HST 3301.001:
HISTORICAL INQUIRY


HST 3301 is a core requirement for Historical Studies majors. It explores the nature of historical analysis as well as the skills students should use to approach historical problems critically.

Sessions will address the general nature of historical inquiry: its philosophical assumptions, the framing of problems or issues for analysis, the use and abuse of evidence, and the limits and value of historical knowledge.

At the same time, students will start to acquire the research and study techniques necessary for all work in the field: the critical reading of primary sources and secondary works; effective writing skills; the development of research strategies; and the use of reference works, bibliographic materials, and other library resources.

Finally the course will focus on different kinds of historical analysis-- social, political, cultural, gender, and intellectual--through a close examination of examples dealing with Victorian Britain.

REQUIRED TEXTS (available at Off-Campus Books):

F. Barret-Ducrocq, Love in the Time of Victoria
N. Cantor & R. Schneider, How To Study History
S. Harrison, ed., The Diary of Jack the Ripper
R. L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
D. Thomson, England in the Nineteenth Century

Texts marked * are available in a READER from Off-Campus Books.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Attendance and participation in class discussion; completion of required reading; weekly short writing assignments; and one 6-10 page research paper.

NOTE: -- More than three absences will lower your final grade.
-- All assignments must be typed, double-spaced, and free of typographical and grammatical errors.
-- Late assignments will NOT be accepted.
August 28: INTRODUCTION
PART ONE: THE BIG QUESTIONS
September 2: Why study history?
September 4: Norman Cantor & Richard Schneider, How To Study History, Chapters 1 & 2

*Paul Gagnon, "Why Study History?"
September 9: What do historians do?

Cantor & Schneider, Chapter 3

David Thomson, England in the Nineteenth Century, Chapter 1
September 11: How do we make sense of what they've done?

Cantor & Schneider, Chapters 5 & 6

Thomson, Chapters 2-4
September 16: Thomson, Chapters 5-8

due: outline exercise
September 18: LIBRARY SESSION: GENERAL ORIENTATION
PART TWO: THE STRUGGLE WITH DOCUMENTS
September 23: Cantor & Schneider, pp. 39-70

*Select Committee on Irremovable Poor, Testimony
September 25: *A. Mearns, Bitter Cry of Outcast London

*C. Booth, Life & Labours of the People of London

*W. Booth, Into Darkest England
September 30: Cantor & Schneider, pp. 70-91

*H. Cullwick, "1871 Gloucester Crescent"
October 2: R. L. Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
October 7: Cantor & Schneider, Chapters 8 & 9
October 9: *Pall Mall Gazette accounts of Jack the Ripper

due: narrative summary
October 14: LIBRARY SESSION: REFERENCE WORKS & RESEARCH AIDS FOR HISTORICAL STUDIES
October 16: start reading Diary of Jack the Ripper

due: 2 page paper on primary source
October 21: S. Harrison, ed., The Diary of Jack the Ripper

due: 2-3 page book review
PART THREE: HISTORIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES
October 23: Political History

*Thomas Richards, "The Image of Victoria in the Year of Jubilee"

*D. Fischer, Historians' Fallacies, pp. 3-39
October 28: Thomson, Chapters 9-11

due: bibliographic exercise
October 30:
due: topic question exercise
November 4: Social History

Françoise Barret-Ducrocq, Love in the Time of Victoria
November 6: Françoise Barret-Ducrocq, Love in the Time of Victoria
November 11: Intellectual & Cultural History

*Eileen Sullivan, "Liberalism & Imperialism"
November 13: *Christopher Clausen, "Sherlock Holmes, Order, ∓ the Late-Victorian Mind"

due: one-page paper proposal
November 18: History of Gender

*R. Cooper, "Victorian Discourses on Women & Beauty"
November 20: * P. J. Walker, "Men & Masculinity in the Salvation Army"
December 2: meetings with instructor
December 4: due: preliminary outline of paper
December 11: DUE: FINAL 6-10 PAGE RESEARCH PAPER