Professor Kenneth Gouwens
Office Hrs.: Tues. 9:30-11:00am & by appt. (Wood Hall #318)
Telephone: 486-3750; e-mail: clement.7@uconn.edu
Expectations and Requirements:
This course focuses upon the cultural and political history of Renaissance Rome during the pontificates of Leo X (1513-1521) and Clement VII (1523-1534), both leading members of the Florentine Medici family. The course is a senior seminar for History Majors. As a designated ćWä course, it is also writing-intensive. It is designed to give students an in-depth experience of primary-source research and the composition of a formal paper based upon that research.
*****Please note: This is not the kind of paper that one can write quickly over the space of two or three days. While the instructor will provide guidance, studentsā projects will require significant independent work over the course of the semester. If you are not at present ready for the level of commitment and personal initiative that this entails, you may wish to take History 297W at a later date.
Regular attendance and active, informed participation are mandatory and will account for 25% of the overall grade for the course. The research paper will count 50%. A two-hour final examination essay will determine the remaining 25%.
Books to Purchase (available at the Uconn Co-op Bookstore):
Peter Partner, Renaissance Rome, 1500ö1559: A Portrait of a Society.
Loren Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome, 1400ö1600.
*** The course reader will be available at Copy Run.
Note: In accordance with the
Student Code at the University of Connecticut, students must avoid academic
misconduct, including cheating and plagiarism. The complete Code, including
recent revisions, is online at http://vm.uconn.edu/~dosa8/code2.html.
Students are responsible for reading and understanding the Code and abiding by
it.
Class Schedule for
History 297W (Gouwens), Spring, 2002 (draft):
Class readings will include primary-source selections which will be assembled in response to studentsā expressed research interests. Therefore, it cannot be provided in advance. It will be available by 6 September at Copy Run, which is on Storrs Rd. just a few blocks from campus. Unless otherwise specified, all classes will consist of a combination of lecture and discussion.
At the beginning of every session for which reading has been assigned, students will be required to respond in writing to a question or two based upon that reading. Although these responses will not receive formal grades, they will be taken into account in studentsā final discussion The active and informed participation of all students is critical to the success of the course. The better prepared you are, the more enjoyable (or at least the less tiresome!) the classes will be.
Schedule of Readings:
29 Jan: Introduction to Course
5 Feb: Partner, 3-73;
Course Reader, #1
12 Feb: Partner, 75-226;
(First Research Clinic)
19 Feb: Partridge (entire book)
26 Feb: Course Reader, #2 & #3;
(Second Research Clinic)
5 Mar: Individual Tutorials, by
appointment
12 Mar: two-page paper proposal &
annotated bibliography due
(presentation & discussion of studentsā proposals)
19 Mar: Spring Break ÷ No Class
Meeting
26 Mar: Course Reader, #4;
(First Writing Clinic)
2 Apr: revised proposal, updated
bibliography & outline due;
Course Reader, #5
9 Apr: discussion of problematic evidence (each student
must have submitted the document(s) and related
questions in advance to the entire class via e-mail)
16 Apr: Second Writing Clinic
23 Apr: Individual Tutorials, by
appointment
26 Apr: Final Papers Due (hard copy due by noon at History
Dept. Main Office; e-copies to be distributed)
30 Apr: Student Presentations
7 May: Student Presentations