J425, History Capstone Seminar, Fall 2024

Prof. Konstantin Dierks

COURSE SYLLABUS
WEEK ONE
August 29 Course Introduction — Course Logistics; Conditions of Learning; Collective Mission; Individual Project
› student profile

Discussion:

• What Is a University and Why Are You Enrolled in One?
• What Is a Public University and Why Are You Enrolled in One?
• What Is a Research University and Why Are You Enrolled in One?
• Why Study the Humanities?
• Why Study History?

› research proposal

Video:

Rockman, Seth.  “What Is Historical Reasoning?”  Brown University, August 2014.  [up to 2:32]

Discussion:

• How Is Knowledge Made?
• What Is Inquiry?
• What Is Research?
• How Is History Made?

WEEK TWO
September 5 Choosing and Giving Purpose to a Project
› research report 1

Reading:

Postel, Charles.  Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896.  New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2019.  Pp. 3-13 (Introduction).

WEEK THREE
September 12 Working with Primary Sources
› research report 2

Reading:

Weld, Kirsten.  Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala.  Durham: Duke University Press, 2014.  Pp. 1-26 (Introduction).

WEEK FOUR
September 17

National Voter Registration Day

September 19 Working with Secondary Sources
› research report 3

Reading:

Ogle, Vanessa.  “Whose Time Is It? The Pluralization of Time and the Global Condition, 1870s-1940s.”  American Historical Review 118 (2013): 1376-1402.

WEEK FIVE
September 26 Workshop and Consultations
› research report 4

Discussion:

WEEK SIX
October 3 Narrating History
› research report 5

Discussion:

October 3 - October 6

Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, Bloomington IN

WEEK SEVEN
October 7

Indiana voter registration deadline

October 10 Humanizing the Story
› research report 6

Discussion:

October 11-13

“Fall Break”

WEEK EIGHT
October 17 WORKSHOP AND PRESENTATIONS
› research report 7

Discussion:

WEEK NINE
October 24 WORKSHOP AND CONSULTATIONS
› research report 8

Discussion:

WEEK TEN
October 31 ROUGH DRAFT
› rough draft

Discussion:

WEEK ELEVEN
November 7 Revision Strategies
› revision report 1

Discussion:

WEEK TWELVE
November 14 Workshop and Consultations
› revision report 2

Discussion:

November 15-17

IU Dance Marathon

WEEK THIRTEEN
November 21 Workshop and Consultations
› revision report 3

Discussion:

WEEK FOURTEEN
November 25-29

Thanksgiving Break — no classes

WEEK FIFTEEN
December 5 Career Strategies
› revision report 4

Walter Center for Career Achievement

WEEK SIXTEEN
December 12 Class Celebration
December 13 J425 Lightning Round Presentations (Friday, 1:00-4:00 p.m., Ballantine 803)
WEEK SEVENTEEN
December 16-20 FINALS WEEK

 

FINAL DRAFT due no later than 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 17, to be submitted via Canvas.

WEEK EIGHTEEN
December 23-27 GRADING WEEK