HIST 302WUndergraduate Seminar

3 credits · History · Penn State

Thematic or topical investigation; emphasis on historical criticism and analysis. HIST 302W Undergraduate Seminar (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The principal aim of the course is to assist in training History Majors in writing, analysis, and criticism by pursuing the study of one historical topic in detail. The precise contents of the course may vary in accordance with the teaching and research interests of the instructors. The course is not a conventional lecture course. It is, instead, designed in the seminar format with emphasis on discussion, sequential writing assignments, and further developing the core skills of the historian. Several features reflect its writing intensive designation. The course requires a series of writing exercises (with on-going instructor feedback), attention to relevant methods of research, all leading to the production of a final seminar paper. The final paper should effectively advance a reasoned argument derived from multiple sources (a portion of which must be primary sources when the historical topic permits).