Posted: May 6th, 2015

Pratt Institute—World Civilizations I to 1800—Spring 2015–Prof. Simmons

Pratt Institute—World Civilizations I to 1800—Spring 2015–Prof. Simmons
GUIDELINES FOR FINAL PROJECT
Introduction
A five- to six-page illustrated and written project is due on the last day of class.  You will be asked to identify and write about an historical artefact, building, or other object that epitomizes or sums up a theme, event, era, historical actor or process discussed in class and in the required readings.  Topics and guidelines for this assignment are specified below.  You have been randomly assigned a topic to work on, but will be asked to identify on your own an illustrative object, work of art, building, etc.
Procedures: You must propose to me by email the object you have chosen by class 9 (March 26 at 12pm). Once you have received a written approval, you should begin work on the final project, which is due in class on April 30 (both the brief verbal presentation and the written project on paper)
1)    Guidelines for project proposal (due to 3/26 in my email mailbox):
a.    An electronic photograph of the object must be included
b.    In your text proposal, include
i.    A brief but complete description of the object—material, dimensions, location, etc.
ii.    A paragraph explaining why you have chosen the object as illustrative of the period—minimum length 3 complete sentences
iii.    The title and references for at least one peer-reviewed, scholarly source you will be using for your paper. If  you are not sure what a scholarly, peer-reviewed source is, talk to me.
2)    Guidelines for final project (due 4/30 in class):
a.    Length of written portion of project: The written part of your project must top at minimum 1,250 words
i.    Contents of text:  in the introduction, you should first describe the material object (size, material etc.) and then explain its practical and other uses.  The introduction should also clearly anticipate why this object is a significant testimonial of the themes or period you are commenting and which we studied and read about in class.  The middle part of the text should include evidence for your arguments, and the conclusion should clearly restate your central points.
ii.    Sources: You must use as a source at least one scholarly source, meaning a published book or article.  All sources, whether scholarly or other, must be fully acknowledged at the end of your text.  Your text must be written by you, and in your own words, and not copied from other sources without the use of quotation marks and an acknowledgement of your sources.  If you paraphrase a source, indicate with a footnote your source.  Remember, plagiarism is an academic offense and is easily detectable through search engines.
iii.    You will lose points if guidelines are not respected
Note: to gain a sense of this approach to picturing and writing about history, consult with the BBC’s History of the World in 100 Objects series, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/. The object you choose, however, CANNOT be one of the 100 objects in the BCC radio series nor can it be one of the “Objects of the Week” I will have discussed in class.

Assignments of Time-Periods per Student

Class 2     Rise and Expansion of Islam: Commerce and Cultural Exchange Accelerate in Afro-Eurasia c.600-1200
Lukas Bolton, Aliya Nimmons, Luwei Wang

Class 3    Creative Destruction: the Silk Road, the “Mongol Moment” and the Black Death in Afro-Eurasia c.1200-1400
Rachel Heeke, Cristina Posada

Class 4    The Columbian Exchange and the Making of the Atlantic World c.1400-1600.
Sarah Hong aka EB,  Gracie Rothey

Class 5        Capitalism and Slavery in the Early Modern World c.1500-1800
Jason Kelly, Devika Sen

Class 6    The Middle Kingdom and its Outliers: Ming and Qing China & Japan c.1350-1800.
Hyesung Kim aka Heather, Katherine Sherman aka Kate

Class 8    The Protestant Reformation, the Printing Revolution and the Wars of Religion in Europe c.1450-1650.
Haa-Young Lee, Nicole Stahl

Class 9    The Scientific Revolution c.1550-1800: Why in Europe?
Karyn Lee, Leon Tabary

Class 10    The First Modern Political Revolution or the Glorious Revolution in England: Constitutionalism, Absolutism and the Modernization of European States c.1600-1750
Taliah Leslie, Astrid Terrazas

Class 11     Contested Liberties: The Enlightenment and Political Revolutions in the Atlantic World c. 1700-1800
Amy Lin, Ruiyi Wang aka Rena

Class 12        Splendors of the Ottoman Empire: Rise, Reforms and Decline c.1450-1800
Melis Maro, Hernan Ayala

Class 13    The Modern Revolution: Abolitionism, Industrialization, the New Imperialism and the “European Moment” in World History c.1750-1850
Yadira Nelson, Megan Ravey