| Research report for week 3 | |
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BEFORE CLASS Today we will discuss a reading by Kirsten Weld. Again, for purposes of this class we are not interested in the book’s topic; instead we shall focus on how the author creates a sense of importance in their archival research and their research methodology. In other words, we are not interested in the “what” of the book, but instead in the “why” and the “how”. 1. Why did Kirsten Weld feel that she had to write a book about archives, instead of writing a straightforward book about human rights violations in Guatemala? 2. Why has it long been important to indicate what primary sources were used to conduct historical research? 3 Why has it recently become equally important to discuss the factor of archives — not just primary sources — in the conduct of historical research? BEFORE AND/OR IN CLASS By now you should have made an appointment with your faculty advisor.&bsnp; That consultation will be especially helpful with respect to primary sources produced in the past, but also with respect to secondary sources by historians. And also with your conceptualization of your research project. Once again you shall be refining your research proposal, before and in class. Hence, some of the questions will repeat from previous research reports.&nsp; See especially # 9-11. 1. What topic, part of the world, and time period would you like to work on for your research project? 2. What is your main interest/passion in life? I.e., what can’t you stop noticing, thinking about, reading about, talking about, et cetera? 3. How is your passion reflected, either directly or indirectly, in the research project that you are considering for this semester? (My aim is that you work on something that you really, really care about.) 4. How might someone else — who is interested in their own thing, not your thing — manage to see what’s important and inspirational about your research topic? 5. How does your research topic address something that is currently missing from our historical knowledge? 6. How do new concerns and perspectives from your own lifetime lead you to re-examine history? 7. How does your research topic question some aspect of life that is unquestioned in our society/culture? 8. Framing: What is the bigger situation (time) and world (place) around your topic? 9. What important (oft cited) books and articles exist about your topic and/or situation and world around it? (I.e., secondary sources; historiography.) Tell me about your main and/or various kinds of primary sources, and their advantages and disadvantages. 10. What sources might you investigate? (I.e., primary sources; archives.) Tell me about your archives, and how they were constructed in the past, to exist now in the present. What do those archives contain, and what do they not contain? 11. What is your workplan in the coming weeks between now (week three) and when you have to submit a rough draft (week ten)? |