Classics 489-01: Junior/Senior Seminar in Classical Civilization and Languages Fall 2008 Beth Severy-Hoven Macalester College

Course Description and Goals ~ Evaluation and Expectations ~ Schedule ~ Contacting Professor Severy-Hoven ~ Guide to Library Resources in Classics
Research Project Assignment ~ Studies in Mediterranean Antiquity and Classics ~ Classics Department ~ Macalester College

Course Description and Goals

This course serves as a capstone for majors in Classical Civilization and Classical Languages. It provides junior and senior majors the opportunity to engage with some of the latest work in the field of Classics and with each other. Half of the course is a discussion-based seminar, for which we will read a small set of monographs or substantial articles chosen by the group. Each student will lead or jointly lead the discussion at least twice. The second half of the course is comprised of a major independent research project. Each student will develop a topic of his or her choosing, and by completing a set of intermediary assignments develop it into an argument on an important issue in the field. The class will also serve as the editorial board for an issue of the department’s undergraduate journal, Studies in Mediterranean Antiquity and Classics. Students completing the course should have a strong sense of the modern study of Classical history and literature, including the nature of the evidence, the challenges faced by those using ancient texts, and the range of questions being asked of those materials by contemporary scholars. Students will also have made an original contribution to this body of scholarship on their own.

Evaluation and Expectations

Active participation is a key ingredient to a successful seminar. The grade for participation includes preparing thoroughly for each discussion, including completing all the reading and then composing a response paper. These 1-2 page musings on the reading -- potentially including a summary, comments, critique, answers to the discussion questions posted by your colleagues, or new questions – must be submitted before discussion for credit. Submission via e-mail is acceptable (please paste your response into the text of your email message). In addition, each student will select at least two sessions for which she or he will lead the discussion, one during the common reading part of the course and the other the discussion of the materials relevant to their research topic. Leaders must find and read reviews of the assigned materials and pose questions to the group the Friday before the group meets. Needless to say, with only five class sessions, missing even one discussion could affect your final grade. Please speak to me in advance if you have difficulties with the date of any session.

A series of preliminary assignments are designed to help you familiarize yourself with the relevant secondary scholarship as well as primary sources before we begin the extensive process of writing and revision. The due dates for all assignments are noted on the course outline and in the research project assignment. Late paper policy: for every day an assignment is late, one letter grade will be deducted from that otherwise earned. Please speak to me in advance if you have difficulties with the date of any assignment. Likewise, if you have any disabilities which necessitate special considerations, please discuss these with me as soon as possible.

Schedule

Class will meet every other Tuesday for the seminar portion of the course, as well as certain other Tuesdays and one Thursday for organizational purposes. T/Th 3-4:30pm, Theater 204.

Contacting Professor Severy-Hoven

Office: 312 Old Main
Office telephone: 651-696-6721
Office hours: M 11-12, W 2-3, AND BY APPOINTMENT
severy@macalester.edu

Research Project

          This assignment provides you the opportunity to cap your Classics major by producing a piece of scholarly work in the field. Your task is to pose an interesting problem or question that requires a combination of library research and your own analytical skills to answer. In tackling this question, you will engage other scholars investigating this or similar issues in the study of Classics. You may investigate any problem or question that interests you. Your final product will be an article explaining this specific problem or question and the conversation about it to be found in existing scholarship, as well as defending your own answer to it to an audience of readers of an undergraduate journal. Preliminary assignments are designed to prepare you to write such an essay.

Article Review Due Tuesday, September 16

            As you think about a question you would like to answer or explore, you should investigate current scholarly research on that topic. Use the library’s Guide to Resources in Classics, your professor and peers to assist in finding materials. Keep track of other potentially useful bibliography, but your goal at this stage is to select one particularly useful and intriguing article from an appropriate scholarly source and write a review of it. Be certain to give a full bibliographic citation of your article at some point, whether in the title, introduction or a footnote.

            Your review should consist of three parts-- a summary, a critique, and some thoughts on where your research will go from here. The summary should accurately convey the content of the paper, including the thesis, organizational structure, and a summary of the evidence. It should be comprehensive and balanced, with clear sentence structure and good transitions to convey the author’s line of reasoning. The critique is then your opportunity to comment upon the author’s position, both in terms of evidence and persuasiveness of argument. Finally, conclude your review by indicating how this scholarship is important to your own work. What do you intend to do next on your project?

Comparison of Two Articles or Book Chapters Due Tuesday, September 30

            In presenting their research, scholars must express the relationship of their own work to that which has already been published by others; progress is not made when everyone is caught up in reinventing the wheel. This assignment asks you to delve into some of the current scholarly conversation on the question or issue you are pursuing. Find two pieces – either articles or book chapters – which take different positions, disagree about the use of evidence, or contribute to the question in different ways. Provide a brief summary and critique of each, and then describe the relationship between the two works. How do they agree and how differ? How do they work together to contribute to the conversation on this issue? Conclude with an account of how your work will partake of this conversation and a few comments on what you intend to do now.

Annotated & Narrative Bibliographies Due Tuesday, October 14

            An annotated bibliography is a list of research sources, each of which is followed by a brief note or "annotation." These annotations are quite similar to your article review; they describe the aim and content of the book or article, evaluate its method, conclusions, or reliability, and suggest its usefulness to your research. Creating an annotated bibliography is useful because it helps you organize your thoughts about a wide variety of materials. Creating such a list encourages you to think about the sources while you are gathering them, and allows you to keep track of which sources you find useful or intriguing and why. I am looking for a list of five to fifteen items which are proving important to your research project.

            Your bibliography will also include a one page essay that gives a narrative account of your thought process as you have been exploring questions and problems within your selected field. You should include both external details (what you read, how you found it, who you talked to) and internal, mental details (what you were thinking about, how your ideas changed as a result of the reading). It is not critical to reach a final position -- I am interested in your process, not the final product. Describe how new ideas led you to reformulate your interest, expand or narrow your focus, etc. Conclude with a few comments on what you intend to do now.

Abstract Due Tuesday, October 28

            An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes a larger work, often used by journals and researchers to communicate in brief the content of an article. An abstract is not an introduction; it is an original document rather than an excerpted passage. An abstract of a humanities work usually describes the nature of the problem being addressed, the background for this question, the thesis or answer, the method and evidence used to reach it, and its implications.

            Composing an abstract is useful for writers because it forces them to focus on the big picture. In a way, it is an extremely short first draft of your paper. Submit a title and an abstract of your paper of 300 or fewer words.

First Draft Due Tuesday, November 11

            Compose an essay defending a position on the scholarly question you have investigated. Use the introduction to engage your reader’s interest in the problem, introduce the topic, and explain why the question is both significant and problematic in the study of Classics. Your introduction should close with a statement of your own position on the problem at hand. The body of your essay will then be your defense of this position made as persuasive as possible through appropriate analysis and argumentation, including effective use of evidence, engagement with other scholars who have published on this or similar questions, and the appropriate attribution of ideas to the scholars whose work you have investigated. Use the citation guidelines for the journal. Bring a complete copy of your draft to class.

Second Draft Due Friday, November 14

            Using the process outlined in class, revise your article. Please note that revisions will be on many levels – more library work may well be required, including gathering more primary evidence or investigating other scholars who have worked on this or related topics. Do this sort of work first, then address concerns about the large scale structure of your argument before attending to stylistic or editing concerns. I will provide constructive criticism on this version, so that papers continue to be improved before the final draft is due.

Final Draft Due Tuesday, November 25

            Students will also need to decide by the start of the next week (Monday, December 1) if they are submitting their article to the journal for possible publication. I will be available to consult with students individually on their decision.