Requirements
| Professor: Jordana Dym |
| Email:jdym@skidmore.edu |
| Phone:580-5272 |
| Office: TLC 326 |
| Office Hours: M, Tu 2:30-3:30 or by appointment |
HISTORY 108
Colonial Encounters in Latin America
REQUIREMENTS
Sheet from the Huejotzingo Codex Products and services provided as tribute, including a banner with Madonna and Child. Huejotzingo Codex, on Amalt paper, 1531. Harkness Collection. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, from it's on-line Exhibit, 1492: An Ongoing Voyages
1. Participation-20 % All students will be expected to come to class, keep up with weekly readings and participate in class and section discussions. Instructor will look for faithful attendance, ability to comment on weekly readings, thoughtful participation, and a desire to create a friendly, respectful and articulate atmosphere in the class room. 5% will be assigned for attendance, 15% for participation, which may include in-class quizzes on an occasional basis.
2. Observation Essay- 10% This assignment, due Sept. 11, requires students to examine a physical, rather than textual, primary source. After picking an Aztec or Mayan object in the Tang Museum's permanent collection, students will write a two to three page narrative essay that first describes the physical object, and then explains what that object suggests about the society that made it. WITHOUT using other sources-textbooks, primary accounts-the paper will reflect on the advantages and limitations of this kind of object as a historical source. What aspects of life are revealed? What can you not say based on this kind of evidence? What other kinds of evidence might help corroborate your interpretation? Recommended resources for writing: The Skidmore Guide to Writing; Professor Dym's Resources for Writing.
3. Discussion Essay 10% Students will sign up to provide discussion questions and lead class analysis of a reading in Colonial Lives once during the semester. In addition to handing a 3-4 page (750-900 word) analysis on the day of dicussion, students will e-mail the rest of the class a minimum of 3 discussion questions 24 hours before class. Discussion should last between 7-10 minutes. On days when several documents are scheduled for discussion, students should work together to come up with a set of related questions. For tips on reading a primary source, see P. Rael (Bowdoin College), Reading. See also History Dept. Prof. Patricia Lee's helpful hints, Guidelines for Writing a Critical Book Review.
4. Colonial Documents-40% Each student will create four colonial documents over the course of the semester. Each document, of 3-4 pages (750-1000) words, will highlight a key theme or problem of a particular place and time in colonial histiory and will communicate, in appropriate language, style & content, the issue to the reader. Students will choose the type of document-will, letter, trial testimony, city council meeting, sermon, decree, account, report, book excerpt, etc.-and create an author (a historial or imaginary figure) that they think is appropriate, create content that is appropriate to that type of document & author, and then present their document in dicussion section. There may be continuity between assignments, or each may develop a separate theme. Students are expected to consult additional bibliographic sources, such as articles on daily life in the colonial period, to enrich the content of each document. A more detailed discussion of this assignment will be available in the second week of class.
Document
1: Contact (Sepetmber 30)
Document 2: First Generation (October 21)
Document 3: Colonial Order (Stability) (November 4)
Document 4: A New Order (Bourbon Reform Period) (November 25)
The exam will be a comprehensive review of the material from the course, and will consist of identification and essay questions that ask the student to explain and interpret important ideas, institutions, events and personages. Students will be required to make use of both primary and secondary sources in their exam, making explicit reference to both ideas and content.