AMH 6199
Foundation Seminar: 19th Century
Professor: Elizabeth Dale
Office hours: M:
9-10AM; W: 3-4PM; by appointment
Office: Keene Flint
224
Office phone: 352.273.3387
Course description:
This seminar is
intended to give you an overview of trends in 19th century US
History and to help you begin to prepare for your preliminary exams in Fall
2010.
We will be asking
the usual grad seminar questions:
1. What is the thesis of the book?
Does the author successfully prove his/her thesis?
2. What approach does the author use
(straight chronological narrative? Analytic or thematic? Some mix?)
3. Does the book work? If not, why
not? If so, how and why?
To answer these
questions it helps to read the books themselves, not just book reviews. It also
helps to read the clues that the author has, ideally, offered about his/her
intentions. So in addition to reading the books (and taking notes on them as
you read them), I recommend that you also read the introduction and conclusion
of each book carefully, and spend some time looking over the table of contents.
Ask yourselves how the book has been arranged, and how that arrangement helps
(or hurts) advance the author’s thesis.
This not only helps you hone your skills in reading scholarly material,
but it also gives you a head start on thinking about writing your dissertation,
by encouraging you to think about how historians chose to present their
scholarship.
At the same time, we
will be focusing issues peculiar to the 19th century. The problem of
setting temporal boundaries is a significant issue in 19th century
US history, so it is something that we will consider throughout the
semester. Specifically, we will consider
two issues of periodization:
1. What “the nineteenth century” is
(that is, when it began and when it ended).
2. What historical periods there were
within the nineteenth century.
In addition, we will
concentrate on identifying the historical theme(s) in the various books
assigned, and the scholarly conversation(s) the books participate in. To this
end, it would be good to consider the following as you read these books:
1. What is the major category of historical
study that this book fits into? What does the author tell us about the state of
the literature in that field of study (what argument(s) is the author
responding to? The author may tell you this explicitly or may expect you to
figure it from context).
2. What other categories or fields of
history is the author engaging? All good historical studies, and most bad ones,
participate in several historical conversations—a study of 19th
century women may also tell us about society and labor relations in the rural
south.
3. What theoretical approaches or
sociological assumptions or perspectives is the author bringing to bear on the
subject? The author may tell you in the
introduction, you may be able to figure it out by looking at footnotes or at
the bibliography. You may be able to
extrapolate from other works you’ve read in this class or another class. If all
else fails, I recommend trying to find a handy guide to social and/or cultural
theory. You might find Peter Burke’s History
and Social Theory helpful. Alternatively, you might find the discussions on
www.UnderstandingSociety.blogspot.com
useful.
Assigned readings (available at UF bookstore, or check online):
Adams, The Specter of Satan
Balough, Government Out of Sight
Cornell, Well Regulated Militia
Faust, Republic of Suffering
Gross, Colored Amazons
Haydu, Citizen Employers
Hoganson, Consumers’ Imperium
Martin, Divided Mastery
Pfeifer, Rough Justice
Rockman, Scrapping By
Wells, Origins of the Southern Middle Class
West, Contested Plains
Assignments:
Grades for the
seminar will be based on the following:
25%: participation. Everyone is expected to come
to every seminar prepared to discuss the readings and contribute to the
discussion every week. Perfect
attendance without participation is not enough.
Likewise, extensive participation will not make up for imperfect
attendance. Students who miss more than more seminar will have their
participation grade lowered by one full grade (ie, from a B to a C).
25%: presentation.
The last three weeks of seminar are set aside for presentations on seminar
papers. Presentations will be roughly 20-25 minutes long. I will pass out
guidelines for presentations the week before spring break.
50%: paper. Everyone in the class will write a 20-25 page
historiography paper, examining the literature on a particular theme in 19th
century US history. Papers are due the Wednesday of finals week, by noon. You may write on a theme of your choice,
but you will need to have your topic approved. You should discuss your topic
with me before the last session in January.
Schedule of classes:
Jan. 6: Intro to the course and Balough, Government Out of Sight
Jan. 13: Rockman, Scrapping By
Jan. 20: Martin, Divided Mastery
Jan. 27: Wells, Origins of the Southern Middle Class
Feb. 3: Adams, Specter of Satan
Feb. 10: Faust, Republic of Suffering
Feb. 17: West, Contested Plains
Feb.
23: Haydu, Citizen Employer
March 3: Gross, Colored Amazons
March 10: Spring
break
March 17: Pfeifer, Rough Justice
March 24: Hoganson, Consumers’ Imperium
March 31: Cornell, Well Regulated Militia
April 7: Paper
presentations
April 14: Paper
presentations
April 21: Paper
presentations, last class
April 28: Final seminar
papers due