SCOPE OF THE COURSE

This course provides a critical foundation and research experience in the use of the Internet for the study of history. Students will learn about the history of the Internet and analyze its use in the academy and for scholarly research, teaching, communication, and publication. Students will consider and evaluate the scholarly content and use of listservs and email, electronic texts and journals, and history links and web sites. They will evaluate online tools for research and job searches. Students will conduct research leading to a course project for posting on the web.

TEXTS FOR THE COURSE

Texts for this course are available as links through the online course outline and as class handouts. Please see the course schedule below for specifics.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

This course is based on the participation of each student in all phases of the course. It is essential that you prepare yourself with readings and assignments before class meetings, that you attend and participate in class discussion and activities, and that you be a full participant in group and peer discussion work. The final grade will depend on participation in all of these areas. The readings and assignments are designed to sharpen your skills in research, critical analysis, and oral and written communication.

 
Class Presentations, Group and Peer Discussion: 40% of Final Grade

It is my expectation that you will be prepared BEFORE class time by reading and studying all assigned material for that day. Take reading notes and come prepared for questions and discussion during class time. Across the term you will have the opportunity to prepare for informal discussion in groups and be specifically responsible for certain materials for class discussions. See the course schedule below for more information. This includes outside listserv log, presentation of sites, roundtable discussions, and information on the site for the online week below.

Class Internet Discussion Journal: Six postings for a total of 30% of Final Grade

Our class features an online discussion listserv that enables us to continue our discussion of course materials outside of class. Students subscribe to this listserv through email and post messages that are received by all class members. Students will create an email message and post it to the group listserv once each week (for a total of six postings for the course) and will read and respond to the postings from other students. These postings will be substantive, the writing will be informal, and the tone will maintain the civility of the course. SUBSTANTIVE means that you will write at least four paragraphs that deal with the readings and discussion from that week. INFORMAL means that the main point of these assignments is to get your thoughts "out there" as part of discussion and debate. I will assess these for content, ability to identify and analyze key points, ability to respond to points from other class. You may refer to author and title of the work, and if you quote directly put page number in parenthesis. CIVILITY means that all class members bear the responsibility for maintaining respectful dialogue on the listserv. NOTE: The week's posting must be on the list by FRIDAY of each week for credit.

LISTSERV SUBSCRIPTION INSTRUCTIONS: [NOTE: YOU MAY USE STUDENT EMAIL OR YOUR HOME EMAIL. JUST SUBSCRIBE AS IF YOU WERE SENDING AN EMAIL MESSAGE.]

Course Project Total of 30% of Final Grade

Students will have the opportunity to research and present a course project relating to the topic of history and the Internet. The project will have an online component and a written component. Students may want to create a web site on a particular topic with links and projects, research and write about a practitioner of history on/with the Internet, research a topic of Internet history and culture, survey a particular facet of Internet use. This is, by nature, a project that will require a great deal of individual communication between student and professor. The project will include the use of scholarly sources and citation style as studied in the course.

Course Projects Due in Class on Tuesday, July 27 (written) with In Class Workshop to Post Final Projects
Presentation of Class Projects Wednesday, July 28-Thursday, July 29
 

HISTORY 507 Students
Students who are taking this for 507 credit will observe the above requirements, with the following additions:
1. Expanded weekly postings. Graduate students will construct expanded weekly postings on the materials discussed for the week. The postings should be 6-8 paragraphs in length and will be judged at a higher standard of analysis.
2. Expanded paper scope and product. Graduate students will schedule two consultations with Professor Jensen to discuss an expanded paper--one meeting before the prospectus is due and one meeting after the outline/goals statement is due. The paper will have additional sources, length, and will be judged at a higher standard of analysis.
 

Grading

I will base your grade for the course on the above requirements and will use the following grading scale: A 93-100%, A- 90-92%, B+ 87-89%, B 83-86%, B- 80-82%, C+ 77-79%, C 73-76%, C- 70-72%, D+ 67-69%, D 60-66%, and F Below 60%.

The University catalog defines the conferring of letter grades as follows:

A: "excellent ability has been meaningfully employed in all relevant aspects and . . . a very high level of involvement has been demonstrated for the level of the course."
B: "a high level of involvement and competence . . . greater than average for college students at this course level" has been demonstrated.
C: "an average level of involvement and competence . . . all work is satisfactory but does not stand out with distinction in relation to that of other students at this course level."
D: "a level of involvement and/or competence . . . that falls below that expected of college students on the average at this course level, yet not so far that it fails to qualify for the award of college level credit. Assignment of the grade indicates that student work has serious weaknesses."
F: "a judgment that an unacceptable level of overall involvement and/or competence for college coursework at this level has been demonstrated . . . [and] does not qualify for the award of college level credit."

COURSE OUTLOOK AND POLICIES

In this course we will consider a variety of viewpoints and interpretations. Our classroom and our discussion listserv will be places of respect for the ideas and opinions of others. Students are free to discuss topics and to raise questions but must do so by maintaining respect for others in writing and tone. If you have any questions about the course material, please feel free to discuss this in class and/or to contact me during my office hours. I also encourage you to form study groups and to discuss the readings and issues outside of the classroom as part of your learning experience.

It is important to me that you have a variety of avenues for contacting me outside of class with questions and concerns. Each week I post a schedule of appointment times at ten minute intervals during my office hours. I welcome you to sign up for these appointment times in advance or to arrange an alternative meeting time if you are unable to meet with me during my regular office hours. My email and phone are listed at the beginning of this course outline.

If you find that you will need to be absent from class, please notify me as soon as possible. It will be your responsibility to recover the information in class from other class members and in consultation with me. Students must be present on the scheduled presentation days and assignment and exam dates are firm. If an extraordinary emergency arises, you must notify me ahead of time and take the responsibility for making up work. A late posting or assignment will not receive full credit and an assignment turned in later than one week will not receive credit.

I will not tolerate cheating in any form. Cheating consists of representing the work of others as your own. A student caught cheating will receive no credit for the assignment in question. If you have any other questions about this, please refer to the written policy on academic dishonesty in the office of the Division of Social Science.

COURSE SCHEDULE

WEEK 1
Tuesday, June 22
Introduction to the Course, Ground Rules, Introductions, Listserv Orientation
Reading: Course Outline in Class

Wednesday, June 23
The Meaning of the Internet
Reading: Mark Stefix, "Introduction," Internet Dreams: Archetypes, Myths, and Metaphors (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996) pp. xv-xxiv [HANDOUT]
Tasks: Subscribe to Course Listserv, send "hello" message to list with a course question

Thursday, June 24
Categories of Internet "Dreams": The Digital Library, Communications Medium, Electronic Marketplace, and Gateway to Experience
Reading: Stefix, Part 1-4 from Internet Dreams [HANDOUT]
Tasks: Select sites for in class reporting next week

WEEK 3
Monday, July 5 FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY OBSERVED--NO CLASS MEETING

Tuesday, July 6-Thursday, July 8
Research Online: Web Sites
Reading and Tasks: Day 1: Group Discussion and Consensus--Scholarly Criteria
Day 2 and 3: Presentation--Best and Worst Sites
Wrap-up: Revise Scholarly Criteria

Tuesday, July 20
Historians and the Web
Reading: Nicholas Evans Sarantakes, "So That A Tree May Live: What the World Wide Web Can and Cannot Do for Historians," Perspectives 37:2 (February 1999) [HANDOUT] and Carl Schulkin, "The Challenge of Integration," Perspectives 37:2 (February 1999) [HANDOUT]

Wednesday, July 21
Historians and the Web (continued)
Reading: Dennis A. Trinkle, "Computers and the Practice of History: Where Are We? Where Are We Headed?" Perspectives 37:2 (February 1999) [HANDOUT] and Abby Smith, "Why Digitize?" Perspectives 37:2 (February 1999) [HANDOUT]

Thursday, July 22
Making the Case for the Internet in Research and Teaching: Roundtable Discussion
Reading: Student site discoveries