A list of historical themes has been provided and you may choose any theme as the basis for the journal. You will pick an event, an era, a topic, or a person, etc. of historical importance from any of the reading/lecture topics of each specific grading period assignment and write a themed research journal based on your selection. You are required to use a minimum of 3 scholarly sources for your research – NO WIKIPEDIA PERMITTED in citations. Your minimum 3 scholarly sources may include the course text book, my powerpoints and/or lectures, and then one source of your choosing, which may also be a primary document, but is not required. You may of course use more than 3 sources as long as all your sources are scholarly.
You must quote each of your sources at least once in your journal, using it to support your writing and citing it appropriately according to a writing style guide, either parenthetically or annotated (footnotes). A properly formatted Works Cited or Bibliography must also be included. Remember, these are research papers based on a theme I have provided so you must address that theme throughout the paper. I have also attached a sample Themed Research Journal as an example of a well done paper.
ONE SOURCE: I have included here a link to the History Department Website for Grossmont College, where you can find numerous links to great resources to assist you in researching and writing your themed research journals.
****The topic: “The Glorious Revolution” and I will provide you with the sources. ****
THEMES IN HISTORY
1. Geographic Determinism on the course of historical events
2. The Big “C”s ~ Conquest, Commerce, Colonization, & Conversion on the Course of History
3. Causes and Effects in History ~ “what came first, the chicken or the egg?”
4. “Shoulda, Woulda, Couldas” ~ alternate histories with alternate endings
5. Role of Economics in History ~ “money makes the world go around” or does it?
6. GREED & POWER ~ Who has it? How do they get it? What do they do with it? Why do we
care?
7. Gender and History ~ “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” ~ oh, really?
8. Race and History (Ethnicity and History) ~ “them versus us” scenarios
9. Religion and History ~ “My God is better than your god”
10. Role of Family in History ~ as a social, a defensive, an economic, and/or a spiritual construct
11. The Effects of Education on History ~ “I know something you don’t know . . .”
12. Individualism vs. Communalism ~ “the need of the one” or the “need of the many”?
13. WAR ~ “What was it good for?”
14. Pivot Points in History ~ “when in the course of human events . . .” ~ the course abruptly changes
15. The Power of Personality ~ Celebrities who change history
16. “One man’s VIRTUE is another man’s EVIL” ~ Extreme human acts and responses in history
17. 20/20 Historical Hindsight ~ problems seeing the past through modern eyes ~ “Had they known then, what we know now . . .”
18. TIME & PLACE and historical interpretation ~ how history changes and why.
19. “For want of a nail . . .” ~ how technology has affected history
20. History and the Environment ~ exploiting Mother Nature and its consequences
