Historical Arguments and Wikipedia Paragraphs in Byzantine History

Goals for Student Learning

Historical Content:

• The basic outline of the events of the medieval Byzantine Empire
• Major cultural and political figures and events

Historical Method:

• What sources of information survive from the Byzantine Empire
• How we can use medieval sources to figure out what happened
• How the agendas of modern historians affect their presentation of the past
• How to conduct investigative research in primary sources and secondary scholarship

Practical Skills:

• Analytical reading
• Analytical writing
• Research
• Expository writing

Assessment

16%      Discussion Participation. Assessed three times using the Participation Grading Criteria (5%, 5%, 6%)

24%      Three Quizzes (8% each)

30%      Two Historical Argument Papers based on primary source readings (15% each), graded using the Historical Argument Grading Criteria

30%      Wikipedia Article Project, graded using the Objective Narrative Grading Criteria

Wikipedia Article Project:

One well-researched, entirely substantiated and accurate paragraph pertaining to a Byzantine topic to be posted on Wikipedia. This is an exercise in objective narrative exposition, broken down into the following phases:

4%        Article Review: a review of an article in Wikipedia on a Byzantine topic using the Objective Narrative Grading Criteria. Due in Section Week 4

4%        Topic Choice & Critique: a proposal for a paragraph you plan to write/rewrite explaining the problems with the existing one. Due in Section Week 6

4%        Annotated Secondary Source Bibliography: Due in Section Week 7

4%        Annotated Primary Source Bibliography: Due in Section Week 9

6%        First Draft: Due in Section Week 11

8%        Final Draft: Due in Section Week 15