HIS 3942 History Practicum: First Amendment History Lecture: Tues 4^th period (Turlington 2328) Discussion Sect: Thurs 4^th period (Flint 121) Discussion Sect: Thurs 5^th period (Flint 121)

Professor Dale Office hours: Tuesday: 8:30-10:30; Thursday 1:00-2:00 Email: edale@history.ufl.edu Office: 224 Keene Flint Office phone: 352.273.3387

Sample Prose Outline

Introduction
What is history?  What is the role of the professional historian? What skills do historians need to do their work?  We will consider these questions, and others, in HIS 3942 History Practicum, a course that is intended to introduce history majors to the professional study of history.

The course has two aspects: Like most history courses, the Practicum is organized around a central theme, in this case the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and specifically its protections of freedom of speech. For this semester, our lectures and readings will focus on that Amendment and its history. At the same time, we will work on mastering the skills of a historian.  You will learn

• to identify and evaluate source material,
• to read primary and secondary sources critically,
• to understand some of the methods that historians use to understand the past,
• a set of research skills that will help you produce a solid research paper. 

Ultimately, this course will give you the tools that will help you get the most of the history major and excel in the other courses and seminars that you will take in the department.


Format and policies:
Students will attend two classes each week: a common lecture and a smaller, discussion section. All students will attend the same lecture section, which meets for an hour on Tuesday. Students are also assigned to a one hour discussion section, which meets on Thursday.

While the practicum is listed as a two-credit class, students should expect a workload comparable to that of a three-credit history class.

Students must attend both their lecture and discussion sections regularly. Because attendance is mandatory, students who miss either the lecture or discussion section will be penalized as follows:

One absence (from either the lecture or discussion section)--no penalty
Any additional absence--final grade lowered by one half grade (ie, from a B to a B-)

Late work will not be accepted without penalty.  Papers turned in late will be graded down, as follows: Papers turned in after class on the day due will be graded down one half grade. Papers turned in a day late will be lowered one full grade (from a B to a C). Papers turned in two days late will be lowered two full grades (from a B to a D) and so on.

Sometimes events intervene that make it impossible to turn material in on time. If this occurs, notify me before class and we can work out some arrangement. I will require official documentation to schedule any make-up assignments.

In writing papers, be certain to give proper credit whenever you use words, phrases, ideas, arguments, and conclusions drawn from someone else’s work.  Failure to give credit by quoting and/or footnoting is PLAGIARISM and is unacceptable. Please review UF’s honesty policy, which is available on my website at http://plaza.ufl.edu/edale or at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/academic.php.

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office (www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/).  The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation.


Texts

• Mary Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 5th edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007).

• Anthony Lewis, Freedom from the Thought We Hate (New York: Basic Books, 2007).
• In addition, students will be required to locate, read, and be prepared to discuss various articles and cases listed in the syllabus.

Grades

Attendance, participation	20%
Weekly exercises	35%
Research project List of possible topics (5%) Project statement (including annotated bibliography) (10%) Final paper (15%)	30%
Midterm	15%

Overall letter grades for the course will be assigned according to the following scale:

A	93 and higher
B+	88-92
B	83-87
C+	78-82
C	73-77
D+	68-72
D	63-67
E	62 and lower

Schedule

Week 1	Topic: Introduction Reading: Sam Wineburg, "Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts," Phi Delta Kappan 80, 7 (March 1999)
Tuesday, August 26	Course introduction and introduction to library resources First Assignment (due Thursday)
Thursday	Discussion: Wineburg article Exercise #1 (2%)  1 page, typed, double-spaced (all assignments should be typed and double-spaced). In it you should explain: What the thesis of the Wineburg article is Whether you think he proves his thesis, or not
Week 2	Topic: Plagiarism Readings: Rampolla, "Why Study History?" 1-5, "Identifying historical sources," 6-9, "Reading and Writing in History: Some Typical Assignments," 25-43; "Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Avoid It," 88-95
Tuesday	Lecture: The practice of history: Famous plagiarism cases involving historians
Thursday	Exercise #2 (2%) Complete the following exercises on plagiarism: Defining Plagiarism Exercise
Week 3	Topic: Primary and secondary sources Required reading: Lewis, Freedom, Chapter 1 (re-read Rampola, 6-8)
Tuesday	Lecture: The First Amendment in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries
Thursday	Exercise #3 (5%): Scavenger hunt: John Peter Zenger Using the library locate one primary source and one secondary source (two sources) on John Peter Zenger or the Zenger trial. Write a 2-3 page paper describing your sources and explaining a) how you located the sources and b) identifying each as either a secondary or primary source. Be sure to explain why you think your source is a primary or secondary source.
Week 4	Topic: Types of history, Part I: Popular or academic Reading: Rampolla, 14-17, Lewis, Chapter 2
Tuesday	Lecture: The History Channel vs. footnotes (read Lewis, Chapter 2 before class)
Thursday	Exercise #4: comparing styles of history (5%) Locate and read: Andrew Lenner, “Separate Spheres: Republican Constitutionalism in the Federalist Era,” American Journal of Legal History 41 (1997): 250-281. Write a 2 page paper in which you note and explain three major differences or similarities between Lenner’s analysis of the Alien and Sedition Acts and that offered by Lewis.
Week 5	Topic: Types of History, Part II: Change in history Reading: Rampolla, Chapter 4; Lewis, Chapter 3
Tuesday	Lecture: What changes matter? (read Lewis, Chapter 3 before class) List of possible topics for final project due on or before Thursday’s class
Thursday	Exercise #5 Interrogating historical documents (3%): Locate a copy of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Abrams v. United States. Write a one page paper explaining how you found the case. For discussion: How do the majority and dissenting justices explain their opinions in Abrams? Whose explanations seem most credible? Why?
Week 6	Topic: History exams Reading: Rampolla, "Taking History Exams," 38-42, Lewis, Chapter 4
Tuesday	Lecture: creating a history exam
Thursday	Exercise # 6 (5%): Using Chapters 3-4 in Lewis, and related readings/discussions, come up with two possible exam questions. Write them out and bring them to class.
Week 7	Topic: comparing historians Readings: Digby-Junger, Richard, “’News in Which the Public May Take an Interest’: A Ninteenth-Century Precedent for New York Times v. Sullivan,” American Journalism 12 (1995): 22-38
Tuesday	Lecture: comparing Digby-Junger and Lewis
Thursday	Midterm exam [bring a blue book to class!]
Week 8	Topic: Types of History, Part III: Historical causation Lewis, Chapter 6; Rampola chapter 5 Rampolla, pp. 16, 56
Feb 26	Lecture: Branzburg v. Hayes
Feb 28	Exercise 6 (3%): Come up with a list of possible research projects relating to Lewis, chapter 6 and/or Branzburg v. Hayes. You list should be in the form of sentences that are long enough to make the topic clear. Turn in your list (you should have at least 5, and no more than 10)
Week 9	Topic: Types of history, Part IV: Comparative Readings: Lewis, Chapter 8 Extra reading (if you are interested): Cohen v. California (locate and find this case yourself)
Tuesday	Lecture: Cohen v. California
Thursday	Exercise #6 Comparing documents (5%) 1) Find a copy of the Supreme Court’s decision in Morse v. Frederick 2) Read Morse 3) Write a five page, double spaced paper comparing the opinion by Chief Justice Roberts in Morse to Lewis’s description of the opinion of Justice Harlan in Cohen. What are the key differences? 4) Edit your paper before you turn it in and make revisions.
Week_10	Topic: Types of History, Part V: Consensus or disagreement? Readings: Lewis, Chapter 10
Tuesday	Lecture: hate speech
Thursday	Locate and read Brandeburg v. Ohio
Week 11	Topic: Evaluating sources Readings: Lewis, Chapter 11, Rampolla pp. 25-28
Tuesday	Lecture: Bad evidence
Thursday	Discussions of samples of historical evidence
Week 12	Topic: Evaluating sources, continued
Tuesday	No class, Labor Day
Thursday	Exercise #7 (5%): Wikipedia: locate a wikipedia article on one of the cases discussed in Lewis. Write a 2 page paper evaluating the wikipedia article. Explain how you would go about determining whether the wikipedia article was accurate or not. Read: Rampolla, ch. 7 Project statement and annotated bibliography due
Wk 13	Topic: Types of History, Part VI: Legal Histories
Tuesday	Lecture: Legal history
Thursday	Exercise #8 (5%): Go to the back of the Lewis book, to the Notes section. Locate one book cited in his notes and then find a book review of the book. Read the review, print it out (or copy it) and bring it to class. Be prepared to discuss the review you found in class.
Wk 14	Topic: Writing history Lewis, ch. 12 Reading: Rampolla, 43-68
Tuesday	Lecture: historical practices
Thursday	No class, Thanksgiving
Wk 15	Topic: Reconsidering history Re-read Wineburg article
Tuesday	Group discussion: What is history?
Thursday	Class cancelled, extra office hours to discuss final project
Wk 16	Last week of class
Tuesday	Wrap up
Thursday	No class
FINALS WEEK	Final project due