History 350a
"Biography in United States History"
Dr. Light T. Cummins
Fall 2006

Meets Sherman Hall 209
Tuesday 7:00-10:00 pm
Zap Number 40211


Course Description

This course will examine the art and science of biography in United States history as a special form of historiographical analysis. The writing of history and the writing of biography are not exactly the same, although they are allied intellectual enterprises.  Biographers, although by necessity writers who must understand the historical process, deal with different dynamics in order to successfully relate their subject to the historical eras in which they lived.  This course will examine biography as a form of historical expression and examine the working lives of several biographers.  Students will write their own biographical term paper in order to implement what they have learned.  The course will focus on biographies from Texas history, although others will also be included as case studies.  This will be a participatory course involving much student discussion, written and oral reporting, in- class projects, and outside of class research.  It will not be taught in lecture format, so regular class attendance will be stressed.

Students are advised that the authors of each of the biographies that we will read will be present, attending the class on the evening that their respective books will be discussed. The expectation is that the students will have closely read these biographies and will have developed procedural, historiographical, and methodoligical questions that will be discussed with each author. The instructor of the class will participate with the class in developing these questions before the respective visit of each author.

Learning Objectives

Students will gain an understanding of the following skills: historical research in primary documents and secondary sources, proper note-taking and research skills, organization of materia, and the methods of writing a biography. They will also gain an understanding of the schools of historiographical interpretation employed by historians of the United States.
  

Grading
This class is a participatory seminar that involves much student discussion and the writing of a biographical paper. There will be no pure lectures or written examinations. Instead, class discussion grades and writing assignments will constitute all of the graded work. They will count in the following manner:

1. Class discussion will constitute 30% of the final course grade. After each seminar meeting, the instructor will record the student's discussion grade for that evening. An individual discussion grade can be confidentially inspected by a particular student at any time during the semester with the instructor.

2. There will be four reaction papers that will be worth 20% of the final course grade. After the visit of each author to the class, the students will write a two page reaction paper that summaries the discussion that the class had with that author. Verbal guideslines for the content of these papers will be given at the appropriate points in the course since the comments and context that should be developed in them will be directly related to the course materials. The paper will be due at the next meeting of the seminar after the visit of an author.

3. Each student will write a 10 to 15 page biographical paper. This will be worth 50% of the course grade.


Course Requirements

Students may take this course under only by permission of Instructor. For that reason, the requirements of the course assume a relatively high degree of self direction and motivation on the part of the individual student. There will be only fourteen meetings of the seminar during the semester, with the majority of each meeting devoted to discussion, dialogue, and participation by each class member. Hence, much of the grade as an evaluation of the student's performance will be based upon the assessment made by the instructor. They will be expected at all times to be prepared for class and participate in seminar discussions. 

Books

The following books are required. Each book should be read by the time that it appears in the class schedule below.

Lloyd E. Abrosius. Writing Biography
Randolph B. Campbell. Sam Houston
Gregg Cantrell. Stephen F. Austin
Patrick Cox. Ralph Yarborough
Hendrickson, Collins, and Cox. Profiles in Power

The Style Manual will be as follows. Term papers will be written according to its style guidelines.
Turabian. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Disseratations. Chicago. Numerouse editions.

Graduate Students

Those students taking this course for graduate credit are expected to complete an additional research project of a substantial nature. These students should consult with the instructor as soon as possible order to discuss individually this requirement.
Seminar Activities
UNIT I

Meeting 1 Tuesday Aug 29. "The Discipline of History and Biography"
    1. Course Introduction
    2. Aids to Finding
    3. Biographical Topics

Meeting 2, Tuesday Sep 5. "The Philosophy of History and Biography"
    1. What is History?
    2. What is Biography?
    3. Students will have read Lloyd Ambrosius Writing Biography by this class meeting.       

Meeting 3, Tuesday Sep 12. "Research and Evaluation"
    1. Use of Sources
    2. Basic Mechanics
    3. Students will have read on the Sidney Fish Controversy by this time.  Read the following items:
          Sidney Fish's New York Times Op-Ed Piece
          Kenneth Silverman's Response

Meeting 4, Tuesday Sep 19. "Methods of Expression and Conventions"
    1. Introduction to Interpretation
    2. Research Reports 

UNIT II

Meeting 5, Tuesday Sep 26. "Case Studies, Part I"
    1. Schools of Historiography
    2. Bibliographic Review and Criticism
    3. Conversation with Hendrickson and Collins Profiles in Power.

       To Learn more about  Kenneth Hendrickson, Jr.
                                              Michael Collins

Meeting 6, Tuesday Oct 3. "Case Studies, Part II"
    1. Bibliographic Review and Criticism
    2. Anne McMeans
    3. Emily Austin
 

Meeting 7, Tuesday Oct 10. "Case Studies, Part III"
    1. Bibliographic Review and Criticism
    2. Conversation with Gregg Cantrell Stephen F. Austin

        To learn more about Gregg Cantrell

Meeting 8, Tuesday Oct 17. "Case Studies, Part IV"
    1. Bibliographic Review and Criticism
    

Meeting 9, Tuesday Oct 24. "Case Studies, Part V"
    1. Bibliographic Review and Criticism
    2. Conversation with Randolph B. Campbell Sam Houston

     To Learn more about Randolph B. Campbell

UNIT III

Meeting 10, Tuesday Oct 31. Research Practicum
    1.   Visit of Bart Dredge
     2.  Term Paper Planning

Meeting 11, Tuesday Nov 7. "Case Studies, Part VI"
     1.  Bibliogrpahic Review and Criticism
     2. Conversation with Patrick Cox Ralph Yarbarough

          To Learn more about Patrick Cox

Meeting 12, Tuesday Nov 21. Research Practicum

First Draft of Completed Paper due by 5:00 pm on Monday, Nov 27 in my office.

Meeting 13 Tuesday Nov 28. Presentation of Papers

Meeting 14, Dec 5. Presentation of Papers.

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