History 6430: Borderlands Graduate Seminar
Fall 2016
3:30pm-6:00pm Wednesdays, History Department Seminar Room, Old Main 323-L
Professor Lawrence Culver
Email:
Phone: 797-3101
Office: Old Main 321-H
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:00-4:00 or by appointment.
This graduate seminar will examine the American Southwest and U.S.-Mexico Borderlands from the pre-contact era to the recent past, and the movement of the border and border peoples during the Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. eras. This seminar will also consider borderlands, borders, immigration, and migration as theoretical and methodological constructs that can be used to analyze history and historical topics more broadly. Therefore, some readings will examine other borderlands and migrations in the history of North America. This course is designed as a broad reading seminar, informing students about the history of the region, the evolution of borderlands historiography, and both landmark and current scholarship in the field. We will spend much of the semester discussing common readings, but the latter part of the semester will be devoted to individual reading, research, and writing, with collective meetings to discuss individual research and reading topics, and to discuss final paper projects in progress.
Course Readings:
Stephen Aron, American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State
William deBuys, Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New
Mexico Mountain Range
Sarah Deutsch, No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class and Gender on an Anglo-Hispanic Frontier
in the American Southwest, 1880-1940
Neil Foley, The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture
James Gregory, The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White
Southerners Transformed America
Ramón A. Gutiérrez, When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846
George J. Sánchez, Becoming Mexican-American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945
Rachel St. John, Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border
Alison Varzally, Making a Non-White America: Californians Coloring Outside Ethnic Lines,
1925-1955
LissaWadewitz, The Nature of Borders: Salmon, Boundaries, and Bandits on the Salish Sea
David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America
Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815
(Please note that seminar participants are not responsible for reading all books listed here.)
Seminar Goals and Learning Outcomes:
Historical Knowledge:
• Gaining knowledge of the history of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, the Southwest, and other borderlands in North American history.
• Learning about the evolution of Borderlands historiography and gaining a greater familiarity with scholarly historical literature in the field.
Historical Thinking and Analysis:
• Building critical reading and analytical oral and written communication skills
• Learning to utilize borderlands as methodological and theoretical tools to analyze historical topics
Assignments and Grading:
Leading Class Discussion (10%)
Each of you will be responsible for facilitating class discussion at least once during the course of the semester. That responsibility will involve placing the book and any other weekly readings in their historiographical context, elucidating the author’s thesis and major points, analyzing the author’s use of sources, and assessing the book’s contribution to the literature, as well as its limitations.
Weekly Discussion Questions (15%)
Each participant in the seminar should email at least five substantial discussion questions based on the weekly readings to me by 2:00 PM on the day of class. We will use these as a means to facilitate our class discussions.
Class Participation (15%)
This is a graduate seminar, and its quality and effectiveness will be determined by the contribution each participant makes to the class. Regular attendance and informed participation in our weekly conversations are essential for a good participation grade.
Three Book/Weekly Readings Review Papers (10% Each – 30% Total)
Each of these 3 to 5-page papers should be a substantive review of a book assigned for this seminar (and any other class readings assigned for that week). One of these review papers will be based on the readings for the week you lead class discussion. You can choose the other two books and any associated weekly readings you wish to review. Your book review should not simply summarize the book. Instead, it should state the author’s thesis and major points, examine their use of sources, and offer your critique of the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Book reviews are due in class the week following our discussion of that book.
Final Paper (30%)
The final paper can take various forms based upon your needs and disciplinary focus. Each assignment, however, should represent a substantial amount of research and writing, and should include a bibliography. Prior to submitting your final paper, you will submit a draft version for peer critique. This is intended to allow students to aid each other in improving their final papers.
Possible options include:
Comparative Historiographical Review Essay
For this approximately 15-page paper, you will select approximately five books (a series of scholarly journal articles can be substituted for one of the books) which are connected thematically, addressing a specific, discrete, topic within borderlands history of interest to you. Two of the books can be titles we have discussed in class. You should discuss possible books or articles with me well in advance of the final paper’s due date. As in your book review papers, your paper should summarize and critique each book, but should analyze them comparatively, considering how each approaches the subject or theme and contributes to your understanding of it.
Historiographical Literature Review Essay
For this 12 to 15-page paper, you will select a sizable number of books, perhaps 10 to 12, separately or in combination with a number of journal articles, which collectively examine a broad topic within borderlands history. Up to three of the books can be titles we have discussed in class. Your essay should examine each book or article within a broader context, mapping out relationships between them by exploring trends or debates in the subject area they examine, or how historical analysis of the subject has changed over time.
M.A. Thesis or Plan B Chapter or Paper
If your research topic has a borderlands history component, you can write a thesis or plan B chapter based on primary and secondary research as the final assignment in this seminar. Other final paper projects may also be developed in consultation with the course instructor.
Each student will do a presentation on their individual projects at our final class meeting on December 14th. Final papers are due by 4:00 PM on Friday, April 16th.
Course Schedule
Week 1August 31
Introduction to Seminar: Thinking about the Histories of Borders, Borderlands, and the Peoples in Between
Week 2September 7
The Course of Spanish Empire in the Southwest
David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America
Week 3September 14
The Pueblo Experience
Ramón A. Gutiérrez, When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846
Alison Freese, ed., “Pueblo Responses to Ramon Gutierrez's When Jesus Came, the Corn
Mothers Went Away,” American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 17 (1993), 141-77.
Week 4September 21
Environment and Three Cultures in New Mexico
William deBuys, Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New
Mexico Mountain Range
Week 5September 28
Other Borderlands: The Confluence of Lakes, Rivers, and Empires in the Midwest
Stephen Aron, American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State
--OR--
Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815
Week 6October 5
From Borderland to a Bordered Land in the Southwest
Rachel St. John, Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border
Week 7October 12
Labor and Gender in the Southwest
Sarah Deutsch, No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class and Gender on an Anglo-Hispanic Frontier in the American Southwest, 1880-1940
Week 8October 19
Different Southwests, Different Histories: Southern California and Texas
Neil Foley, The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture
--OR--
George J. Sánchez, Becoming Mexican-American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945
Week 9October 26
Crossing the Borders of Community and Ethnicity
Alison Varzally, Making a Non-White America: Californians Coloring Outside Ethnic Lines,
1925-1955
Week 10November 2
Other Borders, Other Migrants: The U.S. South as Another Borderland
James Gregory, The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White
Southerners Transformed America
Week 11November 9
Looking North: Exploring the U.S.-Canadian Borderlands
LissaWadewitz, The Nature of Borders: Salmon, Boundaries, and Bandits on the Salish Sea
Week 12November 16
Preliminary Final Paper Topics and Bibliographies Due. Be prepared to discuss your topics and sources extensively in class.
Week 13November 23
Thanksgiving Holiday. No Class.
Week 14November 30
Final Paper Topics and Bibliographies Due Via Email.
No Class – Work on Final Papers
Week 15December 7
Drafts of Final Papers Due Monday, December 5th for exchange for peer review, critique, and discussion on December 7th.
Week 16December 14
Final Paper Presentations
Final Papers Due by 4:00 PM on Friday, December 16th.
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