SOUTHERN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES
(History 6687-01 for Graduate Students)
Instructor: Cita Cook Fall Semester 2003
Office: 3210 TLC (770-836-4555) email: ccook@westga.edu
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 1:30-4:30
Other days and times, by appointment
Class Meetings: Monday, 5:30-8:00, History Seminar Room, 3205 TLC
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn about how historians have researched and analyzed the definitions and roles of “families” and “communities” in American and southern history; the “family values” of different Americans and southerners; the similarities and differences between individual families and communities; how individual experiences have and have not differed from the myths of American and southern history; and how geography, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, economics, and other historical influences have affected people in different circumstances as they built their families and communities.
Through class discussions and various written assignments about common readings, individual readings, and research tasks on particular families and communities chosen by each student, students will demonstrate their understanding of how different historical resources (public records, statistics, genealogy, oral history, personal letters and diaries, newspapers, and other materials) can clarify the ways in which southerners in particular communities and contexts have come together and sometimes split apart as they tried to solve the problems they faced. Each student will do a research paper focused on a particular family and community. We can adapt this assignment to fit individual thesis topics.
TEXTBOOKS
Articles handed out in class or put on reserve.
Everyone should own or have easy access to the latest editions of Skrunk and White’s The Elements of Style and Turabian’s A Manual for Writers; both volumes of any edition of any U.S. History textbook; a basic survey of southern history such as those by Cooper and Terrill or John B. Boles; and a basic survey of the history of Georgia (probably the one by Coleman) or of whatever state you are researching for your project.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Classes will involve discussion of readings and individual research, occasional lectures by the instructor, guest speakers, videos, group activities, and field trips to special archives. Assignments will include essays on the common readings, written and oral reports on individual research tasks, and a final essay (both an early and a final draft) combining the material covered as a class with the information acquired from individual research.
I. Class Attendance and Participation - 5% of the semester grade
Because this class is a seminar requiring the involvement of everyone, regular attendance and participation are especially important. I shall try to see to it that everyone has a chance to participate and that no individuals dominate the discussion, but I need your cooperation to do this.
If you have to miss a class, you are responsible for discussing with me whether it is excused and for arranging to get any handouts, to find out what was covered in class, and to make up any missed assignments. There will be some classtime spent doing group work or research in the library or a computer lab. During this time you can discuss your project with me as an individual, but you should also meet with me outside of class whenever you feel the need. Too often instructors find out too late about problems that could have been solved fairly easily with earlier notification.
The class discussions will be conducted on the assumption that everyone has read all of the reading assigned for that day and has been doing the assigned research work. Ask any questions you have and say what you had trouble understanding, but always be prepared to present some kind of reaction to the reading. Any extra thoughts you do not express in class can be written on the weekly reports.
II. Weekly Reports and Short Assignments - 5%
Each student shall keep the various assignments and research work in a loose-leaf notebook, including report sheets handed in each week and returned to you during the next class. Notecards may be used for the research, but you should include summations of what they include in the notebook and you will sometimes need to show me the notecards for feedback. Each weekly report sheet will include the following information:
1. What you have read during the week and any thoughts or questions inspired by the reading.
2. What research activities you did, where you did it, and a brief summation of what you learned from the research.
3. Any new thoughts you have about your research project.
4. Any questions or problems you have concerning your project or other aspects of the course.
5. Any suggestions you have for the class and/or any information about your life that you think I should know.
The amount of material connected to each of these issues will probably vary from week to week, but always consider whether you have anything to say in each category. These reports can be casual as long as they are clear. Comments about the reading and class activities are evaluated for the thought and originality they show, not for the degree of historical information they reflect or for the extent to which they indicate that you do or do not agree with me. They are journal-style comments rather than essays and do not have to be typed unless you have absolutely illegible handwriting.
There will be occasional short homework assignments designed to help you develop the knowledge and skills necessary to do a successful research project. These do not have to be typed.
Part of the grade for this segment will be based on the punctuality of your work. If you have a special reason why any of it needs to be late, be sure to discuss with me whether the lateness will be excused.
III. Short Essays - 30%
You will write two 3-5 page essays (each counting 15%), one on some of the common readings and one on a scholarly book you are reading for your essay (chosen with my approval), discussing for each what you learned from the book about southern families and communities and the task of researching them, as well as any positive or negative criticisms you have of the book. Be sure to discuss enough of the different sections of each book to convince me that you have read the entire book. You do not need to include endnotes for these essays but should indicate page numbers in parentheses for any specific quotes or segments of information. These essays should be typed (or printed off a computer) but should not be in any kind of folder.
IV. Individual Research Projects - 60%
Each student will choose a community and a family within that community to research throughout the semester. 5% of the semester grade will be based on the preliminary work done for this project (specially assigned research exercises, progress reports, the amount and quality of work done each week, short oral reports on what you have learned, etc.); 5% on the final annotated and supplementary bibliographies; 20% on the preliminary draft; and 30% on the final paper (ca.20-30 pages) on a focused question connected to what you have learned about your topic and its connection to the other material you have studied during the semester. Students who already have a thesis topic may adapt this assignment to fit their thesis. We shall discuss how to turn the essays into conference papers and articles to submit to journals. More detailed instructions will be handed out about all of this.
V. Academic Honesty
All work handed in at the State University of West Georgia should reflect only the work of an individual student. This does not mean that students should not study together, only that they need to work alone when doing the final version of an assignment. Any use of the ideas, information, or words of anyone else, including paraphrasing of the words and ideas, without crediting them is plagiarism and is a crime. A direct quote of the words (even only a few words) of someone else must be in quotation marks as well as have a note of its source. Any clear evidence of plagiarism or any other kind of cheating on any graded assignment (after consultation with the student) will result in a permanent zero for that assignment. See the section on Academic Honesty in the Catalog or Uncatalog.
SCHEDULE
This schedule is tentative. A few classes may be replaced by field trips to archives or scheduled individual meetings with me. Both the content and the schedule may change somewhat according to the needs of the class, but the major deadlines will not be any earlier. Pay attention to new information on handouts or in class announcements.
August 18 - Introductory Class
1. August 25 - Approaches to Family and Community History
LABOR DAY HOLIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
2. September 8 - Researching Slave Families and Communities
3. September 15 - Using Public Records to Define Communities
4. September 22 - Antebellum Yeomen, County Descriptions, and Popular History
5. September 29 - Families, Communities, and the Civil War
6. October 6 - Economic and Social Developments of the Late Nineteenth Century
7. October 13 - Developing a Focused Topic
8. October 20 - Mill Town Families and Communities
9. October 27 - Community Organizations and Family Values
10. November 3 - PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE
11. November 10 - Communities and Government
12. November 15 - Discussion about rewriting papers
13. November 24 - Conclusions about southern families and communities
14. December 1 - Discussion of individual essay topics
December 8 - FINAL DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE; dinner together