History 397F University of Massachusetts, Amherst

L. Lovett

Research Assignment

For this assignment, you will be asked to collect and analyze a set of five primary sources. The sources you select must all support some claim about the historical context for some aspect of normalcy or disability.

For instance, you may be interested in the nuclear family. For this assignment you will need to make a claim about the nuclear family and its historical context, such as “The nuclear family was promoted as a social norm in the post-war era as a way to encourage women to not seek employment outside of the home.”

Your report on your research should have three components: (1) a statement of the claim you are investigating, (2) a description of the five sources that you have assembled, and (3) an explanation of how those sources support your claim.

Your research reports should be typed, doubled spaced, and 7-8 pages in length. While your report need not be written as an essay, you should strive to make a compelling case for your claim that engages your reader. You must include citations and a bibliography for all sources used in your report.

This assignment will require you to spend some time in the library seeking out materials. A list of suggested research resources will also be posted on the course website.

Exemplary assignments may be eligible to be incorporated into the Disability History Museum website, provided that their content is appropriate and their sources are not under copyright restrictions. As a rule of thumb, anything published after 1925 is copyrighted.

Your report must have a signed cover sheet (available at http://people.umass.edu/llovett/cover.html).

Please review the paper Writing Guidelines for this course before you begin to research or write. (Available at http://people.umass.edu/llovett/writing.html.)

DUE In Class Tuesday, December 6th, 2005