Your assignments this semester include the following.

• A 15- to 25-page original research paper, including shorter “benchmark” assignments (60% of course grade)
• Weekly short comments on assigned readings (25%)
• Contributions to seminar discussions (15%)

Research Project (60% of course grade)

Your major assignment for this course is to write an original, thesis-driven research paper on some question related to the course theme. The paper can either be an original work of history that uses primary and secondary sources to answer some question about abolitionism itself, or it can be an historiographical paper that uses scholarly sources to analyze, trace changes in, and explain the way past historians have understood a particular aspect of American abolitionism. We will talk much more about these possibilities in class. Your final paper should be 15–25 typed, double-spaced pages (including footnotes).

Because of the length and complexity of this assignment, this is a writing-intensive course that will require substantial investments of your time outside of class. But be aware that I will be available throughout the semester, both in and out of class, to help you succeed. Your fellow classmates will also assist you in refining your project and completing your final paper.

In order to complete this assignment, you will:

• Identify a topic for research
• Locate primary and secondary sources related to your topic
• Devise a narrower research question
• Develop an original thesis that addresses that question
• Write a paper that defends that thesis and relates it to some existing scholarship on your topic

A great deal of class time will be spent explaining in detail how to complete these steps, and much more information will be distributed on the blog or in class. You will also be required to complete a variety of smaller, “benchmark” assignments that will help you prepare for the final paper. These “benchmark” assignments include:

• An informal email to me the week by February 14 discussing your interests or possible ideas for the research paper
• “Two Topics” Memo: a short, one-page list of two potential research topics, along with at least two primary sources and two secondary sources you have identified on each topic (due in my email inbox by noon on February 21)
• Proposal: a two- to three-page proposal explaining your topic, the question you want to answer about your topic, and the sources you intend to use (due in my email inbox before midnight on Sunday, March 11)
• “Primary Source” Memo, a short summary of one significant source document you have found for your research, to be shared with the seminar on March 20
• Outline of your paper due by noon on March 29
• “Three to Seven Page” Memo, a rough draft of three to seven pages from your paper, due by noon on April 5
• Complete First Draft, due by midnight on April 12; you will distribute the draft both to me and to a peer reviewer in the course whom I will designate, and we will meet with you during the final week of classes to discuss your draft and suggest revisions

Completion of the smaller “memo” and draft assignments are designed to help you perform well on the final paper and ease your anxiety about the final product. Moreover, since part of the objective of this seminar is to introduce you to the tasks of working historians, it’s imperative to know that drafting, outlining, planning, and getting feedback are essential parts of what historians do.

These “benchmark assignments” will not receive individual grades, because the point of them is for you to get regular, informal feedback from me and your classmates before handing in the final paper. Nonetheless, they are required assignments, and failure to complete them by the stated deadlines will make it very difficult for you to produce an “A” final paper. On days when we will be discussing student work in class, you will be asked to leave if you do not have material to present. Unless you have a medical emergency, I will not accept these benchmark assignments late, so failure to meet the deadline means you won’t get feedback from me. I should be notified about any medical emergencies or potential setbacks to completing work on time as soon as they arise.

The Final Draft of your paper is due in my email inbox by 5 p.m. on May 2. I will distribute a grading rubric beforehand that will explain exactly how I will assess your final paper. You will be able to see this rubric long before turning in the paper, and it should help guide revisions of your drafts along the way.

Comments on Weekly Assigned Readings (25% of course grade)

In addition to being a writing intensive course, this is a reading intensive course, especially in the first half of the semester. Every week will have assigned readings, and every week I will post some reading questions on the home page of this blog. By noon on the day of our meeting, you should post a comment in response to one of these questions on the blog. While you must answer one of the questions, you can also use your comment to raise other questions of interest to you about the readings or respond to another student’s comment. Days when you can expect to have comments due are indicated on the schedule below.

I will give you some feedback on your comments after our February 2 meeting, including a rough grade of your comments to date. This will give you some indication of how you are doing in the comments, but only your final grade on the reading comments will count towards your grade. An “A” on this assignment means that your comments were consistently accurate, thoughtful, based on specific evidence and examples drawn from the reading, and written in direct answer to one of the questions I posed. A “B” means your comments were mostly accurate but insufficiently supported with evidence and examples or not always relevant to the questions at hand. A “C” means you posted the comment but give little evidence of thoughtful engagement with the reading—as evidenced either by widespread inaccuracy, very limited use of the texts, clear unfamiliarity with the arguments of the book, or lack of comprehension of the readings questions posed. If you receive a grade less than “C” when I give you an initial report after February 2, you need to make an appointment to speak with me personally.

Your comment should be about 300 words, though longer posts are also acceptable. It should be free of grammatical and typographical errors. It must be posted by noon on the day of our meeting unless there is an emergency that you can document to my satisfaction; late comments will not be accepted, and missing comments will lower your grade on this assignment. You should treat your post with the same seriousness and attention to detail as you would give to a response paper handed in to me, while also taking seriously your responsibility to inform and engage your fellow classmates.

Seminar Contributions (15% of course grade)

This course will be run as a seminar, which means that your participation is crucial to its success. That participation should come mainly in two forms, which will be weighted equally:

First, you should contribute regularly to in-class discussions. Many of our class periods will be spent discussing assigned texts. That means you should come prepared to talk about the required readings and should spend time thinking about any discussion questions that I circulate beforehand. Whereas in a lecture course you might take most of your notes in class, in a seminar it’s a good idea to take most of your notes before class so that you will be prepared to contribute to the discussion. As you read, jot down questions about the readings, summarize their major arguments, brainstorm potential problems with the readings, etc., and then use these notes to assist you in class.

Secondly, you should give feedback to your fellow historians in the seminar about their research projects. Informally, this means attending to and commenting on student’s projects whenever we discuss them in class. Formally, it means that you will be assigned as a “peer reviewer” for one of your classmates. Towards the end of the semester, you will exchange complete rough drafts with your partner, and you will be responsible for writing a thoughtful, 300–600 word memo to him/her with comments and suggestions about the draft. You will also be required to meet with me and your peer reviewer to discuss the draft.

An “A” student will make regular, consistently excellent contributions to the intellectual community of the course, though the quality of your contributions is more important than their quantity. You are free to speak with me throughout the semester about how you are doing in class, and I encourage you to do so. Your performance in this course is ultimately your responsibility.