Syllabus
This condensed online syllabus
omits information which is found elsewhere on the course website. The
complete syllabus is also available as an Adobe
Acrobat (PDF) file, which you may prefer if you want to print it out.
Jump to: Requirements
& Grading | Policies | Books
| Readings | Tips for Success
Course goals
This course has several different
goals. By the end of the semester, you should be able to:
- Identify the leading modern
explanations for the European witch-craze and assess their strengths
and weaknesses.
- Find primary and secondary
sources in the library.
- Interpret a primary source,
including identifying possible sources of bias or inaccuracy.
- Identify the main point
of a secondary source and its biases.
- Express your ideas confidently
in oral discussion.
- Write a ten-page argumentative
essay that effectively uses primary sources to respond to arguments
in secondary sources.
You should also think about
your own goals for the course, and reflect on them from time to time.
Course
requirements and grading
As an honors seminar, this
course has high standards and demands a fair amount of work. You are expected
to participate regularly; you will also be expected to do some reading
beyond what is required on the syllabus, and you will write about 35-40
pages over the course of the semester.
There are seven basic requirements
for this course:
1. Attendance and class
participation
Attendance and participation are vital for a successful seminar. In
the seminar room, we will discuss the issues raised by reading assignments.
You must come to class prepared to participate. My role is to choose readings,
raise questions, answer points of information, and moderate the discussion;
the quality of your classroom experience also depends on you and
your classmates. Therefore, I expect you to attend each of the 25 meetings
(after the initial day). You are allowed three absences; for each absence
beyond the third, your participation grade will be lowered by one full
letter grade. If you are called on to read your one-page essay (see #2,
below), and you don’t have it, you will be marked as absent.
If you must miss a class, you
should inform me in advance of the reason, or provide documentation (such
as a note from the doctor) afterwards. You may send e-mail or leave messages
on voice mail (545-1599). Athletes should present a complete schedule
of the days they will miss, in writing, by February 22. If a religious
holiday will prevent you from attending class, please inform me in writing
by February 22. Please note that all absences count against your
limit, except those that are due to religious holidays, athletic events,
or other University-related travel; exceptions will be made only for bona
fide emergencies with documentation from the office of the Dean of Students.
If you attend regularly and
speak at least once in each seminar meeting, your attendance and participation
grade will be a B or better. If you participate frequently (while showing
that you have read and thought about the assigned reading and discussion
questions), it will be an A.
2. Weekly one-page essays
Most weeks you will be required to write a one-page essay addressing
one of the discussion questions for the day. Most of these essays will
be due on Thursday (see the course schedule for specific dates). You will
not be required to hand them in, but each day they are due, three students
will be selected at random to read their essays in order to start the
discussion. If you are called and do not have your essay, you will be
marked as absent for that discussion. At the end of the semester, you
will choose your three best essays for your course portfolio (see below,
under "Grading").
3. Three annotated bibliographies
Early in the semester, you will produce two annotated bibliographies,
one of primary sources and one of secondary sources (we will discuss the
difference in class). At the end of the semester, you will include these
in your course portfolio. After spring break, you will hand in an annotated
bibliography for the final ten-page paper.
4. Primary source analysis
Over the course of the semester, you will write one short (three-page)
analysis of a primary source. At the end of the semester, you will include
a revised version in your course portfolio.
5. Secondary source critique
Over the course of the semester, you will write one short (three-page)
critique of selected secondary sources. At the end of the semester, you
will include a revised version in your course portfolio.
6. Two peer critiques
Over the course of the semester, you will write two brief (one-page)
peer critiques of your fellow students’ secondary source critiques
and primary source analyses. At the end of the semester, you will include
these in your course portfolio.
7. One ten-page argumentative
essay
At the end of the semester, you will hand in a ten-page (2500 word)
minimum argumentative essay, which will use primary sources to address
a problem raised by secondary sources. You will discuss your essay topic
and sources with me during office hours; in the penultimate week of class
you will make a brief presentation of your research to the seminar.
Grading for the course
You will receive detailed instructions
and grading criteria for each assignment. Additionally, you will receive
grades during the semester for assignments 3-6, and you will receive a
midterm assessment of your attendance and participation grade to date.
Here is how the final course grade will be determined:
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Attendance and participation
(requirement #1)
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25% of final grade
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Final course portfolio,
consisting of:
|
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• Best three
one-page papers (requirement #2)
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15% (5% each)
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• Two annotated
bibliographies (requirement #3)
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10% (5% each)
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• Primary source
analysis (requirement #4)
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10%
|
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• Secondary
source critique (requirement #5)
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10%
|
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• Two peer
critiques (requirement #6)
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10% (5% each)
|
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• Ten-page
argumentative essay (requirement #7)
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20%
|
You may rewrite the first four
items in the portfolio (the one-page papers, annotated bibliographies,
source critique, and source analysis) if you like; rewritten items will
be regraded if the original is also included, and the higher
grade used to calculate the final course grade. If the original is not
included, the first grade will stand.
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Policy
on late assignments
Late assignments will have
the maximum grade reduced by one-half letter grade for each working day
they are late (weekends and holidays do not count). Exceptions will be
made only when an extension is granted at least two days in advance of
the due date, or in the case of a bona fide emergency (documentation from
a medical professional or the dean of students may be required).
If an assignment is handed
in late, the same penalties will apply to any rewrites that you do for
the final course portfolio. For example, if your first bibliography is
two days late, and you get a "C" on it, the maximum grade for
the rewrite will also be "B."
If the annotated bibliography
for the final essay (due March 27) is more than a week late, the maximum
grade for the final essay will be reduced by one letter grade. If the
required first draft of the final essay is not turned in within a week,
the maximum grade for the final essay will be reduced by one letter grade.
Policy on academic honesty
Plagiarism is grounds for failure
in the course. Plagiarism consists of either (a) copying the exact words
of another work without both enclosing them in quotation marks
and providing a reference, or (b) using information or ideas from
another work without providing credit, in notes, to the source of the
information or ideas. Submission of a paper copied from another work,
or which contains fictitious or falsified notes, will result in automatic
failure of the course. Please refer to the Undergraduate Rights and
Responsibilities booklet for the University's full policy on academic
honesty.
Why is plagiarism so bad? Learning
depends on trust–the student trusts the teacher to know the subject
and to teach about it clearly, and the teacher trusts the student to show
evidence of learning through exams and other assignments. Plagiarizing
a paper breaches that trust. It is also theft of someone else’s intellectual
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Books
for course
The following required
books have been ordered through Food For Thought Books (106 N. Pleasant
Street, Amherst, tel. 253-5432). They are also on reserve in the DuBois
Library. I have given ISBN numbers in case you want to order them yourself;
I encourage you to support local businesses. They are listed in the order
we will use them, but bookstores begin to return unsold books around the
beginning of November: be sure to buy them while they’re still available.
The suggested books are not in the bookstore but you can order
them if you want.
Required books
- Wayne C. Booth, Gregory
G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, The craft of research (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1995). ISBN 0-226-06584-7. $13.
- Mary Lynn Rampolla,
A pocket guide to writing in history, 3rd ed. (Boston and New
York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001). ISBN 0-312-24766-4. $10.
- Alan C. Kors and
Edward Peters, eds., Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A documentary
history, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
2000). ISBN 0-8122-1751-9. $22.50.
- Robin Briggs, Witches
and neighbors: The social and cultural context of European witchcraft
(New York: Penguin, 1997). ISBN 0-14-014438-2. $16.
- Carlo Ginzburg, The
night battles: Witchcraft and agrarian cults in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983). ISBN:
0-8018-4386-3. $16.
- Paul Boyer and Stephen
Nissenbaum, Salem possessed: The social origins of witchcraft
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974). ISBN 0-674-78526-6.
$16.
Suggested books
- Joseph M. Williams, Style:
Ten lessons in clarity and grace, 6th ed. (New York: Longman, 2000).
ISBN 0-673-98243-2. $22.50. The best guide to improving your writing.
Williams combines detailed explanations of how to write better with
exercises in which you turn bad writing into better writing.
- American Heritage College
Dictionary, 3rd ed. (New York: American Heritage, 1993). ISBN 0-395-67161-2.
$25. Every student should have a good college dictionary; this is the
best. If you can spring for the 4th edition of the American Heritage
Dictionary (the full dictionary on which the college edition is
based), you won’t regret it–though it may take up a lot of
room on your shelf.
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A
note on readings
Additional required readings
will be available on electronic reserve through the library web
page. Electronic reserve is a pilot project of the library reserve department,
and this is one of seven courses in the pilot. All reserve readings will
also be available in traditional reserve format on the third floor of
the library. Electronic reserve is a way to save you big $$$ on course
packs while still offering the convenience of 24/7 access to the reserves.
Because this course is a seminar,
you should bring careful notes on the readings to each meeting. If you
can, bring the books or articles too. However, when reading Booth, you
don’t need to take careful notes–just get the main ideas. You
will want to refer back to Booth when working on your written assignments.
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History 291H is not an easy
course, but if you keep a few simple points in mind, it will be a lot
easier. Here are some tips for doing well in the course. They all are
really aspects of one overarching principle: take responsibility for your
own education!
- Read the syllabus carefully,
and write down in your organizer the dates on which assignments are
due. This will help you budget your time for the weeks when there is
more work than normal.
- Plan to spend 4-8 hours
every week, outside of class, working on the course.
- Complete all the
assigned readings every week in a timely fashion, preferably in one
or two study sessions, and jot down important points in your notes after
finishing the readings. This should take about four hours every week,
or possibly more. As you read each assignment, think about how it relates
to earlier readings and lectures, and jot down some of those thoughts
in your notes. Don’t use a highlighter for note-taking; it substitutes
motion for thought.
- Use reference works to look
up unfamiliar words and concepts.
- If your apartment or dorm
room aren’t quiet places to study, go to the library or somewhere
else quiet. The main level of DuBois Library is a good place because
it has lots of dictionaries and encyclopedias. If you need coffee while
studying, try the Newman Center. Study a lot during the day, then you
can relax in the evening without feeling stressed out or guilty.
- Ask questions about what
you don’t understand, but only after you have tried to answer
them yourself. Part of your college education is learning to be self-reliant.
Who should you ask? Prof. Ogilvie, of course; if your question is factual,
you can also ask a reference librarian.
- Take advantage of Prof.
Ogilvie’s office hours if there are questions you did not have
time to raise in seminar.
- Arrive for class on time,
and pay attention to what everyone says. Take good notes. If you need
guidance on note-taking, Learning Support Services (DuBois Library,
10th floor) offers a Note Taking Workshop several times each semester.
They also offer workshops in time management and test-taking should
you feel in need of help in those areas.
- Start work on each written
assignment as soon after you receive it as your schedule allows. Complete
a rough draft of the primary source analysis and secondary source critique
at least five days before they are due, and revise all your papers at
least once before you hand them in. Be sure to copyedit and proofread
your papers carefully.
- Consider forming an informal
study group.
- Talk to Prof. Ogilvie if
you feel overwhelmed or if you are falling behind in the course. My
main goal is to help you learn
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