Hist 801: Historiography
Fall
2009: Fridays, 3:30-6:20, EH 201
Professor
David Stone Office:
Eisenhower 318
email:
stone@ksu.edu Phone:
532-2978
The
point of this course, unlike most of the courses you will take in the graduate
program, is not to introduce you to a
specific field and body of literature.
Instead, I intend it to lead you to think more deeply about history and
the task of the historian. To do
this, we will read classic works of history in a number of fields, as well as
more theoretical and programmatic statements of what history should be. I have my own opinions on the methodological debates we will
cover, but my goal is not to convert you into thinking like me. It is to lead you to intelligent judgments
of your own on the major methodological and theoretical issues of the field.
As
a result, while you should pay attention to the historical content of the works
we cover, our major focus will be on approach, philosophy, and methodology.
You
will note that there is little American history on the reading list. There are two reasons for this. First, most innovation in the research
and writing of history has originated in Europe; historians of the United
States have tended to follow (knowingly or not) directions begun
elsewhere. Second, the department
offers a three-semester graduate survey of American history, so youÕll have
plenty of opportunities to deal with that literature.
REQUIREMENTS:
I. Attendance and participation. Obviously, you can't intelligently
discuss the issues we'll be wrestling with if you're not here. Also, it is not enough to passively
absorb the debates in the readings and in class. Your ideas will not be fully tested and refined until you
express them. If you donÕt feel
comfortable talking about history with other people interested in history, then
you should ask yourself why you are in the program. I will call on students with direct questions from time to
time.
Your
grade will be based approximately 1/3 on daily participation, 1/3 on the
reaction papers, and 1/3 on the mock prospectus.
II. Books for purchase from your vendor of
choice. I have NOT put in an order
with the Union or VarneyÕs, since books tend to be cheaper elsewhere.
John
Burrow, A History of Histories ISBN
0375727671
E.
H. Carr, What is History? ISBN
039470391X
John
Demos, Entertaining Satan ISBN
0195174836
Geoffrey
Elton, The Practice of History ISBN
0631229809
David
Fischer, Historians' Fallacies ISBN
0060904984
Thomas
Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions ISBN 0226458083
Conrad
Russell, The Causes of the English Civil
War ISBN 019822141X
Edward
Said, Orientalism ISBN 039474067X
Lawrence
Stone, The Causes of the English
Revolution ISBN 0415266734
Thucydides,
Peloponnesian War ISBN 0140440399
John
Tosh, The Pursuit of History (4th
edition) ISBN 1405823518
In
many cases, there are multiple editions available, and you may find significant
savings by purchasing an older edition.
Feel free to do this, EXCEPT in the case of ToshÕs Pursuit of History, where I strongly prefer that you buy the newest
edition.
In
addition, there will be a large packet of readings available for purchase from
the copy center in the basement of Eisenhower. These are required.
III. Writing assignments.
There
will be two types of writing assignments in this class.
The
first is ten reaction papers, each of approximately 500 words. All weeks except week I and week IV
(when the reading is essentially a textbook) are fair game for reaction
papers. That means you can take
off two weeks in addition to I and IV. When you DO turn in a reaction, I want a 500-word
response to that week's reading turned in to my departmental mailbox or emailed
to me by noon on the day of class. In these reaction papers, you should explain
what in each week's reading you especially liked or disliked, found especially
insightful or obtuse. You do not
need to comment on the work as a whole (though you are responsible for all the
reading in class discussion every week).
Pay attention to your writing; I will. 500 words is not a lot of space, so it will pay to be
precise.
Experience
shows that in the limited space available, you are much better served by
developing a single point, rather than saying something superficial about three
or four points. You should
therefore feel free to focus in one particular aspect of the reading in your
reaction paper, but it should be an important and significant aspect of the
work.
Experience
also shows that calling a point or idea "interesting" is not
especially insightful. Try to
avoid using the word altogether in the reaction papers.
I
intend these reaction papers to be an opportunity to force you think more about
the issues raised in the reading and to work with you intensively on your
writing. I may ask some of you to
read your essays to the class.
For this prospectus, I expect a 5-7 page
sketch of the topic, along with its importance and relevance to major issues in
your field. Be sure this answers
the all-important "So what?" and "Who cares?"
questions. Part of this sketch
should include the methodologies and approaches discussed over the semester
that you found most relevant.
I also expect a survey of the relevant
literature on your topic. Here I
am less interested in the available secondary sources than in the primary
sources that should serve as the basis for your research. So, in addition to your 5-7 page
discussion of your topic, I also want lists of:
Relevant bibliographies (at least five). This does NOT mean lists of references
in the back of a secondary work. I
have in mind things like The Annotated
Bibliography of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1939-1989. These are typically found
in the Z section of the library.
Relevant memoirs (at least ten).
Relevant published or microfilm primary
sources (at least ten).
Relevant archival collections (at least ten,
from at least two archives).
Most important secondary literature (at least
ten titles with brief annotation).
I
expect that you will consult with the relevant professors here on your general
choice of topic and for more specific guidance. You should also consult with the reference librarians in
Hale. You will need to consult
with me personally or by email over your proposed topic by no later than
October 15.
Finally,
let me add a note on academic honesty.
In my experience teaching graduate students, I have received one
plagiarized paper. While
plagiarism is serious enough for undergrads, who can expect to fail my courses for
turning in plagiarized papers, it is even more serious for graduate students,
who should know much better. If
you have any questions or concerns about the rules and procedures for proper
attribution, please let me know.
CALENDAR
I. Friday, August 28. Intro to class. Goals and purpose of course. We WILL be having substantive
discussion today over ThucydidesÕ Peloponnesian
War. Have read Books I-II,
Book III (sections 1-85), and Book V (sections 26, 84-116) for the first class
meeting.
THE
BASICS
II. Friday, September 4. The Ancients. Reading: Burrow, Introduction,
Prologue, and Chaps. 1-12, as well
as
1)
Herodotus, The Histories, book VII,
paras. 201-233 (The Battle of Thermopylae). Herodotus is easy to find, but thereÕs an online version at http://www.livius.org/th/thermopylae/thermopylae3.html
2)
Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome,
Book I, down through the start of the Pannonian mutiny: http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.1.i.html
3)
the Bible, I and II Samuel. I
recommend the Revised Standard Version; pay close attention to commentaries and
footnotes with regard to the nature of the sources.
4)
Eusebius, conversion of Constantine: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/conv-const.html
III. Friday, September 11. Enlightenment and Whig
historiography. Reading: Burrow,
Chaps. 21-23; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire, chaps. 15-16 (packet); Macaulay, Chap. 1 of History of England (packet).
IV. Friday, September 18. Overview of the
discipline. Reading: Tosh, The Pursuit of History, chaps. 1-6;
Burrow, Chaps. 25 and 26 up to p. 448. No reaction paper.
V. Friday, September 25. Competing visions. Reading: Tosh, Chap. 7, sections I-III;
Carr, What is History?; Elton, The Practice of History.
VI. Friday, October 2. Historical
argument. Reading: Fischer, Historians' Fallacies.
VII. Friday, October 9. An exemplary historiographical dispute: Reading: Stone, The Causes of the English Revolution (skip first chapter on
theories of revolution); Russell, The
Causes of the English Civil War.
SCHOOLS
AND APPROACHES:
VIII. Friday, October 16. Marxism in
history. Reading: Tosh, Chap. 8; Burrow,
pp. 455-62; Marx, "The German Ideology," (packet); Hill, The English Revolution (packet);
Thompson, The Making of the English
Working Class, preface and Chap. 6 (packet).
IX. Friday, October 23. The Annales School. Reading: Burrow, pp. 448-455; Febvre, The Problem of Unbelief, intro and pp.
335-463 (packet); Ladurie, The Peasants
of Languedoc, pp. 3-50 (packet); Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II,
pp. 13-53, 231-275.
X. Friday, October 30. Social science history. Reading: Demos, Entertaining Satan
XI. Friday, November 6. Post-modernism /
History of Science. Reading: Kuhn,
Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Friday,
November 13. NO CLASS. INSTRUCTOR
AT CONFERENCE.
XII. Friday, November 20. Post-modernism /
New Cultural History and the Anthropological Approach. Reading: Tosh, Chaps. 7 and 10; Burrow,
pp. 462-485; Geertz, "Thick Description" and "Deep Play: Notes
on the Balinese Cockfight" (packet); Darnton, "Peasants Tell
Tales" and "The Great Cat Massacre" (packet); K. Thomas,
ÒHistory and Anthropology,Ó Past &
Present # 24 (1963) (JSTOR).
Friday,
November 27. NO CLASS. Thanksgiving holiday.
XIII. Friday, December 4. Post-modernism /
Post-Colonialism. Reading: Said, Orientalism
XIV. Friday, December 11. The Nature of the
Profession: Employment, the Job Market, and Life as a New Professor. Reading: assorted articles on
professional life (packet and electronic distribution).
Mock prospectuses due
Friday, December 18.