Western Environmental History
HIUS 154
Winter 2000
The project is fairly open in form and topic -- intentionally. Part of your task is choosing and focusing a topic. Here are the basic parameters:
• The project must focus on a particular place in the American West.The finished project may take the form of a paper, a map, a model, a video, a web site, etc. or a combination of media. However, it must be of a size, durability, and shape to facilitate storage and transportation. Note that the same rigorous standards apply regardless of medium. Also note that non-paper media typically take longer to execute than you might think.• It must include a historical background of the place.
• It must include an argument about the relationships of culture and environment.
• It must include a discussion and analysis of existing arguments (secondary sources) about this place and/or these relationships.
• It must involve primary research (using primary sources).
In your proposal, you must include the following:
Research Topic: A description of the particular place and relationships you will investigate. Be sure to specify the area of your study (location, time frame, people involved, relationships that you are particularly interested in, etc.) as precisely as possible.A useful site for thinking about some of the issues involved in a non-textual project (in this case, maps) can be found at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/education/maps/Sources: A description of the types of sources you will use, and a list of the specific sources you intend to consult, for each of the following:
• The history of the place.Project Medium or Media: A description of the form that the project will take (map, paper, web page, combination, etc.). Be sure to justify briefly your choice: what does this form offer that others do not?
• Relationships of culture and environment.
• Primary sources that you intend to use.Be sure to indicate the availability of these sources. (They do you no good if you can’t get hold of them!) If you can manage it, an annotated (descriptive) bibliography would be a good idea.
Professor Mark Hineline and I are currently working on a page describing
what factors one must take into account when designing and executing an
academically rigorous non-textual argument; the link will be posted when
available. However, at the minimum, this involves:
A clear argument. What is the purpose of this assignment? Can the reader/viewer easily discern what you are up to? You may need to include supplementary text, especially when it comes to incorporating an analysis of outside sources.Accuracy. Is the information correct? Is it represented accurately? Are your labels correct? This especially applies to visual media like maps. (Remember, a misplaced line can lead to border wars!)
Precision. Is the project constructed with care? For written documents, this means you should check for typographical errors, misspellings, etc. For visual material, this means no obvious corrections, attention to construction (no gaping seams, no globs of glue, etc.). For video, or web sites, this would mean no hanging links, no awkward shifts of scene, no static, etc.
Legibility. Your work is of little use if it is hard for the reader/viewer to make out/hear/see.
Suitability. Is the medium chosen the one that best conveys your message? For example, would a map be the best choice for a project investigating the relationship between music and place? If the suitability is not obvious, you will have to do extra work to justify your choice.