BA Seminar: Social History of the US in the 19th and 20th Century

B.Sc. seminars
obligatory courses

The seminar is intended for students interested in the social (and political history of the USA) of the 19th and 20th centuries. It will cover issues such as culture, social and political issues, reforms and changes in the USA, as well as contemporary research and views on the decades discussed. The subject of undergraduate work may be reflections of decades in such media as film, music or images, written sources and other forms of expressing the past. Students will acquire the skills to prepare a bachelor's thesis as an introduction to in-depth research on the USA by learning to analyze various source material - written, audio and visual, prepare a "research paper" review, chapter the bachelor's thesis and use the appropriate scientific apparatus. The choice of the area of interest is up to the seminar participant, but it must reflect the interests and willingness to research the indicated area so that the final effect is at the appropriate substantive level.

Scope of class topics: 1. Purpose and tasks of the seminar 2. Creating a work concept - choosing a topic 3. Case study in cultural and historical research 4. Structure of the work - layout, tasks. Formal and methodological side 5. Structure of the introduction and conclusion of the work. 6. Structure of chapters. Internal consistency of work. 7. Literature search and criticism. Types and applications for writing a thesis. 8. The role of written sources. 9. Visual sources - film, sound, photography. 10 - 12. Presentations of the assumptions of the work - students. 13. Construction of a research paper as an introduction to the chapter of the work. 14. Discussion and discussion of research tasks. 15. Criteria for assessing bachelor's theses. Writing and defending a bachelor's thesis is the most important result of participating in the seminar. Learning outcomes: (in Polish) After completing this course, the student: in the field of knowledge there will be: 1. was able to analyze and evaluate the causes and dynamics of the main events of the centuries discussed 2. was able to collect and present research results 3. was able to draw conclusions and formulate summaries of his research 4. was able to write a bachelor's thesis in the field of skills there will be: 1. had advanced knowledge of the main phenomena of the centuries discussed 2. recognized the complex relationships between social, political and economic events of the centuries 3. was able to prepare sources and literature relating to the bachelor's thesis 4. had knowledge of different points of view and ways of interpreting the centuries in the field of competences there will be: 1. was able to cooperate with other students in a group 2. was able to formulate his own sentences and opinions about the problems discussed in the bachelor's thesis 3. supplement and acquire knowledge about the decade and the technique of writing a thesis 4. aware of responsibility while writing a bachelor's thesis

1. Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources: A Guide for Students. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2008.

2. Richard Marius, Levin Page, A Short Guide to Writing About History. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2006.

3. William Kelleher Storey, Writing History: A Guide

for Students. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University

Press, 2009.

The objective of this course is to prepare students to serach for knowledge and interpret it on the basis of widely understood written, oral and visual sources.

Students will:

1. gain knowledge on various forms of documenting the past

2. be able to understand the interconnections between various socio - cultural phenomena in the USA and the methods of their expression

3. note and understand the importance of the context of the source and the process of its creation

Additionally, in the field of skills, students will:

1. be able to analyse, evaluate and conclude on phenomena and processes on the ground of a source

2. be able to explain the meaning of a particular source for American social and political history

3. be able to formulate conclusions and evaluations coming out of it

4. be prepared to seek and search for information on the events represented by the source

5. posses advanced skills of interdisciplinary analysis to present and analyse the socio - political developments in the United States.

In the field of competence students will

1. be open for new ideas and phenomena taking place in the United States

2. understand the importance of those phenomena or transformations

3. be aware of the role the events ffrom the past for the contemporary United States.

Finally, students will gain experience in conducting research and communicating the results of that research in clear, English prose.

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods and assessment criteria: First semester: regular attendance and participation in class discussions. Homework. In the first semester of the seminar, you should prepare a thesis project and literature on this topic. To obtain a pass in January, students are required to present the general idea of the work and the introduction project.

Passing the seminar The first chapter should be ready in mid-March, the second in mid-April, the third in mid-May. The final assessment and approval of the diploma thesis for defense is based on a substantive assessment of writing and work progress. The end result is the writing of a thesis consisting of three chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion, in accordance with academic standards regarding academic quality and honesty.