assignments

Given the likelihood that this semester will happen in a Microsoft Teams video window, we will need to front load our discussion asynchronously online.

• Leading Discussion. Each of you will lead discussion twice this semester. As discussion leader, you’ll bring together the questions and comments from pre-class chats, look at reviews, and put together a series of questions to help guide our discussion. We need to read these books simultaneously in a three ways: 1. For the internal structure; 2. For its intervention in the literature; 3. For its relevance and coherence to today.

• Pre-meeting chats. In order to keep our video sessions at a reasonable length, I would like us to set-up our synchronous discussions with some pre-meeting chats. There are two ways to do this– finish the assigned readings completely before you post, or post along the way as you are thinking through things. You may pose questions, observations about the three types of reading listed above, etc. You may also post in response to each other. If we can get some good work done in the chat no later than Sunday evening and Monday, your comrade-at-arms on Tuesday will be in a good place to take us deeper into discussion.

• Primary source papers. Twice during the semester you will write papers analytical papers using the two source readers assigned for the semester. Pick a theme and chose a set of documents to investigate that theme. Complement the documents with our secondary reading and any research you deem necessary to analyze the documents. You can write on procedure, on the implication to historical method or philosophy more generally, on a thematic concern, etc. Be adventuresome and smart. We will discuss your papers in Week 8 (Homza Reader) and Week 14 (Chuchiack Reader).