. 4
"Of Cats, Historians, and
Gardeners" by Michael
O'Brian

Submit: Discussion
Brief #5

Historical Method
& Research
Picking a Topic
What is an Argument vs.
Thesis?

September
26

Creating a Road Map

Sources

Submit: Paper
Outline & Thesis

NA

NA

Submit: GRN

1
0

October 3

The Blank Page!

Style, Clarity, & Grammar

Sources

Submit: Self
Presentation

1
1

October 17

Focusing a Paper: Deeper

Understanding of a Theme

Peer Review

Submit: Argument
1

1
2

October 24

Word and Phrase Usage

Problems

NA

Submit: Peer Review

1
3

October 31

Interpretation

Watch Rashomon (1950)

W. D. Roth and J. D. Mehta, "The
Rashomon Effect

Submit: GRN

1
4

November 7

New Questions from

Secondary Sources

1
5

November 14

Thinking of Primary Sources

in New Ways

1
6

November 21

Rethinking Oral Histories

1
7

November 28

Conducting an Interview

Work on Paper

Writing

1
8

December 5

Focusing a Paper: Deeper

Understanding of a Theme

Work on Paper

Submit: Questions
for Interview

1
9

December 12

TBD

NA

Research & Writing

2
0

December 19

Semester Wrap Up

Work on Paper

Submit: Interview

2
1

January 3

Rethinking the Argument

Peer's Paper

Submit: Argument 2

2
2

January 9

TBD

Work on Paper

Submit: Peer Review

2
3

January 17

Power of Myths and

History

2
4

January 23

Writing about Ourselves

"Telling Stories"
By C. Saunt
The Big Tent... p 793-97
Seeting Ourselves...All

"The Flight From Cool"

by Jonathan
Zimmerman
"In Good Taste" by G.
Fitzgerald & G. Petrick
"Evidence, Empathy,
and Ethics" by K. Blee

Submit: GRN

Submit: GRN
Submit: GRN

Submit: GRN
Submit: GRN

Submit:
Reformatted
Outline
Research &
Writing

2
5

January 30

TBD

Sources

2
6

February 6

TBD

PPT.

2
7

February 13

Teaching Lesson

2
8

February 21

Teaching Lesson

Research & Writing

2
9

February 27

TBD

NA

Submit: Paper 3

3
0

March 6

TBD

NA

Submit: Peer Review

Research & Writing

3
1

March 20

TBD

NA

Refine

3
2

March 27

TBD

NA

Refine

3
3

April 3

TBD

NA

Refine

3
4

April 10

TBD

NA

Submit: Final Paper

3
5

April 17

TBD

NA

Submit:
Presentation
Materials

3
6

April 24

Presentation Practice

NA

Preparing

3
7

May 1

Presentation Practice

NA

Preparing

3
8

May 8

Presentation

NA

Presentations

3
9

May 15

Presentation

NA

Presentations

4
0

May 22

Survey

X. Required Works
1. Discussion Briefs (2 percent each). During this course you will be writing a
series of Discussion Briefs (DBs) that will help you to understand, synthesize, and
critique each weeks class readings.
a. For each weeks DB you will be provided with a Discussion Brief Template.
Here are some tips for writing your DBs:
i. Dont just outline the readingssynthesize the information into a
concise set of the most salient principles or concepts;
ii. Dont make extensive lists of the details in the readingsidentify the
essential overarching concepts and what you think about them in the
context of your own professional experience.
iii. The synthesis of concepts can be in bullet format (the template is
preset for this).
iv. Cite the page numbers when using direct quotes (p. x).
v. The DB should not exceed the page length specified in the template.
b. Please title your DB document Your Last Name_DB #X and submit it by
11:59 pm the Sunday prior to your class.
2. Participation (10 percent). During this course you will are required to have
articles read and prepared to discuss them during class. This will help give you a
better understanding about different aspects of historical writing and theory.
Participation includes the following.
a. Active in classroom discussions
b. Guided reading notes (GRN)
c. Positive peer interactions
3. Peer Editing (5 percent). The peer editing groups/teams are designed to support

the completion of each section of the Signature Assignment and the Presentation
component.
a. The role of the editing team will be to provide ONGOING FEEDBACK to each
other on your work in progress/drafts.
b. You will PROVIDE feedback to your editing peer as indicated.
c. At the same time you will RECEIVE feedback from your editing peer.
d. Each group will coordinate to make sure this happens.
e. Due to the condensed nature of the course, the professor will only be
providing general feedback on the tasks to the entire class and individual
work submitted. Therefore, these editing teams are vital to help improve
your academic writing. At the same time, if the teacher sees a need to
comment on your DRAFTS, he or she will comment.
4. Interview (10 percent). You will be required to interview someone about the topic
you have chosen to help further your understanding. Preferably, this would be
someone who has lived during that time period. However, because this is not always
possible, finding someone who is very knowledgeable about the topic is also very
helpful. This may be a college professor, museum curator, or community member.
a. What is the goal of your research? What are you curious about? What do you
want to find out? Do you want to learn about a community? The best way to
begin is to decide on the focus of your interview. This will determine whom
you choose to interview and what sorts of questions you ask. Having a
clearly defined goal is key to conducting a successful interview.
5. Final Paper (45 percent). Developing solid skills in research, analysis, and
writing are fundamental to a successful university education, as well as to many
future job prospects. These skills are particularly relevant to the discipline of
history, and the research paper is often one of the most important components of
any history course. It is vital that you set aside enough time to do it properly. A
history paper is not just a compilation of facts that you cut and paste into a report.
A good paper needs to explain something important about the past; it requires you
to think critically about the topic, to draw on different sources, to sift through and
analyze competing claims. You typically need to proceed through each of the
following stages: defining a topic, building a bibliography, reading and taking notes,
writing an outline, composing a draft, and revising your draft into a polished essay.
These stages often overlap.
Thesis: A thesis statement is a sentence in which you state an argument about a
topic and then describe, briefly, how you will prove your argument. Typically you
will have 3 ways of proving your argument. Each of the 3 descriptions will contain
the following parts;
a. 8-10 Pages: Within these pages you should give an overview of the larger
problems and situations happening within the researched time period. Basic
knowledge should be explained as to how the problem developed, the parties
involved, political events, struggle over resources, and any other general
historical knowledge that will give a greater understanding of the time
period.
b. 13-15 Pages: Within these pages a greater focus should be given to a theme
of history.
i. Social Interaction (Human Behavior: Why do people do the things
they do?)
ii. Ideas (Why are new Ideas so Powerful?)

iii. Politics (Governance: Why do people need to have rules, Who gets to
be in Charge?)
iv. Economics (How do we as humans distribute the limited resources
available?
v. Religion (How have different Belief systems shaped our lives for the
better/worse?)
vi. Culture (What are the common ideas, beliefs and patterns of life that
we share? Is your way any better than anothers?)
vii. Science & Technology (How have new discoveries and inventions
changed our lives for the better/worse?)
viii. Time (How are our lives shaped by the Time we live in? Is our time
any better/Worse than another?)
ix. Geography (How is your life and culture shaped by the Physical
World in which you live?)
c.

4-5 Pages: The final theme of history may be one of the most important:
Individuals. As historians we can often over look individuals for the bigger
lessons to be learned. However, it is individuals that shape and make history.
Within these pages, take the time to understand an individual within both
the larger context and the theme that you have chosen for part I and part II
of this essay. Try to find an individual that is less prominent. Historians have
a unique opportunity to highlight those that have been overlooked by the
general public. Research this person and show why history sees them as
exceptional and distinctive.

Example paper may be divided up as follows:

1. Thesis
2. Argument x3
a. 3 pages: General Context
b. 5 pages: Theme
c. 1.5 pages Individual
6.

Presentation (20 percent). You will need to make a 15 minute presentation to

peers, teachers, administrators, and guests about the discoveries you have made
throughout your research. It is important for historians to correct myths that have
shaped how we view the future. You should display your research, artifacts, and
interview information in an engaging way. (More Information will be given closer to
the time of presentations)