HIS 5939 – Second-Year Research Seminar
Dr. Jeffrey Adler
Description:
This seminar is designed to provide a workshop on the basic mechanics of research and writing for the history profession. By the end of the semester, each student will produce a 10,000-word essay, ideally of publishable quality, based on research in primary sources. The paper can also serve as the preliminary investigation into a dissertation topic or as a potential dissertation chapter. Weekly meetings of HIS 5939 will explore research and writing strategies and will provide workshops involving peer assessments of each student’s research topic, abstract, preliminary draft, and final research paper. To pass this course, each student must complete and submit an abstract, preliminary draft of his/her paper, and a final paper all submitted on time. HIS 5939 is designed to be an interactive class, and the exchange and commenting on work mimics the way in which scholars interact with one another. Therefore, it is crucial for written assignments to be submitted on time and for everyone to work together and offer consistent, constructive comments and critiques of one another’s work.
LAH 6936 – Brazilian Historiography
Dr. Jeffrey Needell
Description:
This graduate seminar introduces the historiography concerning Brazil written in English. It is meant to give the student some sense of the established authors and debates, as well as some notion of the narrative. Generally, at least up to the twentieth century, the seminar is chronologically, rather than thematically, organized. It also follows the traditional emphases of the literature in its focus on socio-economic and political history. A more thematic approach, however, is necessary for works on the past century, as is attention to a more varied set of concerns. The lacunae will be obvious as the student examines the historiographical essays appended to the Bethell volumes noted below. Certainly, the limitations imposed by excluding works in Portuguese are grave, and underscore the introductory nature of the seminar. The obvious shifts in approach over time compel the professor to revise the bibliography from time to time; he does this to familiarize students with both indispensable classics and more recent works critical for contribution or exemplification of an important trend. Inclusion does not always mean endorsement.