History 2P91: Final Assignment

Date: 24/3/2008

There are two options for your final assignment.  You MUST declare your intention to the instructor as to which option you are choosing.  All assignment topics must be discussed with the instructor via email if not in person.  This is for YOUR benefit, not mine as some topics are simply too much for term assignments.  Both your declaration and your topic must reach me no later than 3 March 2008.  Failure to do so will result in a deduction of 5% from your final assignment mark.
Late penalties for final assignment are 1% per day, weekends included, calculated from the end of the lecture on 24 March 2008.  Since I too have deadlines, final assignments submitted after the due date will not receive comments, simply a mark.
Assignments will be accepted between the last day of classes on 7 April 2008 until the exam, but will receive a mark of ZERO.  No class work will be accepted after the exam.
Grading: The essays will be evaluated on: 1 quality of analysis; 2. accuracy and effectiveness of description; 3. writing and clarity of expression; 4. and your capacity to develop links between documents and broader course themes. The first of these - quality of analysis - is the most important, but the others are integral to good analysis.
This makes up 25% of your final mark.

Option A - Traditional Long Essay
The required length is 3,000 words.
Paper topics should be drawn from the themes discussed in class, both in lectures and seminars.
The bibliography for the paper must include at least two primary sources (either from the seminar reading lists, or from other source collections - check with me if you're unsure) and the total number of sources (primary and secondary) should not number less than 8.
Papers should be doubled spaced, use a 12pt font with a 1” margin on all sides, and have page numbers.
Citations should follow a consistent style, and should be footnotes, not intext references, MLA or endnotes.
Papers that do not have proper formatting will receive a deduction of 2% from their final grade.

Option B - Wikipedia Style Article
Wikipedia is becoming more and more pervasively used by undergraduates - but it is highly problematic as an historical source and reference for research.
The aims of this assignment are to show how problematic Wikipedia can be, but also present an opportunity for students to engage in this new medium, and in the process learn some valuable, practical skills for presenting research as well as the use of the internet and its languages (HTML).  As with Option A - your topic must be cleared with me prior to 3 March 2008.
It will consist of two components.

Component 1
Your finished article length ought to be around 2000 words.
It needs to contain the following:
Four sections on various aspects of the topic you've chosen, including one that is geared towards factual information such as biographical, chronological or other historical data.  The remaining three sections must wrestle with aspects of the historical problem you've set out as your topic.
This is NOT A REPORT - you cannot simply recount factual information - you MUST deal with a question, a debate that is part of your topic.  Thinking of it as an essay presented in a different format is best, rather than as any kind of report.
Wikipedia citation style must be used as in an essay - you cannot simply recount details without proof.
The article MUST contain at the end of it a 'Further Reading' section consisting of at least 8 sources, at least two of which must be primary sources.  This constitutes your bibliography for the assignment.
Component 1 consists of 80% of the final assignment mark.

Component 2
Additional materials need to be submitted with your article.
First a one page, single spaced synopsis of what you found in existing wikipedia, encarta, or 'about.com' etc. articles, and why you've changed or kept them - were they factually accurate?
Printouts of any existing articles on wikipedia, encarta, or 'about.com' etc. which deal with your topic explicitly or in any kind of way.  If you've decided to re-write an existing wikipedia article, you must include a copy of it before you made changes, in addition to your own article.
If an article contains a component or a section on your topic, simply print out the section, and not the entire lengthy article.
This is for your benefit as it will help YOU demonstrate that you have not simply copied the existing articles.
Component 2 consists of 20% of the final assignment mark.

If you choose Option B, you MUST be careful to indicate how what you've done is ORIGINAL or at the very least a significant addition to existing online literature.  Plagiarism will be assessed by the print-offs of existing literature you provide in Component 2.  Regardless, I will check online websites for your topic.

A complete Option B assignment will contain:
A paper copy of your article
A one page, single spaced synopsis of your article
Any printouts or lists of related online literature.

You need not post your wikipedia article, however, if you wish to, please provide the wikipedia printout as your paper copy of the article.  If you choose to put your work online, and provide the URL to me by the due date, you will receive a bonus of 5% on your final assignment mark.

A Note about Sources for Final Assignments:
Sources you use for your final assignment, if they are online, should come from an academic website, not any other - even other wikipedia, encarta, or 'about.com' etc.  articles.  Although you may find commentary and other information on websites, you should endeavour to substantiate ANY information you find online within a printed, published, peer-reviewed work.  If you need to use an online source and are in doubt, email me and I can let you know.  In BOTH options your bibliography or further reading list should not contain any more than two sources that are only available online.  If they're available in print, use the print versions.
Because of the nature of this assignment, as part of the marking procedures I will check for websites dealing with your topic and scrutinize them to make sure your assignment is not simply copied from somewhere.  This includes articles' structures, images used, and above all the text.  Please be honest and rigourous with your work, as any infringement will be fall under the university's regulations on academic misconduct.

Possible Paper Topics:

• Luther and Printing
• Geneva and Printing
• Vernacular Bibles
• Munster: a New Jerusalem?
• City Reformations in the Empire
• Luther and the Peasants 1524-5
• Reconciliation among Protestants
• English Church Music
• Music in Lutheranism
• Lutheran Hymns
• Woodcuts in the 1520s
• The Pope as Antichrist
• The Reformation and the End of the World
• The Turk and the Reformation
• Leo X and Luther
• Zwingli and the Sausages
• Lutheran Art
• Calvinist Art
• Iconoclasm in the Netherlands
• Iconoclasm in England
• Iconoclasm in the Empire
• The Importance of Preaching
• Church Architecture
• Religious Wars in France
• Street Violence and Psalm Singing
• Translations of the Bible
• Smuggling Texts in the Reformation
• Was England ever Lutheran?
• Calvinism and Lutheranism in the Empire
• The Schmalkaldic League and War
• Tolerance in Early Reformation France
• Erasmus vs Luther
• Anabaptists on the use of Force
• Tolerance and Protestantism
• Bible Translations
• Demons and the Reformation
• Saints and Prophets in the Reformation
• The Reformation and Weather
• Burning or Drowning? Punishments of Heretics in the Reformation
• Discipline in Calvin's Geneva
• The Right to Rebel: Beza and the Magistrates
• The Inquisition and Protestantism
• Printing Censorship and the Reformation
• Carafa vs Contarini in the Catholic Reformation
• Reginald Pole's Reformation
• The Regensburg Colloquy
• Jesuit Education System and its Impact in Poland
• Polish Tolerance in the Reformation
• Austrian Protestantism
• Ursulines and Education in France
• Social Welfare and Religious Movements in Sixteenth-Century Italy
• Reformation Mystics: Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross
• Carmelites and Spanish Inquisition
• The Quest for Peace and Reconciliation in Reformation Europe
• Spanish Kingdoms and Protestantism
• Ignatius Loyola's Conversion Experience
• Patronage at the New Religious Orders in the Catholic Reformation
• The Catholic Reformation's Use of Saints' Images
• Catholic Imagery in German
• Munster and Apocalypticism
• Anabaptist Underground Churches in the Netherlands
• Women and Anabaptism
• Staffbearers and Swordbearers: Different Views of Anabaptism
• Borromeo's Milan
• Calling the Council of Trent and Conciliarism
• The Impact of the Hapsburg-Valois Wars on the Council of Trent
• The Hapsburg-Valois Wars and the Early Reformation (to 1530)
• The Guise in the French Wars of Religion
• Religious Massacres in France
• Swiss Wars of the 1520s
• The Conversion of Henry of Navarre
• The Importance of the Edict of Nantes
• Protestants Under Turkish Rule in Hungary
• Catechisms in Poland
• Protestantism in the Empire after 1555: Calvinist vs Lutheran
• Catholics in England under Elizabeth
• Dutch Revolt against the Spanish
• Hedgepreaching in Holland
• Lutheran Confessional Statements
• Battles in Dutch Calvinism at the Start of the Seventeenth Century
• Humanism and the Early Reformation
• Humanism and the Conflict with Reformers
• Protestants at the Council of Trent
• Crossing the Line: Anabaptism and its 'Dangers'
• Crossing the Line: Servetus and Anti-Trinitarianism
• Tolerance and Michael Servetus
• Voices for Tolerance in the Reformation: Castellio
• The Right to Rebel: Beza
• Views on the Church: How Reformers 'avoided' Schism and Heresy
• Protestantism in Spain
• Protestantism in Italy
• Education in Reformed Academies
• Reformation and Women
• Reformation and the Family
• Fathers as Pastors
• Clerical Marriage
• Polygamy and Bigamy in the Reformation
• Theatre and the Reformation
• Dutch Identity and the Reformation
• John Knox and Women
• Catholic Missionaries in South America
• Protestants and the Council of Trent
• Social Activism and Catholic Reform
• Counter-Reformation Saints
• Theresa of Avila and Bloodlaws in Spain
• Poor Relief in Reformed Communities
• Assassinations in the Reformation
• Religious Extremism in the Reformation
• Utopias in the Reformation: Munster
• Utopias in the Reformation: South America
• Utopias in the Reformation: Geneva
• Religious Pluralism in Poland
• Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Churches
• The Spread of Lutheranism: Bugenhagen
• Images in the Catholic Reformation
• The Mass as a Whore
• The Failure of the Schmalkaldic League
• From the Battle of Muhlberg to the Peace of Augsburg
• The Introduction of Reformed Christianity to Heidelberg
• Heidelberg and Bullinger
• The Conquest of Heidelberg
• English Puritan Problems with the Prayerbook
• Reformation and Theatre
• Musical Styles and Reform of Worship in Tridentine Catholicism
• Music and Psalm Singing in Geneva
• Music and Psalm Singing in 1560s France
• Hymn singing and Luther
• Zwingli on Organs and Music
• Martyrs and Protestantism: John Foxe
• Protestant Views of Jan Hus and John Wyclif
• The Spanish Armada and Providence in Elizabethan England
• Reginald Pole and the Jesuits
• Poissy