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The assignments listed on the Seminar Schedule page will provide core readings for the course. Books are available at the Campus Bookstore, and copies are also available on reserve in Stauffer Library. NB: Some of the books and articles are only available on reserve, and there is no need to buy all the books for the course. The scheduled readings provide both focii and springboards to further inquiry. There are also many textbooks available in the library. If you lack familiarity with American history, it would be a good idea to consult a text when you feel it necessary. View the HIST 454/854 book list here.
Students will also have the option to join the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) or the Peace History Society (PHS), at a moderate fee, for 1999-2000. Diplomatic History and Peace & Change are first-rate historical journals, while H-Diplo provides lively internet give-and-take on issues related to foreign policy past and present. Students are also directed to my web page, for additional interesting course and field information, as well as intriguing links and other stuff. The address for the "Real Geoff Smith" home page, under construction, is http://post.queensu.ca/~smithgs. And I note emphatically that although the internet contains much garbage, it also serves as a site of huge potential. Internet research is fine; but always cite your path/source.
Commencing with the fourth week of class, and each week
thereafter, selected members of the seminar will prepare written reports,
which will provide the focus of our discussions. These papers should be
typed, from five-to-seven pages in length (no more than ten pp., please!)
and provide concise examples of good prose style. If the report is a book
review, the student should show familiarity with the author's other
writings, as well as having read the work assigned. The review should
also discuss the importance of the author as an historian (political
scientist, journalist, diplomat, former president or secretary of state,
et al.) and his/her unique contribution, if any, in terms of
interpretation, methodology, synthesis, pioneering effort, or lasting
influence. In analyzing the book (or books, or other historical sources),
attention should be accorded the scope, organization, quality and type of
research, sources used, major points presented, and the importance of the
author's interpretation. Where possible, that interpretation should be
related briefly to other important interpretations relating to topic(s)
under consideration. If parts of several books, chapters, articles,
and/or documents are read by one student, emphasis should be placed upon
points of agreement and disagreement. In all written work, emphasis will
be placed upon the student's ability to locate sources and to use evidence
to develop her/his argument(s) in a cogent manner, in addition to her/his
clarity in writing.
Topics for seminars for respective fall and winter
terms will be assigned, during the first and second weeks for the fall,
and in the last two weeks of the fall term for the winter term.
Concurrent with a student's preparation of a paper, that student will have
the responsibility of leading the seminar, by presenting a short oral
report (fifteen to twenty minutes), on her/his work for the week. Two or
three students will follow these "keynoters," in the capacity of
commentator/critics. The commentators will briefly (five to ten minutes)
will reflect upon their understanding of and conclusions drawn from the
readings, as well as presenting observations about the strengths and
weaknesses of the keynote presentations. Rebuttals and general
discussions will follow. We want these sessions to be lively, insightful,
and constructive. I feel strongly that far from being evil in themselves,
argument and disagreement among well-informed and thoughtful people
comprise the foundation of intellectual development. Completed essays will fall due on the Friday following
the seminar in which the keynoter(s) and commentator(s) made their
presentations. Each student will write two papers and lead two seminars
during the fall term. Each student will also serve as a commentator on two
occasions. During the winter term, each student will do one keynote
presentation and short paper, and one critique, as well as the research
paper assignment (see below):
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