HIST 499: RS: Senior Seminar in History

HIST 499-003: Senior Seminar: Slavery and the 19th Century U.S.
(Spring 2021)

01:30 PM to 04:10 PM W

East Building 122

Section Information for Spring 2021

This course builds upon experiences in HIST 300 and other courses in the history major towards the goal of planning, implementing, researching, and completing a 20-page capstone research paper project. In this writing-intensive course participants focus on the experiences and ongoing legacy of slavery in the United States through critical analysis of primary and secondary sources. The course is broadly defined to allow students to select topics from local to national importance and related to a broad range of political, economic, or social aspects of enslavement during the nineteenth century. Research topics may include legal cases, discourses of freedom and enslavement, politics, gender, identity, religion, race relations, spatial boundaries, labor management, or capitalism. Weekly reading and writing assignments build critical reading, thinking, research, and writing skills. Assigned activities will help students explore databases and online resources. These activities will help participants craft an original research question, develop an effective research process, and place their research within the corpus of relevant secondary literature. In-class activities enable participants to share their findings and receive feedback on drafts through both written and oral presentations. This capstone course is designed to help students gain experience with the historian’s craft: methodology, problem-solving, scholarly discussion, and collaboration.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Research on specialized historical topic culminating in seminar paper and oral presentation. Synthesis course; students expected to integrate knowledge and skills acquired in Mason Core courses. Notes: Subject determined by instructor. Student may present no more than 3 credits for graduation credit. Must receive passing grade to graduate with BA in history. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Synthesis
Specialized Designation: Research/Scholarship Intensive, Topic Varies, Writing Intensive in Major
Recommended Prerequisite: History majors with 90 credits
Registration Restrictions:

Required Prerequisites: (HIST 300C or 300XS) and (ENGH 302C, ENGL 302C, ENGH 302XS, HNRS 110C, 110XS, 210C, 302C or 302XS).
C Requires minimum grade of C.
XS Requires minimum grade of XS.

Enrollment is limited to students with a major in History.

Schedule Type: Seminar
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.