HIS 8295: European Historiography
Spring
2006, M 7:30-9:30 pm, Bartley 028
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Dr.
Paul Steege STAUG 428 x9-6963 |
Office
hours: M
5-6 pm W
10:45-11:45 am and
by appt. |
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Course web site via http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/paul.steege/ |
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Course Objectives: |
This
course will introduce students to diverse trends in the twentieth century
historiography of Europe. While it
attempts to give students a feel for many of the key debates and issues
facing historians of Europe, it makes no claim to present a comprehensive overview
of the field. Instead, it aims to
cultivate in students an openness to different methodologies and theoretical
approaches as well as the skills to read and evaluate these types of
historical writing at the graduate level. As
an organizing theme, we will look particularly at ways of locating
individuals in broader historical processes and structures. At the heart of this exploration will rest
a consideration of the multiple experiences, perspectives, and interpretations
that comprise any historical account, but we will also consider how the
fragmenting of history’s “big pictures” has implications for the practice of
history more generally. |
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Required Materials: |
Anonymous. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the
Conquered City. Trans. Philip Boehm. New York: Henry Holt, 2005. Fernand Braudel,
The Structures of Everyday Life.
Vol. 1 of Civilization and Capitalism,
15th-18th Century. Trans. Siân
Reynolds. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992. Dipesh Chakrabarty.
Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and
Historical Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Robert K. Darnton. The Great
Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. New York:
Basic Books, 2000. Michel Foucault. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the
Prison. New York: Knopf, 1995. Timothy Garton Ash. The
Magic Lantern: The Revolution of ’89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin
and Prague. New York: Vintage, 1993. Carlo Ginzburg. The
Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller. Trans.
John and Anne Tedeschi. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. Eric Hobsbawm. The Age
of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 (New York: Vintage 1996. Georg Iggers.
Historiography in the 20th century:
From Scientific Objectivity to the
Postmodern Challenge. Hanover and
London: Wesleyan University Press, 1997. W. G. Sebald. On the
natural history of destruction. Trans. Anthea
Bell. New York: Modern Library, 2004. E. P.
Thompson. The Making of the English
Working Class. New York: Vintage 1966. The
above books are available for purchase at the Villanova University Shop. Additional readings will be available
on-line or on reserve in Falvey Memorial
Library. Students looking for used
versions of the books should try to purchase the same edition, which will
help you participate effectively in class discussions. |
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Assignments: |
(15%) Seminar
Participation: A graduate seminar is only as good as its participants’
commitment to engaged discussion.
Regular, engaged participation in class discussions is simply
assumed. This does not mean that I
anticipate that you will all have “the answer.” A graduate seminar is a collaborative
undertaking, in which we propose, examine, and critique ideas. While our discussions must retain respect
for each other and our divergent opinions, they will also allow for (and
demand) rigorous, critical examination of what people have to say. (20%) Seminar
Preparation: In preparation for each class, a group of
students will prepare brief essays to help lay a foundation for seminar
discussion. The first, shorter
assignment (5% of your grade) simply asks you to spell out clearly the book’s
argument. The second, somewhat longer
assignment (15% of your grade) asks you to take this one step further and
analyze the implications of the argument and the success of its
methodology. You will have an
opportunity to sign up for a choice of books/writing slots before our second
meeting. Step
1 (weeks 3-6):
One page, double-spaced essay that a) identifies the book’s core argument; b)
describes the author’s methodology; and c) briefly notes the kind of evidence
the author uses to make his or her case. Step
2 (weeks 7-10, 12-13): Prepare a brief review
(1000 words) of one of the assigned books.
The essay is due at the beginning of class on the date for which the
reading is assigned. Each review
should assess the argument that the book’s author is trying to make and
assess the evidence provided to support that argument and discuss this
success/failure in the context of the issues being explored in this course. (15%) Annotated
bibliography: This preliminary compilation of literature
relevant to your topic is due April 10. It should be much more than a list
assembled from the library’s online catalog of titles that might bear on your topic. In addition to providing complete bibliographic
information about each book/article, you must provide a few sentences of
analysis that discuss the source and suggest why you chose to include it in
your assessment of your topic. (50%) Literature
Review/Historiographic Essay (15-20 pp.): This review essay should assess the state
of the literature on a topic of your choice.
It is due in my box by 4 pm on Monday, May 8). Your essay define the key questions coming out
of your analysis of the existing literature, making sure that you evaluate
both their historical and historiographical
information. Students are required to
meet with the professor during the week of February 13 to discuss your choice
of topics. I
will provide additional information for these assignment on the online
syllabus. NOTE: Late papers and missed assignments are
simply unacceptable. Late work will
receive a failing grade. Should some
emergency require an extension, you must contact me before the scheduled due date. |
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Grades: |
According
to the recently established History Department grading rubric for graduate
course, a grade of “A” is granted for performance that is: exceptional;
well beyond mastery and individual insights; originality; polished prose;
consistent, substantive participation and intellectual leadership Click here
for additional grading criteria. |
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Academic Integrity |
Plagiarism
or cheating on any coursework will
not be tolerated. Any case of academic
fraud (copying of another student’s work, failure to acknowledge sources,
etc.) will automatically result in a failing grade for the course. If you have any questions about documenting
sources or what constitutes academic fraud, please speak to me. Citations: All citations must be made as footnotes
according to the guidelines of The Chicago
Manual of Style. No other
style will be accepted. |
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Class/Reading
Schedule |
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Read
all assignments before the class
for which they are scheduled. Please
note: we may occasionally add
supplemental readings to this schedule.
These readings will be announced in class and posted on the online
version of the syllabus. |
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Mon.,
Jan. 23 |
Introduction:
starting from a moment in time Film: Ashes
and Diamonds (Poland, 1958) |
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Mon.,
Jan. 30 |
Setting
the historiographical context |
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Mon.,
Feb. 6 |
In
the middle of history |
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Mon.,
Feb. 13 |
An
eyewitness reports high politics Reading: Garton Ash |
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Mon.,
Feb. 20 |
Microhistory: locating a
particular past Reading: Ginzburg |
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Mon.,
Feb. 27 |
The
longue durée Reading: Braudel
(selections) |
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Mar.
6-10 |
SPRING BREAK |
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Mon.,
Mar. 13 |
A
Marxist synthesis Reading: Hobsbawm |
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Mon.,
Mar. 20 |
Class
from a cultural perspective Reading: Thompson |
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Mon., Mar. 27 |
The
linguistic turn Reading: Foucault |
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Mon.,
Apr. 3 |
The
new cultural history Reading: Darnton |
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Mon.,
Apr. 10 |
Gender Reading: Joan W. Scott,
“Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” AHR 91.,
no. 5 (Dec., 1986); Optional Reading: Mary Louise Roberts, “Gender,
Consumption, and Commodity Culture,” AHR, 103, No. 3 (Jun., 1998),
817-844. Due: Annotated
Bibliography |
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Mon.,
Apr. 17 |
EASTER BREAK–NO CLASS |
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Mon.,
Apr. 24 |
De-centering
European History |
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Mon., May 1 |
Considering the implications of doing
history Reading: Sebald |
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Mon.,
May 8 |
Historiographic Essay Due in my box by 4 pm |
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