TAH History Scholars Program: The Civil Rights Movement in
AY 2007-08
Proposed Fall Schedule and Beyond
Professor: Marian Mollin, Department of History, Virginia Tech
E-mail: mmollin@vt.edu
Phones: Office: 540-231-8367
Course webpage via Blackboard: https://learn.vt.edu
Ultimate goal of the semester: do the work necessary to write a complete research project proposal that outlines your research/thesis question, your proposed method of presentation method, the historical significance of your topic and question, the scholarly significance of your topic and question, your research methodology, and your proposed primary and secondary sources. This research proposal will lay the groundwork for completing your actual research project during the second semester.
1. Meeting 1 -- Tues, September 18 -- Research Methods 101: A Crash Course
a. Introductions
b. Utilizing VT Library Resources (and others)
i. Finding and identifying secondary sources
ii. Finding and identifying primary sources
c. Critical reading of primary and secondary sources
d. How to define a research topic and pose a research question.
2. Individual consultations via e-mail and/or phone between Meetings 1 and 2
a. Research worksheet with preliminary list of primary and secondary sources due on Tuesday, October 9
3. Meeting 2 -- proposed date: Thurs, Oct 25th, Roanoke Higher Ed Center
a. Honing in on your research question and methodology
b. The whys and hows of writing a research proposal
4. Individual consultations via e-mail and/or phone between Meetings 2 and 3
a. Preliminary proposal (clearly stated research question and topic plus annotated bibliography) due on Friday, November 16
5. Meeting 3 -- proposed date: Thurs, Dec 6th, Roanoke Higher Ed Center -- Presentation and Discussion of Research Proposals
Note: next semester’s work will include guidance on how to organize your project along analytical (rather than descriptive or purely chronological) themes, presentations of your work-in-progress midway through the semester, and final presentations at the end (early May). Everyone will turn in first drafts of their projects in late March in order to get feedback for their final product. The ultimate goal is to produce a professional and polished research project.