For Google Doc versions of the three steps for this project, see:

Research Project Steps One to Three (Google Docs)

Make sure to ALSO read the information below as some details are NOT on the Google Docs (they are overview of the specific stages of this project only).

Over the course of this (short) semester, you will be developing research projects related to the history of medieval Spain. These projects involve three steps: Source Analysis, Proposal, and Final Project. 

You have numerous options in developing your research projects, depending on your interests and strengths. These options include choice in framework (examining medieval Spain in popular imagination or focusing on a specific historical topic) and output (research essay or artistic representation or teaching tool or podcast episode).

If you would like help in deciding on a topic, please get in touch with me! I’m more than happy to discuss it via Zoom or direct message on the chatboard.

Part One: Source Analysis Due May 21st 

The first step of your research project is analysing ONE primary source and ONE secondary source article related to your topic in a question and answer format. This aspect of the project is designed to help you formulate the questions/framework that will make up your proposal (Part Two). It is also structured to provide a foundation for your later project and help you develop/affirm the skills of historical source analysis.

For details:

Source Analysis

Part Two: Proposal Due May 28th

For the second step of your research, you will put together a proposal of your intended project and a brief annotated bibliography of potential sources (primary and secondary). The goal of this step is to help you develop/test your ideas and find resources.

For details:

Research Proposal

Part Three: Final Project Due June 21st

The final step of your research project is demonstrating the knowledge that you’ve gained from the source analysis, proposal, and further research via your chosen output: research essay, artistice representation, teaching tool, or podcast episode. Final projects will be submitted on our course website, using a tool which easily formats your submissions. You can also upload photographs or other media.

For details:

Final Projects

To begin…

To start your project, choose one of the following options:

  1. One of the key ideas that we are exploring in HIST 365 this spring is the relationship between medieval Spanish history and the current popular imagination. As we’ve seen, aspects of this history have been debated, analyzed, reimagined, and reinterpreted in various ways in contemporary political discourse and media. For this option, you will use Guy Gavriel Kay’s novel The Lions of al-Rassan as the foundation of your project, considering how an aspect of medieval Spanish history has been reimagined in it.
  2. Choose any topic related to the history of medieval Spain that interests you. This topic can be one we touched on in class or one that we have not explored. You can look at particular historical figures (specific kings, queens, religious leaders, military leaders, poets, artists), specific groups (Jews, Muslims, conversos, moriscos, nuns, monks, church authorities, artisans, women, intellectuals etc.), particular events (military battles, religious disputations, systemic violence against minorities, construction of churches/palaces/public spaces, religious processions, religious holidays, the Black Death), or specific topics (medicine, scientific activity, translation schools, economic roles, interfaith relations, marriage, family life, gender roles, sexuality etc.). 

Next…

After you have decided which type of topic you would like to explore, then choose the format of your project:

  1. Research Essay (approximately 2000-2500 words).
  2. Artistic Representation (painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, mixed media) plus a 1000-1250 word explanatory essay.
  3. Teaching tool aimed at any age group from elementary to post-secondary. This tool can be a lesson plan OR a video or podcast designed to explain certain aspects of the history of medieval Spain or its reflection in popular media. The length requirements will vary depending on format. 
  4. Podcast episode (approximately 30 minutes in length).

Assessment

This project is based on two types of assessment (many thanks to Nina Pak Lui for generously sharing her assessment criteria):

A) Formative Assessment

The Source Analysis and Proposal will not be graded. Instead you will receive feedback on these assignments designed to help you move forward with your project. These assignments are required because they are designed to help facilitate the process of learning and prepare you to succeed on the final summative research project. 

One component of each assignment is a self-assessment, designed to help you track your own learning. We will provide a rubric to structure your self-assessment and help you answer the following questions: What am I learning? Where am I now? Where am I going next

B) Summative Assessment

The culmination of  your research journey is your final project which will form the foundation of your grade in this aspect of the course. You must complete the Source Analysis and Proposal for your culminating project to be graded. Your grade will be based on what you produce for your final project and your formative learning (in particular, the Source Analysis) focusing on strengths, growth, and achievement.

You will also submit a self-assessment of your work, structured according to a provided framework. This self-assessment will be used to determine the final grade for your project. 

But why am I using this framework to assess your research project?

Many of you may be asking this question! This framework is a first foray into a practice known as “ungrading”. As a professor, one of my least favourite tasks is assigning students grades. I enjoy reading your work, engaging in discussion with you about the ideas we’ve been exploring in class, and hearing your voices as scholars. In particular, I relish watching you grow and learn over the semester. But grading forces me to judge you according to often arbitrary guidelines and it doesn’t facilitate the PROCESS of learning or allow me to recognize it in assessment. 

My goal with using this framework to assess your research projects is to allow you space to develop and grow as scholars, without attaching specific weight to the work you do along that journey. It is a work in progress for myself (and my own learning journey) and therefore something I hope you will help me develop over the semester.