Hist 3000 Introduction to Historical Studies (ctw) Georgia State University

Dr. Marni Davis

Office: 25 Park Place, 20^th floor

Email: marnidavis@gsu.edu

Phone: 404-413-6388
OBJECTIVES

This course serves as an introduction for history majors and others who are interested in the methods historians use to research, study, and write about the past. In other words, it will offer the fundamentals of how historians “do history.” Over the course of the semester, we will try our hand at a range of practices and strategies. We will focus on three endeavors in particular: reading, through analysis of both primary and secondary source texts; researching, in libraries and archives as well as on the internet; and writing, which includes attention to prose style, essay construction, and proper methods of citation.

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  Students will be introduced to the tools historians use to engage, evaluate, and produce historical scholarship, and they will become familiar with the methods historians employ in their work.
  
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  Students will learn and regularly practice the reading, research and writing skills that will help them to excel in upper-level history courses.
  
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  Students will develop their “critical thinking” skills.^*
  

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  You are required to purchase a copy of Mary Lynn Rampolla’s A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (Bedford/St. Martin’s). Please make sure to purchase the 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th edition.
  
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  In addition, you are required to purchase an Essay Reader. It is available at Printing & More Downtown ATL, at 18 Decatur St. S.E. (between Park Place and Peachtree).
  

READ FOR TODAY:

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  “Atlanta” in New Georgia Encyclopedia (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/atlanta)
  
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  and: visit from Tim Merritt for introduction to WordPress
  

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  If someone asked you for a timeline of the history of Atlanta that included the ten “most important” events, which ten from the New Georgia Encyclopedia article would you choose? Write a little bit (a paragraph will do) about why you made the choices you did.
  

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  By the beginning of today’s class, go to sites.gsu.edu and start a personal blog.
  

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Blaine A. Brownell, “The Urban South Comes of Age, 1900-1940.” The City in Southern History, Blaine A. Brownell and David Goldfield, ed.s (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1977): 123-158. (Essay Reader)
  

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  How does Brownell structure his essay? On no more than a single page (single spaced, 12-point font), outline Brownell’s chapter on the urban south in the early twentieth century.
  

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  Go take a picture of your favorite space or building in downtown Atlanta. Selfies are encouraged. By the beginning of class today, post your picture to the “Class Blog” on HooS, along with a brief explanation of why that’s your favorite space or building in the neighborhood.
  

1/25: One Event, Two Approaches

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Mark Bauerlein, “September Morning, 22 September 1906, Atlanta.” Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906 (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2001): 135-173. (Essay Reader)
  
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  Gregory Mixon, “‘Good Negro – Bad Negro’: The Dynamics of Race and Class in Atlanta during the Era of the 1906 Riot.” Georgia Historical Quarterly vol. 81.3 (Fall 1997): 593-621. (Essay Reader)
  

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  What are two or three significant differences between Bauerlein’s and Mixon’s historical analyses of the 1906 Race Riot?
  

1/27: Periodizing the Atlanta Landscape

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Karen Luehrs and Timothy J. Crimmins, “In the Mind’s Eye: The Downtown as Visual Metaphor for the Metropolis,” Atlanta Historical Journal, Vol. XXVI, no. 2-3 (Summer-Fall 1982), 177-198. (Essay Reader)
  

2/1: Downtown walking tour with Randy Boyd, Atlanta Preservation Center (Class meets at a downtown location TBD – wear your walking shoes!)

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Nancy MacLean, “The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Making of Reactionary Populism.” The Journal of American History, vol. 78.3 (Dec. 1991): 917-948. (Essay Reader)
  

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  Is MacLean making an argument about her subject? In other words, does she have a thesis? If so, what is it?
  
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  Is MacLean attempting to revise prior interpretations of the history of the topic? If so, who and what is she arguing against?
  

2/8: Race, Politics, and Culture in Atlanta Before and After World War II

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Ronald H. Bayor, “Race and City Services: The Shaping of Atlanta’s Police and Fire Departments.” Atlanta History, vol 36.3 (September 1992): 19-35. (Essay Reader)
  
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  Scott Libson, “The Lost Picture Show: Remapping the Cinema Landscape of Segregated Atlanta.” Atlanta Studies, January 2015. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/atlantastudies/2015/01/30/the-lost-picture-show-remapping-the-cinema-landscape-of-segregated-atlanta/
  

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  Is Bayor making an argument about his subject? In other words, does he have a thesis? If so, what is it?
  
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  What can we learn about Atlanta in the early twentieth century from the digital maps of the city’s segregated theatre culture? What else would you want to know about these theatres, and how might you find this information?
  

2/10: Urban Renewal

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Daniel Judt, “Limitations of the Past: Atlanta’s Stadium and Atlanta’s Image, 1960-2015.” Yale Historical Review (Spring 2015): 81-109.
  

2/15: Primary Sources: Why Historians Need Them / Discussion of Paper #2

READ FOR TODAY:

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  Clarissa Myrick-Harris and Norman Harris, “Atlanta in the Civil Rights Movement.” Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education (ARCHE), http://www.atlantahighered.org/civilrights/index.asp (Essay Reader)
  

2/24: Meet with Tim Merritt, Center for Instruction Innovation @ GSU, for WordPress training (Class meets today in Classroom South 403/405 – if you own a laptop, make sure to bring it and use it in class today)

DO ONLINE:

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  By class today, you are to have located two primary sources that can be used as evidence in our historical analysis of the protests at Leb’s Restaurant. Please have easy access to digital copies, either as a .pdf or a link/URL.
  

2/29: How to analyze a primary source

DO ONLINE:

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  By the beginning of class today, you are to have uploaded to the HooS media library two primary sources that we can use as evidence in our historical analysis of the protests at Leb’s. Make sure to include the proper citation for each source.
  

DO ONLINE (short writing assignment #6):

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  Choose one of the primary sources you uploaded to the media library, write an analysis, and post it to the class blog.
  

3/7: Library Session with Jill Anderson: How to Find Secondary Sources (Class meets today in Classroom 2, Library North)

HAND IN TODAY (short writing assignment #7):

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  What place, person, or event in Atlanta’s history do you intend to research for your report on downtown Atlanta (paper #3)? Why is it of interest to you? What do you already know about it, and what do you want to find out?
  
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  IMPORTANT: Make sure you include the current address for the location that will be pinned on HooS.
  

DO ONLINE:

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  By the beginning of class today, you are to have uploaded a Sanborn map for your project to the HooS media library, and added it to your project post. Make sure to include the proper citations.
  

4/4: Meet with Tim Merritt for WordPress training (Class meets today

in Classroom South 403/405 – if you own a laptop, make sure to bring it and use it in class today)

DO ONLINE:

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  By the beginning of class today, you are to have uploaded a photo of what your research site looks like now, as well as a historical photo (if you can find one), to the HooS media library, and added them to your project post. Make sure to include the proper citations.
  

4/6: Library Session with Kathryn Michaelis: Copyrights, Permissions, and Fair Use (Class meets today in Classroom 1, Library North)

HAND IN TODAY (short writing assignment #8):

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  Give the full and proper citation for THREE secondary sources (all scholarly books and articles) that you will be using for your final project.
  
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  For each source, give a brief synopsis: what is the topic, and what is the thesis?
  

4/11: Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s Collections (Class meets today on the 5^th floor of the Central Library, at One Margaret Mitchell Square)

HAND IN TODAY (short writing assignment #9):

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  Give the full and proper citation for THREE primary sources that you will be using for your final project. At least two of them must be written sources.
  
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  For each one, do a brief primary source analysis.
  

4/18: What we struggle with when we write history

HAND IN TODAY:

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  Full draft of written component of research report (Bring THREE hard copies to class AND submit to the appropriate Dropbox on D2L/Brightspace. Please note that if you do not hand in a draft, you cannot receive an A for the “short writing assignments” portion of your final grade.)
  
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  AND: If you are using any images from the Atlanta History Center Album, please email me the title of the photo and its catalog number by class today, so that I can request permission for use.
  

4/20: Meet with Tim Merritt for WordPress training (Class meets today

in Classroom South 403/405 – if you own a laptop, make sure to bring it and use it in class today)

HAND IN TODAY:

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  By the beginning of class today, email me one or two sentences (no more than 25 words) that will describe your project on your map pin’s window.
  

4/25 (Last Day of Class): Peer Review of research report drafts

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  Write-up of peer review (Please note that you will not receive credit for this assignment unless you have also handed in a draft.)
  

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  LATE REPORTS WILL NO LONGER BE ACCEPTED AFTER 5:00pm ON MONDAY, MAY 2.