History 481: Victoria's Victoria: Microhistory on the Internet

 

Instructor:                John Lutz

Classroom:                Cle A051

Course Times:          Wednesday 2:30-5:30.

Office:                       Clearihue B222          

Phone:                      721-7392        

Email:                        jlutz@uvic.ca

Office Hours:            Monday and Thursday 11:30-1; Tuesday 1:30-2:30 or by appointment.

Website:                   http://web.uvic.ca/~jlutz/courses/hist481/

Overview:

More and more we are getting our information from the Internet and historians have to be looking at the Internet as a place to publish historical work if we want an audience.  This course critically evaluates the web and offers research and presentation skills.  Students will be given orientation to the different archives in Victoria and will develop a research project based on the history of Victoria in the Victorian era in collaboration with members of the community.  In addition to research skills, basic web-site creation skills will also be taught and the final research “product” of the course will be a web site and not a standard research paper.  Because of the novelty of both the research and the product the course will operate more like a workshop than a standard seminar.  No prior primary research or web site skills necessary.

Objectives: 

There are three broad objectives to this course: 1) To provide students with an understanding of the analytical framework and methods of micro-history. 2) To develop or refine research skills using primary documents and archival research.  3) To develop or refine presentation and critical skills to allow students to present their research on the world wide web.

Format:

We will meet once a week in seminars which have two parts.  One part of the seminar will be to discuss analytical issues relating to method: microhistory; and content: Greater Victoria in the Victorian era; the second part consist of practical workshops in both archival research and the production of a web site.                                                                                                          

Readings:

Seminar Readings will either be in the history reading room or available on-line.  There is no text for the course.  Students may find Daniel Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig’s Digital History (University of Pennsylvania, 2006) useful.  It is on multi-day reserve in the McPherson Library D16.117  C64.

 

Evaluation:  

There will be four components to the grades for this course. 

30% will be assigned to in class discussion and participation. 

10% will be assigned to the creation of a basic personal website done in a timely and presentable fashion.

10% will be assigned to a document finding assignment designed to familiarize you with archives done in a timely manner with full citation provided.

50% will be assigned to your research website.

Participation: 

The participation grade will be mainly based on your contributions to the discussions held in class.  Top participation grades will go to those who have read the assigned material, can discuss it, compare the readings and critically evaluate them.  Other class participation will also be factored into this grade.  As this is a workshop and seminar course, class participation is necessary. Students who miss more than two classes, without a doctor’s note or equivalent, will receive an incomplete for the course.

Personal Website:  

As practice and orientation to the web, everyone will build a simple personal website that includes at least one photo that they have scanned, at least one taken from elsewhere on the web, and at least three separate files linked together. These can be about you, your family, your dog, travels, anything.  The content will not be marked but some attention will be given to the form.  A new website is required even if you have already built websites.  Submission on the deadline and the basic elements of a website are essential. 

Research Website Assignment:

Students will be assigned to groups of 3-4 which have a broad topic area suggested by members of the community.   In consultation with the instructor and where practical, members of the community, the precise topic will be developed.  Teams will do archival research, plan the design of a website to present their research, write a text, acquire images and create a website which will be presented to the class and made available to the public.

Group Grade for the Website

30% research

20% analyses

10% organization

20% presentation.  (Half of this will be awarded during the class presentation. Half will be reserved for the deposit version.)

5% storyboard, 10% website critique and 5% group log (a record of team meetings, who attended, and who performed what roles)

More description of the research website will be offered later. It should model microhistory approach, be self conscious in the use of methodology and link to larger themes.

Student Grades for website assignment.

 Each website will receive a grade and that will be 50% of an individual’s website assignment grade.  The areas that the individual student was primarily responsible for makes up the other 50%.
Numerical scores are converted into letter grades using the university standard: A+ 100-90; A 85-89; A- 80-84; B+ 75-79; B 70-74; B- 65-69; C+ 60-64; C 55-59; D 50-54; E 40-49; F 0-39.