Home — Syllabus: Expectations — Syllabus: Grades and Schedule — Syllabus: Campus Resources — Assignment Files — D2L
Grades – See the bottom of this page for an explanation of grades.
- Appetizer and 2nd Plate assignments are due Monday at 10 p.m.
- 1st Plate and Dessert Assignments are due Wednesday at 10 p.m.
- Unless otherwise notes in the schedule.
Week 1: August 21
Historical Thinking Skill: Leveling up digital literacy and history
Sources
Check Please! is both your Source and your Assignment for this week.
Assignments
- Appetizer- Due Sunday August 27 by noon.
- 1st Plate-Check Please: An introduction to the SIFT process for evaluating information credibility
Week 2: August 28
Historical Thinking Skill: Leveling up digital literacy and history
Sources
Return to Enter is both your Source and your Assignment for this week.
Assignments
Check Please! is both your Source and your Assignment for this week.
Week 3: Sept 4 (no class Monday for Face to Face students, assignments due as usual)
What is Professional History and Why is History.com not it?
Sources
- How Historians Work – Please read "Evidence of the Past," " The Changing Past," and " The Contested Past."
- [Historical Thinking Chart]https://jacknorton.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Historical-Thinking-Chart.pdf
- [Video: What is the difference between history and memory?]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-6E8zw1mA Christy Clark-Pujara, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Video: Primary vs Secondary Source
- Middleton, Nick. “Sacred Flows.” In Rivers: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199588671.003.0002. If you are off campus, log in with your StarID.
Assignments
- Appetizer- Note: You do NOT need to post this Appetizer assignment in a D2L discussion board. We will start that practices with the GIS Appetizer next week.
- 1st Plate-
Week 4: September 11
Historical Thinking Skill: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Sources
-
A Short Introduction to GIS Click on link to Download pdf.
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"Analyzing Maps". Read the Essay and Primary Sources
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Blackwell, Amy Hackney. "Climate and Geography in Ancient Asia and the Pacific." Climate and Geography in Ancient History. Facts On File, 2019. Accessed August 28, 2022.
Assignments
Week 5: September 18
Historical Thinking Skill: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Sources
Burns, William E. "First River-Valley Civilizations." Earliest Civilizations. Facts On File, 2020. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://ndcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE49&articleId=594347
Credit: The OER Project
The Eloquent Peasant Biography
The Eloquent Peasant Comic Biography
Assignments
Week 6 September 25
Historical Thinking Skill: Object Analysis
Sources
Gleick, Peter. Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of The Three Ages of Water: Prehistoric Past, Imperiled Present, and a Hope for the Future. First edition. New York: PublicAffairs, 2023.
"Analyzing Material Objects," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/analyzing-material-objects [accessed September 18, 2023]
Assignments
Week 7: October 2
Historical Thinking Skill: Object Analysis
Sources
"Environment and Human Society in the Ancient Near East." A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Accessed September 7, 2022. online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE49&articleId=369211.
Read Sections 1, 2, and 3 only (stop at Climate and Climatic Change)
O’Neal, Michael J. "Art in Ancient Egypt." Art in Ancient History. Facts On File, 2019. Accessed September 7, 2022. online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE49&articleId=226739.
Hippopotamus ("William") ca. 1961–1878 B.C.
Travelling Boat being Rowed ca. 1981–1975 B.C.
Assignments
Week 8: October 9
Historical Thinking Skill: Metadata.
Sources
Ancient Greece Water Systems
Ancient Egypt Water Engineering
The Wells of Pompeii, Ground Water, June 2014. Wayne Lorenz, Edwar Wolfram.
Assignments
- Appetizer-
- 1st Plate-
Give yourself time to do this assignment.
Please fill out this mid-term survey
Week 9: October 16 (note abbreviated week)
Historical Thinking Skill: Metadata
Sources
The Water Cycle: One page graphic
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. "Cities and Classical Societies (3000 BCE-500 CE)." In A Concise History of the World, 69-134. Cambridge Concise Histories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Gale eBooks (accessed October 10, 2023). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7595200011/GVRL?u=mnanorman&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=e4cb334b (Requires StarID login)
- This is as close to a classic textbook overview as we’ll have for this semester.
Assignments
Week 10: October 23
Historical Thinking Skill: Computers and Words
Sources
- Citations for Content Generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools
- Generative AI and historical authority", published 19 October 2023.
- "Introduction: Algorithms of Oppression : How Search Engines Reinforce Racism"
- "Were Medieval People Racist?"
Assignments
Week 11: October 30
Historical Thinking Skill: Computers and Words
Sources
Hovden, Eirik. "Water." In Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, edited by Richard C. Martin. Gale, 2016. https://ndcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galeislam/water/0?institutionId=2786
Morris, Lawrence. "The Meaning of Ritual Baptism." In Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2022. Accessed October 20, 2022. https://dailylife2-abc-clio-com.ndcproxy.mnpals.net/Search/Display/1437997
Bingham, Ann. "Water in South and Mesoamerican Culture and Mythology." South and Mesoamerican Mythology A to Z. Facts On File, 2004. Accessed October 20, 2022. online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE53&articleId=216321.
Assignments
Week 12: November 6
Historical Thinking Skill: Podcasting
Sources
Please read Chapter 3 in Sound Reporting and listen to the podcasts.
Kern, Jonathan. Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Chapter 3: Writing for Broadcast
Chen, Angus. “Loathed By Farmers, Loved By Ancients: The Strange History Of Tiger Nuts.” NPR, April 27, 2016, sec. Eating And Health. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/27/472581773/loathed-by-farmers-loved-by-ancients-the-strange-history-of-tiger-nuts
Doucleff, Michaeleen. “Black Death Survivors Gave Their Descendants a Genetic Advantage — but with a Cost.” NPR, October 21, 2022, sec. Infectious Disease. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/10/19/1129965424/how-black-death-survivors-gave-their-descendants-an-edge-during-pandemics
———. “Working Moms Have Been A ‘Thing’ Since Ancient History.” NPR, November 30, 2017, sec. Women & Girls. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/11/30/567262912/working-moms-have-been-a-thing-since-ancient-history
Godoy, Maria, Scott Simon, and Peter Breslow. “Eat Like The Ancient Babylonians: Researchers Cook Up Nearly 4,000-Year-Old Recipes.” NPR, November 16, 2019. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/11/16/779930201/eat-like-the-ancient-babylonians-researchers-cook-up-nearly-4-000-year-old-recip
Assignments
- Appetizer- NOTE: New assignment type.
- 1st Plate-
Week 13: November 13
Historical Thinking Skill: Podcasting
Sources
-
Audio- Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost
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Audio- [https://www.npr.org/2004/03/25/1791972/revising-genghis-khans-legacy]
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Audio- Khan! The Rock Opera
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Audio- For Inca Road Builders, Extreme Terrain Was No Obstacle
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Audio- Timbuktu’s ‘Badass Librarians’: Checking Out Books Under Al-Qaida’s Nose
Assignments
Week 14: November 20 (note alternate turn in)
Historical Thinking Skill: Numerical Literacy
Sources * Perkins, Dorothy. "Grand Canal (China)." Encyclopedia of China. Facts On File, 1998. Accessed October 28, 2022.
https://ndcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE49&articleId=223310
- Bunson, Margaret R., and Stephen M. Bunson. "Tenochtitlan." Encyclopedia of Ancient Mesoamerica. Facts On File, 1996. Accessed October 28, 2022.
https://ndcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=100853&itemid=WE49&articleId=222704 - Excel Spreadsheet of Historical Statistics Will open with Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets – For Prepare and Project
- What is Quantitative History
- Reading and Organizing Quantitative History
- Video: Crash Course World History- The Silk Road
Assignments
Week 15: November 27
Historical Thinking Skill: Numerical Literacy
Sources
World History: Cultures, States, and Societies (Global Remix) Long reading, try to read over 2-3 days, while taking notes.
Assignments
Week 16: December 4
Historical Thinking Skill: Portfolio
Sources
Assignments
- Appetizer
- Link to our Appetizer spreadsheet (must login in with Normandale account)
- 1st Plate-– Note, this is the same linked document as the appetizer as the final project is all related.
Finals Week: No class meeting
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- Final Dessert: Note alternate questions.
Assignments and Grades
Assignment Descriptions
Every two weeks you’ll do four assignments for each learning module:
- Appetizer: Engage your historical sources for the week by explaining how one source relates to one item in the news. 20% of module grade.
- 1st Plate: The major history project you’ll complete for the week using historical sources and digital tools. 30% of module grade.
- 2nd Plate: A major improvement or extension of your 1st Plate with new material from the second week of the teaching module. 30% of module grade.
- Dessert: A paragraph of writing reflecting on what you learned from the week’s assignment and from your fellow classmates. 20% of module grade.
Overall Grades Weights
The first three weeks and last two weeks have 20% and 10% total weight of your grade. All the other modules (two weeks of assignments) are worth 10% of your total grade.
| Assignment | Module Grade Value | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Leveling Up | 20% | 1-3 |
| GIS | 10% | 4-5 |
| Art Analysis | 10% | 6-7 |
| Metadata | 10% | 8-9 |
| Podcasting | 10% | 10-11 |
| Computers and Words | 10% | 12-13 |
| Numerical Literacy | 10% | 14-15 |
| Portfolio | 15% | 15-Final |
| Citizenship | 5% | 16 |
Late assignments and grade drops.
Late work is not accepted nor are extensions offered except in the case of hospitalization or deployment.
Instead, two weeks of assignments are automatically dropped, much like jobs offer paid time off. I drop assignments by curving the class 12%. The final grades look like this:
