History H 650: Colloquium in U

History H 650: Colloquium in U.S. History Professor E.B. Monroe

Fall, 2002 Office: CA 529

Classroom: CA 537 Email: emonroe@iupui.edu

Office hours: by appointment Telephone: 278-2255

GOALS: This course will acquaint students with the development of biography (and autobiography) over the last three centuries, although it concentrates on twentieth-century American materials. Students will gain a substantive understanding of the scholarly literature of biography, the techniques and materials of biographical research, and the historiography of the area of biography most useful to their own research. Guest speakers will provide additional insights to biography for public audiences, edited collections as a form of biography, and biographical sources. Assignments related to researching and writing biography will be an integral part of weekly activities. The products of the course itemized below at evaluation identify about 35 pages of written assignments to be completed by each student.

METHOD: Discussion and intellectual exchange are important components of this course. Each week students will be expected to be familiar with assigned materials. Most of the class periods will be devoted to discussion, and students are expected to engage in class discussions and in dialogues with guest speakers. By that I mean that in addition to discussion of each week’s assignments, students will indicate their interests in the presentations of guests and other students by asking well-phrased questions that will enhance everyone’s understanding of the topic discussed.

ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will prepare a summary of critical reception, a change of interpretation over time, a source summary, an “entry” to the Dictionary of American Biography, a brief review essay, and an historiographical essay. Further, each student will give an oral presentation of most of the written assignments. Each written assignment will be discussed in class in advance of the due date, and all projects are described below.

IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER: If class is cancelled by the university or the instructor or you have an acceptable excuse for absence, written assignments are due to the History Department Office on the day the university reopens or within two days of your absence.

EVALUATION: Students are expected to participate in every class and complete written assignments.

DUE DATE ASSIGNMENT APPROX. LENGTH VALUE

Class participation 15%

Sep 10 Statement of Intention 1 2 pages

Sep 17 Summary of critical reception# 2 pages 5%

Sep 23 Interpretation over time* 4 pages 15%

Oct 8 Source summary* 2 pages 5%

Oct 22 DAB “entry”* 750 words 15%

Oct 29 Statement of Intention 2 2 pages

Nov 12 Review essay* 6 pages 15%

Dec 3 Historiographical essay** 20 pages 30%

# I will provide a copy of the best example to each member of the class

* Be sure to make enough copies for all class members and the instructor

**Be sure to send this essay as an email attachment to all class members and the instructor

Grade scale: A=90-100; B=80-89; grades below 80 are considered failing in a graduate course.

POLICIES:

All students are expected to attend and participate in every class. Absence without the advance consent of the instructor (barring unforeseen disasters) will result in the loss of two (2) points on the FINAL course grade.

All projects are due on the date assigned. Failure to turn in a project on the date due will result in the loss of two (2) points on the FINAL course grade for each day the assignment is late.

A grade of zero (0) will be assigned to any work which has been produced by cheating or plagiarism. The definitions (from the Indiana University Liberal Arts Bulletin) are:

Cheating: Cheating is dishonesty of any kind with respect to examinations, course assignments, alteration of records, or illegal possession of examinations. It is the responsibility of the student not only to abstain from cheating, but, in addition, to avoid the appearance of cheating and to guard against making it possible for others to cheat. Any student who helps another student to cheat is as guilty of cheating as the student assisted. The student should also do everything possible to induce respect for the examining process and for honesty in the performance of assigned tasks in or out of class.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the offering of the work of someone else as one’s own. Honesty requires that any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged. The language or ideas taken from another may range from isolated formulas, sentences, or paragraphs to entire articles copied from books, periodicals, speeches, or the writings of other students. The offering of materials assembled or collected by others in the form of projects of collections without acknowledgment is also considered plagiarism. Any student who fails to give credit for ideas or materials taken from another source is guilty of plagiarism.

A grade of “incomplete” will not be assigned except in the event of a catastrophe such as serious personal illness or death of a family member. All incompletes must be arranged in advance of the final day of class. Arrangement for an incomplete will require the instructor’s approval of a signed statement from the student about the reason for requesting the incomplete and a date when all remaining work will be submitted.

REQUIRED READINGS AND STATEMENTS OF INTENTION: This course is a heuristic approach to biography and the recent scholarly literature of the field. Each student will pursue (in consultation with the instructor) his/her own individual reading assignments which will complement those of the other students. Therefore, on September 10 students will prepare and submit for approval their “statement of intention” covering their choice of overall biographical topic, their reasoning, and their preferences of Pulitzer Prize books. On October 8 in class we will select DAB entries. On October 29 students will submit a further “statement of intention” covering their historiographical essay topic, the context to the topic, and citing 10 of their proposed items to be discussed. These “statements” may be submitted to the instructor in advance of the due date in draft form for comment via email. Although class will not meet on September 3, I will be available during class time to meet with students regarding topics. In addition I will hold extended office hours that week.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:

General format: All assignments for this course must be typewritten, one-inch margins, double-spaced, and composed in excellent grammar and style with no spelling errors. All projects should be proofed. Asking someone to proof your papers does not constitute cheating. Significant numbers of errors that should have been caught in proofing will cause a paper to be returned, so that proofing can be conducted, and a professional paper submitted. Your name should be typed in the upper right corner of the first page (no need for a title page) and may also be shown on subsequent pages. Please use a “12” font in the typeface of your choice, but keep in mind the instructor’s middle-aged eyes. I prefer that you use double-spaced endnotes for your papers. All pages should be numbered. Projects should be stapled together (no folders). BE SURE TO KEEP A COPY OF YOUR PAPERS.

Statement of Intention #1 (due September 10).

Summary of Critical Reception: (due September 17). This 2-page paper will summarize and analyze the critical reception of your Book #1 choice from the Pulitzer Prize biography list. At the top of the first page give the complete and correct citation for the book (as it appears in the reviews). Your paper will include who reviewed the book, where, their assessment, and how and why reviewers’ assessments differed. You should also include your own evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the book. While your brief essay will not allow inclusion of all reviews, you should append to your paper citations to all known professional reviews of the work. Be sure to check Book Review Index, Book Review Digest, American History and Life. J-STOR is not enough!

Interpretation over Time: (due September 23). This 4-page paper will compare the critical reception of your Pulitzer Prize Book # 1 and PPBook #2. After giving citations for both books your essay should address how interpretations of the subjects of PPB1 and PPB2 have changed over time, what caused these changes, and the reviewers’ sense of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Pay particular attention to the theses and arguments of the authors and how their interpretations fit into the historiographical tradition. Be sure to bring copies for all class members! Each student will be expected to participate at length in a round-table discussion of twentieth-century American biography explaining how their books contribute. You should append to your paper citations for all reviews of both books.

Source Summary: (October 8). This 2-page (please use 2-sided copy on one sheet) summary will carefully define a primary source used frequently in biography. Each student will state what information a source may (or may not) provide, show examples of sources, and identify where additional information may be obtained. Each student will also identify three well-known biographies that rely heavily on this source type. Each student will orally present the results of their research to the class in a report of no more than 10 minutes and will answer questions. Sources include: military records, cemetery records, probate records, census records, church records, voting records, city directories, immigration records, and tax records among others.

DAB entry: (due October 22). This 750 word essay will comply with the Directions for Contributors for the DAB. Each student will select a subject with the advice of the instructor and prepare the entry, bibliography and references, and checklist in accordance with the instructions. Each student will orally present a synposis of their findings and will answer questions.

Statement of Intention # 2 (due October 29).

Review Essay: (due November 12). This 6-page essay will review three or four related pieces of the scholarly literature. At the top of page one provide complete bibliographical citations for all items reviewed as you would find them in a published review essay. The purpose of the review essay is to collectively examine books related to a single theme. In other words you will evaluate the character of the books and report on the authors’ contributions. You should briefly discuss the authors’ backgrounds, theses, and summarize the books. You should spend most of your energy discussing the sources and methodologies used by the authors to address major historical problems. However, this essay will draw comparisons between the assumptions, research techniques, and conclusions of the related books in the context of our discussions of the role of biography in American history, the theoretical framework of the author, and the historiographical tradition of the work. (For page references give the author’s name or a short title and page in parentheses in your text.) Reviews in American History frequently runs review essays; JAH and AHR occasionally.

Historiographical Essay: (due December 3). This 20-page paper will review the sweep of scholarly literature on your topic, focusing on biographies. Each student will use approximately 40 books/articles to cover the chosen topic. Internal parenthetical notes of short-form author and page or title and page will be used with a full bibliography of all items discussed at the end of the essay. A sample from last year will be handed out at the first class.

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:

Aug 27 Introduction to course and broad discussion of objectives, assignments, and possible topics

Sep 3 NO CLASS–meet individually during class time and remainder of week

10 Early biographies–1700-1900 STATEMENT OF INTENTION 1 DUE

Be prepared to discuss bio. topic, reasoning, PPB 1 and 2

17 Biography in 20^th century SUMMARY OF CRITICAL RECEPTION DUE

Students to talk about critical reception and foreshadow change over time

Students pick sources

23 NOTE–THIS IS A MONDAY! STATEMENT OF CHANGE OVER TIME DUE

24 NO CLASS

Oct 1 Andrea Hough and Indiana Collection?

What sources can and can’t do, which are most efficient, which are best?

Readings TBA

8 Bob Barrows sources for biographical research SOURCE REPORT DUE

Students to talk about their sources

Students to pick DAB entries

Readings TBA

15 Biography and audiences Cinda May on COFAS and Ray Boomhower on Traces

Assignments: students to read 2 COFAS–one from 1930s/40s and one from 1950s

Students also to read the following:

“Major General Lew Wallace: Savior of Washington, D.C.” Winter, 1993

“The Country Contributor: Rockville’s Juliet V. Strauss.” Spring, 1995.

“‘A Business without a Boss’:William Powers Hapgood and the Columbia Conserve Company.” Winter, 2001.

“John A. Bushemi: Combat Photographer.” Winter, 2002.

22 Beth Van Allen literary and institutional biographies DAB ENTRY DUE

Students to present their DAB findings

Students to pick “writ large” biography topic

Readings TBA

29 Biographies writ large STATEMENT OF INTENTION 2

Students to present their topics

Liz to cover everything else

Nov 5 Museums as biography at Riley House?

POTENTIAL CHANGE OF DATE AND TIME