Class Time: Tues 4-6, Dwinelle 3104 Professor Brian Delay

History 285D America to 1900 Spring 2013

Class Time: Tues 4-6, Dwinelle 3104 Professor Brian DeLay Office: Dwinelle 3219 [email protected] Office Hours: Mon, 9-10; Tues, 10-11; or by appt.

This research seminar is for students working on all topics in American history prior to 1900. This is not a reading seminar and we won't be trying to cover or even survey the historiography of this long era. Instead we'll be dissecting exemplary articles; discussing critical elements of the historian's craft (formulating topics; mapping out research programs; situating one's work within the historiography; designing, writing, and re-writing article length essays; etc.), and making the leap from essay to dissertation/monograph. Most especially, the seminar will be devoted to the planning, drafting, production, and refinement of your seminar papers.

Class Requirements:  Seminar Participation: The first requirement for the course is prepared, thoughtful, and active participation in seminar the few times we meet as a group.  Final papers. The culminating assignment for this class is a polished, article length (25-40 page) seminar paper based on original research. In preparation for this major assignment, you will submit:  A prospectus  An outline  A draft of the paper  A revised final draft of the paper

Grading: Participation (ongoing) 15% Prospectus (2/4) 10% Outline (3/7) 10% Paper Draft (4/22) 20% Final paper Revision (5/14) 45%

Late Work: All assignments must be submitted in class on the due date. I will deduct 10% (a full letter grade) from all assignment once the deadline has passed and another 10% every 12 hours thereafter. Exceptions will be made only in cases of verifiable emergency (routine illnesses and last-minute computer problems won’t count).

Students with Religious Obligations: If after familiarizing yourself with the schedule you foresee a conflict between requirements for this course and your religious obligations, please inform me within the first two weeks of the semester and we’ll try to find a compromise arrangement. Academic Dishonesty: I urge you to read the Student Guide to Academic Integrity at Cal, available on the Undergraduate Program dropdown menu on the Cal history department’s website. The guide notes: “Academic dishonesty is any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community.” On plagiarism specifically: “Plagiarism is defined as use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source, for example:  Wholesale copying of passages from works of others into your work without acknowledgment.  Use of the views, opinions, or insights of another without acknowledgment.  Paraphrasing of another person’s characteristic or original phraseology, metaphor, or other literary device without acknowledgment.” In this class academic dishonesty will be penalized through all institutional means.

Meeting & Assignment Schedule

Tues, 1/22: Introductions; project presentations; Discussion of refining topics, identifying sources, formulating questions, and writing prospecti; Discussion of Christine DeLucia, “The Memory Frontier: Uncommon Pursuits of Past and Place in the Northeast After King Philip’s War.” Journal of American History 98, no. 4 (March 1, 2012): 975–997.

Tues, 1/29: Research practices and logistics; project planning and organization; Discuss Sarah Keyes, “‘Like a Roaring Lion’: The Overland Trail as a Sonic Conquest.” Journal of American History 96, no. 1 (June 1, 2009): 19–43. Review instructions for writing prospecti on B-space.

Tues, 2/5: Discussion of Prospecti: Upload prospecti in the assignments section of Bspace by 8am on 2/4 Come to class prepared to discuss all of your classmate’s prospecti in detail; Discussion of Wendy Anne Warren, “‘The Cause of Her Grief’: The Rape of a Slave in Early New England.” Journal of American History 93, no. 4 (March 1, 2007): 1031–1049.

Feb 12-April 9: No regular classes – this is your time to work intensely on your papers. BUT, I urge you to see me regularly to talk about your progress. Come to my office hours as often as you can. If those times are bad, email me and we’ll find another time to meet. Note also the outline deadline, below:

Thurs, 3/7: Email outlines to me by 5pm; make an appointment to see me within the next week to discuss.

Tues, 3/12 No class, but carefully read the excerpts from Strunk & White, The Elements of Style, under resources in B-Space. Print it up, mark it up, internalize their writing advice.

Tues, 4/16: The (brutal) rigors of revision: Discussion of the packet I handed out on 2/5 chronicling my own saga of submission, revision, and revision of an article. Tues, 4/23: Drafts! Upload complete drafts to the assignments section of Bspace [as pdf’s] by 8am, Monday, 4/22. In advance of today’s meeting you should have read all of your classmate’s draft papers carefully and produced a page or so of comments for each author. *Goes without saying that this is a lot of work. Be sure to clear out the necessary time in advance.

Tues, 4/30: Independent work on final revisions

Fri, 5/14: Final papers due in hard copy in my office by 3:30pm.