Course Requirements

Attendance and participation

It is essential to recognize that class discussions and activities are an integral part of the learning process. Therefore, all students should attend classes regularly and should come prepared to engage in scholarly discussions with their peers. Failure to do so will affect the students' academic outcomes in the class. Students are responsible for material covered during their absence.

It is equally important to create and maintain a respectful class environment where we can all share our ideas and thoughts. Consequently, we will not tolerate any disrespectful behavior

Book Reviews

This written exercise entails a meticulous evaluation and an intellectual positioning on the arguments put forward by an author. It is, above all, an analytical and evaluative written exercise that must assess the author's central argument.

Task

  • Students must submit one book review.

Skills

This written exercise entails a meticulous evaluation and an intellectual positioning on the arguments put forward by author. It is, above all, an analytical and evaluative written exercise that must assess the author's central argument. Some of the questions that could guide your Book Reviews are:

  • What does the author want to convey in the book?

  • Is the author presents credible and substantive evidence to support their central thesis

  • What are the weaknesses and strengths of the evidence?

  • Is the historical narrative follow a coherent structure?

  • How does the author structure its claims?

  • What are the underline premises that the author implicitly takes for granted to make its thesis plausible?

  • How the author foresees and deals with potential counter-arguments in her/his/they own narrative?

Purpose:

  • The critical reviews will be useful to improve students' critical reading and writing skills and as a starting point for class discussions.

Format:

  • The book reviews should be three pages long, single space. It should be submitted through Canvas two hours before the time of the class. Each student should bring a copy of their book review and should come prepared to participate in class discussions.

Historiographical Essay

A historiographical essay entails a meticulous evaluation and an intellectual positioning on the arguments put forward by different authors on a determined historical or social subject. It is, above all, an analytical exercise that must examine, compare, and contrast the authors' central arguments.

When analyzing individual works, it should be considered:

  • The author's main argument. What is his central thesis? What does the author want to tell us in his article. It is usual for authors to suggest in the first paragraphs, the main argument and/or topic of the essay. Read the opening paragraphs of the article carefully. You can also pay close attention to the conclusion as it should summarize the main points of the article/essay.

  • The author's line of argument. How does the author structure his thought? What are the most critical points that the author wants to highlight? How are these points essential to support his main argument?

Once the main arguments of the articles are fully understood, is important to look for:

  • The relevance of the evidence presented by the author in support of the arguments. Is the evidence presented by the author the most adequate to support his arguments? What evidence and/or data does he use in his narrative? What evidence did the author did not considered in his analysis? How would the evidence that the author did not examined influence his arguments and conclusions?

  • The coherence and clarity of the line of argument. Does the author present his arguments clearly? How does the author organize his arguments? Does the argument have a logical sequence, or are they unconnected ideas?

The historiographic essay must consider the following elements:

  • Compare and contrast the arguments and interpretations presented in historical narratives. How do historical interpretations differ? On the other hand, what do these historical interpretations have in common?

  • The historiographic dialogue between texts. Does a particular historical interpretation refute or respond to another historical account? How historical narratives complement each other?

  • Contribution to historical knowledge. To what extent do these works contribute to the expansion and development of historical knowledge on the subject?

  • New research or historical questions. What themes emerge from the evaluated works that are worthy of historical inquiry?

Instructions:

  • Students should choose at least three books for their Historiographical Essays. The HE must be ten pages long, double-spaced, and using the Font 12 Times New Roman. Pages should be listed in the lower right-hand corner, and their names should appear on all pages. The essay should be between 8 and 10 pages long.

  • It is essential to discuss with the professor the texts chosen for the HE. Students must submit their HE on week seventh.

Research Narrative

Each student should produce a historical narrative in the form of a scholarly article that could reasonably explain a social or a historical process related to the history of Cuba or Puerto Rico.

Task:

  • The first step toward this goal is to choose a (1) topic of interest. The student will have two weeks to select the topic and discuss it with the professor. Afterward, they will have to identify the best primary and secondary (2) sources for their research topic. Once they have done these preliminary steps, the third phase is to craft a (3) research question that could guide their analysis. The students will have to turn in a (4) prospectus by the seventh week of classes that should include the topic of their research, a (5) preliminary argument, the list of sources, and the research question.

  • It would be best if the students devoted their time during the second part of the semester to analyze and interpret the sources to propose a well-constructed argument. This argument should reasonably explain a historical process or moment in Cuba or Puerto Rico. This writing should be the (6) final narrative.

Purpose:

  • This assignment seeks to encourage historical thinking skills. This particular way of critical thinking is a systematic and creative process that adapts the concepts and methods of professional historians in the classroom. In particular, this course will foster the epistemological concept of Evidence. This principle will provide the student with a set of skills to organize, interpret, and make inferences from historical sources to ultimately postulate reasonable and plausible explanations of the past.

Format:

  • The paper should be fifteen pages long, double space. All pages should be enumerated in the lower right corner and the author’s name should appear in the upper right corner of each page. Citations and references in the article should follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.