573A   SEMINAR AMER HIST SINCE 1789    (Barrett, J.)
Topic: Immigration, Race, and Class in 20th Century America
This will be a research seminar in American social history of the twentieth century with a special emphasis on class, race, and ethnicity in working-class populations. We will focus on the historical experiences of common people -- at home, in the workplace, or in the community. Projects focusing on women's, family, urban, intellectual and cultural, and other types of historical research are welcome as long as they focus on non-elites. My own interests at the moment involve the personal dimensions of American labor radicalism in the twentieth century / ethnic and racial identity and relations among workers from diverse backgrounds / and cosmopolitan experiences and outlooks among workers. I am also interested in religious belief, the nature of emotional bonds, and generational conflict within immigrant wage earning families.
There are several goals in the seminar: The first is to develop an impression of the key historiography up to this point. This reading part of the seminar will be concentrated early in the term with most of the remainder of the term set aside for research and writing. A second goal is to consider some new conceptual approaches, not in the abstract, but as they might be implemented with new sources and research methods. The course also aims to introduce students to the research process itself -- choosing and refining a topic; developing analytical questions to frame your work; identifying and securing sources; writing and revising one's work; criticizing and helping others with theirs. We will be looking at a wide variety of sources and methods by visiting parts of the library and other research venues and by talking with colleagues who have particular research skills. The ultimate aim, of course, is to produce a substantial, original research paper that will be shared with others -- in the seminar itself, at a conference, or even eventually through publication.
In order to equip students with the information they need to do their research and writing, we will meet twice each week, once at the scheduled meeting time and once at a mutually convenient time in the evening, for the first several weeks of the term. From that point on, students will be working on their own, though I will meet with you individually to discuss your projects. The group will reassemble around the middle of the term to discuss research proposals and again toward the end of the term to discuss rough drafts. Although we have a wonderful research library and other resources on campus, it may be necessary to do some traveling and to use inter-library loan. We will discuss these and other scheduling problems early in the term, but students should be thinking about them and developing a topic, in advance of the seminar.
Grades in the course are based not only on the final paper, but also on one's role in the collective work of the seminar -- discussions of the literature, sources, and methods and constructive criticism of one's own and other students' work. Shorter written assignments will include ideas for research topics, research proposals, bibliographies, and critiques of others' papers. These exercises will constitute steps toward the final paper. Please be prepared to work collectively by sharing ideas and sources and reading one another's work seriously. Final drafts of all papers will be due during the final exam period at the end of the semester and, in the interests of the students involved, I will not provide extensions on the deadlines.
        I will be glad to discuss your research interests with you before the beginning of the fall semester.