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J.
Mark Souther, Ph.D.
Rhodes Tower 1904
Department of History
Cleveland State University
Spring Semester 2007
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Requirements
Readings
Schedule
Euclid
Corridor Project
Syllabus
(PDF)
Links
Souther
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Assignments
All
assignments prepared outside class must be typed (double-spaced unless
otherwise noted) using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The final draft of
the essay assignment will be emailed, so it must be in Word (.doc) format.
Midterm Examination.
10%
The midterm will consist of consist of short identification terms, an
essay, and a document or image analysis exercise. The exam may draw upon
any material presented in class lectures or in assigned readings.
Secondary-source
Essay. 20%
For this assignment, you will first submit for approval your topic selection,
which you may choose from a list of topics I will provide. Next, you will
identify, with my help, at least 4 scholarly books (8 books for HIS 504
students) that pertain to your topic. You will then prepare a 5-page essay
(8 pages for HIS 504 students), exclusive of endnotes, that introduces
your topic and summarizes the arguments of your books as they relate to
your topic. The essay must include a thesis statement about the overall
nature of the books’ arguments and then demonstrate these arguments,
citing appropriate material from each book as appropriate. You must document
your essay whenever you quote or otherwise present the ideas of others
using Chicago Manual of Style format. See www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
Primary-source
Collection. 20%
Along with the secondary-source essay, this assignment will constitute
the “raw material” from which you will construct your research
paper and visual/sound presentation. For this assignment you must collect,
list, and annotate three types of materials: 1) historical images, 2)
historical sound, and 3) printed sources.
1. For historical images, you must print or photocopy and number at least
15 pertinent images found online on the Cleveland Memory Project (www.clevelandmemory.org)
and in the Cleveland Press Collection at the CSU Special Collections (open
weekdays only).
2. For historical sound, you must listen to oral history interviews from
the Euclid Corridor Oral Project and create 10 pertinent sound clips using
InterClipper (training to be provided in class). You will have access
to InterClipper throughout the semester in an on-campus lab at specified
times or by appointment. Further details will be provided.
3. For printed sources, you must make adequate use of newspaper clippings,
census data, city directories, maps, and any other pertinent primary materials
(training to be provided in class).
After collecting your materials, you should create a list or spreadsheet
in Word or Excel in which you list the source type (image, sound clip,
article, map, etc.), source name/info (article author, title, publication,
and date, for example), place where the source is found (Cleveland Memory
Project, Cleveland Press Collection folder #, Euclid Corridor Oral History
Project, etc.), and one sentence stating the topics/themes of importance
in each source (why you are using it for your project, in short). For
image references, be sure to number them to correspond with the images
as you numbered them. So, you should end up with 1) a stack of photocopied
images, 2) sound clips that you will email to me (or place on a CD), and
3) your annotated list or spreadsheet of sources.
Research Paper. 30%
In the eleventh week of the semester, you will submit your research paper
(hard copy only!), which must be at least 15 pages of body text (20 pages
for HIS 504 students). Your paper must situate your Cleveland-based topic
in the broader historical discussion of the topic, which means you will
use and cite both your primary and secondary sources. Thus, the research
paper, along with your visual/sound presentation (see below), is the culmination
of a cumulative exploration of your topic of urban history both locally
and nationally. As with your secondary-source essay, your research paper
must advance a thesis (argument) about your topic that draws on the material
contained in the sources you have consulted. You should strive to write
with a lively yet analytical style. I will provide suggestions for revision
upon returning your essay. In the fifteenth week of the semester, you
will submit your revised research paper via email for Writing Across the
Curriculum (WAC) credit. (See Writing Across the Curriculum under Policies
below.)
Visual Presentation.
10%
This portion of your project, to be submitted in the fourteenth week,
will consist of a CD containing either a PowerPoint, MovieMaker, iMovie,
or podcast presentation. The presentation allows for considerable artistic
license, but it must contain at least 4 sound clips from interviews and
at least 8 historical images, as well as sufficient text or narration
to identify the clips and images and their historical context. I will
work with each of you individually to secure all electronic files that
you will need to complete this assignment. I will also train you in PowerPoint,
but you are free to use other formats if you are knowledgeable about them.
Final Examination.
10%
The final exam will assume the same format as the midterm but will cover
only material from after midterm.
Policies
Assignment Submissions. All assignments must be submitted in complete
form no later than in class on the due date. Any extenuating circumstances
that prevent submission of an assignment must be brought to my attention
prior to the due date. Any work submitted after the class meeting on the
due date or on the day after will incur a penalty of 10 percent, with
an additional 10 percent subtracted per subsequent day. This means that
if you turn in an assignment that is due on Friday on the following Monday,
you will automatically lose 30 percent of your grade for that assignment.
Extensions. Occasionally extreme circumstances make it difficult or impossible
to submit an assignment on the due date. You may request an extension
in advance. If granted, a new due date will be identified in consultation
with me.
Attendance.
If you anticipate not being able to be in class consistently at the appointed
time, you should withdraw from the course. You are allowed two unexcused
absences during the semester, beyond which you will lose 0.5 points from
your course average per unexcused absence.
Student Conduct. Unacceptable conduct will not be tolerated because it
undermines the learning environment necessary to students’ success.
Unacceptable conduct includes but is not limited to: excessive or disruptive
talking or noisemaking, arriving late to class or leaving early without
notice, intimidating or threatening anyone in the classroom, sleeping,
bringing any activated electronic equipment in the classroom such as cell
phones and pagers.
Academic Integrity. Using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing
those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness,
is a serious offense known as plagiarism. “Ideas or phrasing”
includes written or spoken material ranging from whole papers and paragraphs
to sentences and phrases. “Someone else” can mean a professional
source, such as a published writer or critic in a book, magazine, encyclopedia,
or journal; an electronic resource such as material we discover on the
World Wide Web; another student at our school or anywhere else; and a
paper-writing “service” (online or otherwise) which offers
to sell written papers for a fee. Source: Capitol Community College’s
guide to plagiarism (based on the MLA style): webster.commnet.edu/mla/plagiarism.shtml.
Any assignment is partially or fully plagiarized will automatically incur
a grade of zero (0).
Writing Assistance. The Department of History offers a History Tutoring
Center where you may seek assistance in preparing written work. The Center
is located in Rhodes Tower, Room 1913, and may be reached at (216) 687-3921.
Student Disabilities. If you have a disability, it is your responsibility
to contact the Office of Student Disabilities, which will work with you
to develop a reasonable course of action that will enable you to complete
the course successfully. You must then provide proper documentation to
me if you are requesting any special consideration of your disability.
Writing Across the Curriculum (Applies only to HIS 311). This course meets
the following criteria for the Writing Across the Curriculum General Education
requirement:
1. Students must be required to write a minimum of 2,000 words in writing
assignments.
2. The required writing must be in at least two separate assignments or
drafts. The instructor should give feedback to assist the student in preparing
subsequent papers or drafts of papers. This must include feedback on the
writing. It should not consist entirely of mechanical correction of punctuation
and grammar.
3. In order to receive a C or better in this course, the student must
write at a satisfactory skill level (C or better). If the student’s
writing is weak but shows understanding of the course material, the student
may be assigned a D, in which case WAC credit will not be received for
the course.
4. Maximum enrollment for this course is 35.
In order to receive Writing Across the Curriculum credit for this course,
you must complete the course with at least a C average. You must also
turn in all written work on time in order to avoid substantial penalties
to your grade.
This
image from Peaceful Shaker Village, a late-1920s promotional
booklet for the planned Cleveland, Ohio, suburb of Shaker Heights, shows
fanciful houses in the clouds, ostensibly linked to downtown Cleveland
as symbolized by the Terminal Tower. It suggests a hopeful vision of an
urban future in which downtown and suburb could coexist harmoniously—a
vision which proved illusive.
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