Response Papers
The success of this class depends on the active participation of all students. You must do all the required readings and come to class ready to actively contribute to class discussions by carefully listening to and engaging with your colleagues. To help you prepare for class discussion, I will require you to write a brief response paper each week of about 500 words.
Class participation and response papers will be 45% of your total grade.
Universities and Slavery Essay
Please pick one of the universities listed in the Universities & Slavery section on the MIT and Slavery site, and write an essay (750 words) about its involvement in slavery. You MUST read the excerpts below from Wilder’s book before you write the essay.
Craig Steven Wilder, “Prologue” and “Epilogue,” in Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities, pp. 1–11 and pp. 275–88, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 9781608194025. [Preview with Google Books]
Please browse this article: Mike Featherstone, “Archive.” Theory, Culture & Society 23, no. 2–3 (2006): 591–96.
The essay will be due during week 2.
Final Paper
You will write a 15-20 (undergraduates) and 25 (graduate students) page paper based on substantial research in primary sources. You must write clearly, beautifully, and persuasively.
Various preparatory writing exercises through the semester will help students develop a topic, a bibliography, and an argument in advance of the final paper itself. Students will also be required to make oral presentations of their research.
Paper topics, bibliography, and preliminary research for the final paper are due during week 5.
The oral presentations will occur during weeks 12 and 13.
The final paper is due during week 14.
The final paper will be 30% of your total grade. The oral presentation will be 15% of your total grade.
Student Examples
“Charles Blackman and the Activation of Lynching in Schley County, Georgia.” (PDF)
“From Slaves to Hillbillies: A Racial History of the Banjo in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” (PDF)
Note: All student examples appear courtesy of MIT students. Unless otherwise requested, examples appear anonymously.
