In many ways, this unit is the heart of the course. Each week, we will explore using a different type of primary source, or a different approach to history research / methodology. Tuesday will be the discussion day for a reading, Thursday will be a lab or workshop day giving you a chance to practice applying the week’s approach or source base. Please bring laptops on Thursdays throughout this unit.

Here’s a quick overview of the unit –

Reading links and files for the Tuesday assignments are found in Blackboard –> Content –> Unit 2

In Paper #2 (due Nov 7), you will choose a topic that could be investigated by practicing what we’ve done in these “labs” and craft a well-organized, evidence-based historical paper …
• using the same type of sources as one of our labs … or …
• using the same investigative technique as one of our labs … or …
• using the same analytical methodology as one of our labs … or …
• using one of the unit’s assigned readings as a model

In other words, you will take what we have read or done in one of our in-class labs and APPLY it in a new context to a topic of your own choosing, and for which you need to do your own independent source research and analysis. I strongly encourage you to choose a method or source base with which you are less familiar, or which represents a stretch outside your comfort zone. The purpose of this paper (and the entire unit, really) is to take a risk, explore, and experiment.