History 495A/713:
New History in Old
Professor Terry Bouton
Phone: 410-455-2056
E-MAIL: bouton[at]umbc.edu
Office: 722 Administration Bldg.
Office Hours: Tues. 2pm-3:30pm; Thurs.
10:15am-11:15am and by appointment
(It is always best to email before you plan to come to office hours so I can block out time for you. I typically schedule meetings with students and advisees during office hours, so it's best to contact me before you plan to arrive to make certain I'm available.)
Course Description:
History 495A/713 is not your typical history course. This class is
going to be an applied history course—or a course in public
history—that will center on “Carroll’s Hundred” at
Readings:
The following are available for purchase at the campus bookstore. If
you're shopping for used copies, you may be able to save some money by
purchasing from www.amazon.com, http://half.ebay.com/index.jsp
or www.bookfinder.com.
1) Richard Handler and Eric Gable, The
New History in an
2)
Jessica Foy Donnelly, Interpreting Historic
3)
Barbara Amramoff Levy, et al, Great Tours!: Thematic
Tours and Guide Training for Historic Sites (American Association for State
and Local History),
Requirements:
The various tests and assignments for the course will produce a possible 300 points. Your total grade for the class will be determined by tallying your scores the following five elements:
PARTICIPATION: 50 pts.
PRESENTATION:
25 pts.
REFLECTION PAPER:
25 pts.
PROJECT: 100 pts.
POSTINGS:
100 pts
___
TOTAL GRADE: 300 pts.
At the end of the semester: 360-400 points will be an A
320-359 points will be a B
280-319 points will be a C
240-279 points will be a D
Below 240 points will be an F
Participation: (50 Points)
In large part, the success of this course will depend on everyone's active
participation in classroom discussion. Fifty points of your participation
grade will depend on regular class attendance, coming to scheduled meetings,
and your contributions to discussions. The final twenty-five points will
be based on a 7-10 page paper that
Presentation: (25 Points)
Every student will give a 15-minute presentation of their project at the end of the semester. The presentation should be an informative and engaging display of what you have accomplished this semester. I’ll leave it to you to decide how you present what you have done this semester. Creative and entertaining presentations are highly encouraged.
Reflection Paper: (25 Points)
Every
student will complete a 7-10 page paper that reflects on what they learned
about public history this semester. The paper should not recount what you did
so much as it should highlight what you got out of your experiences. You may
want to consider such questions as: What did you learn about running a small
historical site or the work that goes into creating tours or the issues that
need to be considered in interpreting history for the general public? What were
the greatest rewards and frustrations you experienced as a practitioner of
public history? What was the learning curve like? What would you have done
differently? What do you see as the future of the site and your part of
it? (You need not answer any of
these specific questions, I simply pose them to give you a sense of what I mean
by “reflection.” Alternately, if you developed strong feelings
about some part of this experience, you may focus on that single aspect. Again, I don’t want a recap of
what you did this semester, I’m more interested in the insights you drew
about the process of being a public historian).
Project: (100 Points)
The projects are the
heart of what we will be doing this semester. For the projects, I want you to
think about yourselves as private contractors who have been hired by Carroll
Park to produce some discrete interpretive product. The exact form of the
projects will vary depending on what your product will be. This may be webpages,
promotional materials, educational packages for student groups, a tour script,
or a manual with background information for tours on slavery, iron foundries,
or genteel landscaping.
Blackboard Postings: (100 Points)
NOTE: To receive full credit, you must make your posting by on the days
listed below by 12:30PM. If you do not finish your posting by class time,
DO NOT cut class to submit a posting; simply submit it after class. I
will deduct DOUBLE the number of late points for any posting submitted during
the time the class meets.
IMPORTANT: I require everyone to save a personal copy of all of their
discussion postings on their home computer, floppy disk, or whatever other
storage device they have. Since Blackboard is occasionally buggy, I
HIGHLY suggest that you type out your response with a word processing
program and then cut and paste your response into Blackboard. If you have a
problem with Blackboard, it is your responsibility to ensure that I receive a
copy of your posting by the deadline. DO NOT automatically email me a
copy of every posting. ONLY email postings in the event of a Blackboard
emergency.
Warning: I consider Blackboard Reading discussion to be one of the most important parts of the course. DO NOT take these assignments lightly. If you put effort into the postings, they are one of the surest ways to boost your grade. If you blow them off, they can kill your grade and result in you failing the course—no matter how well you do on the exams. When I assign final grades at the end of the semester, I always use postings to decide whether to bump up the grades of those on the borderlines. If you have diligently completed your postings, I usually will bump your grade. If you have failed to submit postings or continually submit them late, I WILL NOT BUMP YOUR GRADE even if you are one or two points short of the next grade level.
Getting started on Blackboard: Blackboard is relatively easy to use and
will allow you to have access to course materials 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
through the Internet. If you have registered for the course, you should
automatically be registered on Blackboard. As a UMBC student, you have a
personal email account and access to the Internet and through the school's many
on-campus computer labs. You can also access Blackboard off
campus through a personal account or from the UMBC dial-up. BEFORE you do
anything else, check to see if you are enrolled in the course by going to http://blackboard.umbc.edu. If you
have been automatically registered, take some time to explore the Blackboard
site for the course. If Blackboard indicates that you are not registered,
follow the directions at the main Blackboard site for new users.
Email:
I will send all email messages to your UMBC email account (yourusername@umbc.edu).
If you do not usually check this account, have messages forwarded to your
preferred email address (such as aol, hotmail, etc.).
For help with this procedure, or if you have other questions about UMBC's Office of Information Technology services visit the
OIT helpsite at http://www.umbc.edu/oit/. Helpdesk personnel in the
on-campus computer labs can help with most questions. The helpdesk phone number
is 410-455-3838.
Random Rules:
1) TURN OFF CELL PHONES, BEEPERS, WATCH ALARMS, or any other
device that might disturb the class.
I will make examples of those who violate this rule (for example, if
your phone rings, I will take the call).
2) On test days, students will not wear hats of any
kind. If you come to class wearing
a hat, you will be asked to remove it.
3) On test days, if you leave the room for any reason, I will
consider your test to be completed.
In other words, make your trip to the restroom before the test begins.
If you need a drink, bring one; if you have a cold, bring Kleenex.
Academic Integrity:
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities
of an active participant in UMBC's scholarly
community in which everyone's academic work and behavior are held to the
highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping
others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are
wrong. Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may
include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal. To read the full
Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the UMBC Student Handbook, the Faculty
Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory. To read the
policy online, see: http://www.umbc.edu/integrity/.
I show no mercy toward cheaters.
If you are caught cheating on any test or assignment, you will receive a
zero for that grade and I will submit your name to the proper disciplinary
authority. Rest assured that I will
do all I can to see that those disciplinary bodies take the strongest possible
action against anyone who cheats.
Potential cheaters: you have been warned.
Week 1
Tues., Jan. 31: Introduction:
Meeting with Pam Charshee
Thurs.,
Feb. 2: Meet
at Carroll Park: Click here for directions: http://www.mountclare.org/visitor-info-mc.html
Week 2
Tues., Feb.
7: Discussion of Mount Clare
Museum House and Tour
Discussion Posting #1: Take a tour of
the Mount Clare Museum House and write a review of your experience, focusing on
the history the tour presents. What
kinds of topics does the tour discuss? What does it not cover? What did the
tour do that you found effective? What was not effective? What would you do to improve the tour?
The Mount Clare Museum House is open Tuesday-Saturday
10 am - 4 pm with guided tours beginning at 10 o'clock and continuing on the
hour, last tour at 3 pm. Closed Sunday, Monday, and major holidays.
Post Review to Blackboard by
12:00PM
Thurs., Feb. 9: Selection of Topics
Week 3
Tues., Feb.
14: Discussion
of Hampton National Historical Site
Discussion Posting #2: Take a tour of
the Hampton National Historic Site and write a review of your experience,
focusing on how the tour deals with the grounds and questions of slavery and
indentured servitude. What does Hampton do well in its tours that you think
would be worthy of emulation? What does Hampton not do well? What would you
change about the tour to make it more effective? For information on Hampton, click here: http://www.nps.gov/hamp/. Hampton is open daily from 9:30am-4pm.
Currently the mansion is undergoing renovations so, luckily for us, most of the
tour now focuses on the farmhouse and what happened on the grounds. This should
give you a much better opportunity to see how the site handles the kind of
issues we’ll be dealing with.
Post Review to Blackboard by
12:00PM
Thurs., Feb. 16: Discussion: The Difficulties of Discussing Slavery
•Reading:
1) James Oliver Horton, “Presenting Slavery: The Perils of Telling
America’s Racial Story,” The Public Historian 1999 21(4): 19-38 (hand out)
2) John Michael Vlach, “Looking Behind
the Marble Mask: Varied African American Responses to Difficult History in
Washington, D.C. in John J. Czaplicka
and Blair A. Ruble, editors. Composing Urban History and the Constitution
of Civic Identities (Johns Hopkins, 2003), 31-57 (hand out)
3) Susan P. Schreiber “Interpreting Slavery at National Trust
Sites: A Case Study in Addressing Difficult Topics” Cultural Resource
Management 2000 23 (no. 5): 49-52: http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/23-05/23-05-15.pdf
Week 4
Tues., Feb.
21: Slavery and Colonial Williamsburg:
Discussion of Handler and Gable
•
1) Handler and Gable, The New
History in an
Discussion Posting #3: How well do you think Colonial
Williamsburg handled the incorporation of slavery into its interpretive
program? What do you think are the lessons to be learned from their experience?
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by 12:00PM
Thurs. Feb. 23: Discussion of the Problems and Possibilities Interpreting Slavery: Special guest Karen Sutton, former Historical Interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg
•Reading:
Karen E. Sutton, “Confronting
Slavery Face-to-face: A twenty-first century interpreter's perspective on
eighteenth-century slavery,” CommonPlace
1 no. 4 (July 2001): http://www.common-place.org/vol-01/no-04/slavery/sutton.shtml
Tues., Feb. 28: TBA
Thurs.,
Mar. 2: TBA
Week 6
Tues., Mar. 7: TBA
Thurs., Mar. 9: TBA
Week 7
Tues., Mar. 14: TBA
Thurs., Mar. 16: TBA
Week 8
Tues., Mar. 21: SPRING BREAK
Thurs., Mar. 23: SPRING BREAK
Week 9
Tues., Mar.
28: Research
Meeting
Thurs., Mar. 30: Individual Meetings
Week 10
Tues., Apr. 4: Individual Meetings
Thurs.,
Apr. 6: Meeting to Discuss Secondary Literature
Discussion Posting #5: Write an analysis of the secondary literature
focusing on the part of the literature that relate to the story you intend to
tell at Carroll’s Hundred. You should think of this as the first draft of
the content background that you are writing for future interpreters so that
they have enough information to develop compelling interpretation on your topic
and .to answer questions from tourists. You should use footnotes that make it
clear where you have gotten your material. You should also include a brief
annotated bibliography that provides a short paragraph explaining the
importance of each source you use for your topic
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by 12:00PM
Week 11
Tues., Apr. 11: Individual Meetings
Thurs.,
Apr. 13: Meeting to Discuss Primary Sources
Discussion Posting #6: Transcribe your primary sources into a
word document and write an analysis of those sources focusing on their
significance for the subject of your Carroll’s Hundred tour. Treat this
as the first draft of the guide material you are developing for future
interpreters. You should focus on interpreting the sources so others can
understand what the documents reveal and appreciate their larger historical
significance. If your topic is not a document-intensive one, you should explain
how you intend to explore your topic within the specific Carroll’s
Hundred case. In other words, how
should future tour guides tie your topic to the landscape, house, gardens,
history, or visual aids (like costumes) that the guides might have at their
disposal. (Don’t assume there’s going to be a visitors’
center or anywhere that maps can be shown). If your focus is on the landscape
or house, explain specifically where guides should tell visitors to look and
what they should look for or imagine.
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by 12:00PM
Week 12
Tues., Apr. 18: Individual Meetings
Thurs. Apr.
20: Discussion of
Interpreting Historic House Museums and Great Tours!
Discussion Posting #7: What were the TEN most helpful tips on
developing tours that you got out of Interpreting Historic House Museums
and Great Tours. Explain each answer reflecting on Carroll’s
Hundred in general as well as your topic in particular.
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by 12:00PM
Week 13
Tues., Apr. 25: Individual Meetings
Thurs.,
Apr. 27: Draft of Content and Primary Source
Interpretive Guide
Discussion Posting #8: Put together your materials from the
primary and secondary literature in a draft of the final version of your
interpretive materials. Remember that you’re writing for future tour
guide and that you need to make your points very clear and explain things so
that connections between the larger historical points you want future tour guides
to make are clearly linked to the primary source material and anecdotes you
want them to tell.
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by 12:00PM
Week 14
Tues., May 2: Presentations
Thurs., May
4: Presentations
Discussion Posting #9: Critique of the content of your
classmates’ presentations. What worked well in the presentations? What
needed additional clarification or work? What questions did you have that you
would have liked the presenter to answer? Imagine yourself writing as the
interested general public who knows little about the topic. What kinds of
questions do you think this topic or presentation might provoke? The goal here is not to rip one another
to shreds, but rather to offer helpful criticism (both in terms of what is good
and what needs improvement). For presenters, it’s a chance to see how
others react to your tour-in-progress and to get a sense of what people wanted
to know that you did not cover or what you covered that they wanted to know
more about so that you can tweak your interpretation.
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by Sunday 5:00PM
Week 15
Tues., May 9: Presentations
Thurs., May
11: Presentations
Discussion Posting #10: Critique of the content of your
classmates’ presentations. What worked well in the presentations? What
needed additional clarification or work? What questions did you have that you
would have liked the presenter to answer? Imagine yourself writing as the
interested general public who knows little about the topic. What kinds of
questions do you think this topic or presentation might provoke? The goal here is not to rip one another
to shreds, but rather to offer helpful criticism (both in terms of what is good
and what needs improvement). For presenters, it’s a chance to see how
others react to your tour-in-progress and to get a sense of what people wanted
to know that you did not cover or what you covered that they wanted to know
more about so that you can tweak your interpretation.
Post Discussion to
Blackboard by Sunday 5:00PM
Week 16
Tues., May 16: Carroll Park: Where We’ve Been and What’s Next, a Wrap-Up Discussion