Final Paper

Final Paper Assignment on the History of the Contemporary World

The Assignment

Write a short research paper (5-8 pages).

Examine a contemporary issue or current event and put it into historical perspective.

Some additional requirements:

  • Choose a contemporary issue or current event outside of the United States and Europe – though you may speak to the role of the US or European countries in the history of this event
  • Draw upon the work of our class – lectures, readings, and discussions as you put your event into historical perspective
  • Do some additional research to fill out your historical perspective
  • Note that I must approve your topic and your bibliography

You’ll complete the paper in stages (with a proposal and bibliography, outline and initial draft, and then final paper) and share your results in a presentation at the end of class.

Why?

This assignment serves several purposes. It will sharpen your research skills, your writing skills, and your presentation skills. At the same time, it will help you to deepen your understanding of the history of the contemporary world.

Deadlines

The deadlines are listed on our schedule. I include them here as well:

  • Initial ideas (Friday of week 10) – but you are encouraged and welcome to bring your ideas to me before this!
  • Paper proposal and bibliography (Friday of week 11)
  • Notes, outline, and draft (Monday of week 14, before Thanksgiving)
  • Presentation to class (Monday and Wednesday of week 15)
  • Final paper due (Saturday of week 15)

Length

Five to eight pages in length (1500-2400 words) for the paper.  You may write longer if your essay is still interesting, organized and not repetitive. Add a bibliography of all of the works you’ve used (and cited) in writing it (which doesn’t count in the seven to ten pages).

Format

Follow the format guidelines of the Sample Research Paper on our Handouts page. Submit documents to Moodle in pdf format

More Details

What does it mean to examine a contemporary issue or current event in the world news and put it into historical perspective?

You should choose a contemporary issue or a current event (an event from the last three or four years) from the world news and do research in historical sources (works by historians and other scholars) to help us make sense of it.

Do some research to put this topic into historical perspective. Review your notes from lectures and discussion. Look to the history of the country or region — or to the issues at hand — as discussed in our textbook. Look to the outside readings that we have used. Then find at least two recent articles from a peer-reviewed scholarly work, either a chapter in a book or an article in a journal of history to help make sense of your topic. (See the links and references on the Research Bibliography of our Resources tab).

In your paper, explain how we can better understand this issue or event through a historical perspective. Your paper should have an introduction to the event and the issues it raises, a thesis that explains the importance of history in understanding the topic, background on the event based on your reading in the news, a historical perspective (or perspectives) on the topic (that is a set of paragraphs that demonstrate your thesis), and a conclusion in which you explain the significance of your argument. Give your paper a title that makes clear the event you are discussing and the general direction of your argument.

What should I write about?

That is up to you. Pick a topic that interests you and that you’d like to learn more about.

Pick a focused topic that you can master and write about in a short research paper. Economic development in Latin America? Too big. Inflation in contemporary Argentina? Doable.

Pick a topic that you can illuminate through historical research, a topic that can be better understood with a bit of historical thinking.

Paper Proposal

Before you can proceed, you need to get my approval on your topic. Your paper proposal should include:

  • a relevant title
  • a paragraph describing the issue or event you will examine – and the questions that will guide your research
  • a paragraph explaining the ways in which you intend to put it in to historical context – that is, your initial approach to answering these questions
  • if you want to add additional paragraphs – of background information or initial ideas – that is fine, but not at all required for your first proposal – if you do present background, please be sure to cite the sources you are using
  • a bibliography of your news article(s) and relevant secondary sources which should include at least a relevant chapter from the textbook and relevant secondary sources

Outside Research

Let me explain this important requirement. You should build your historical perspective out of the resources of the class: the textbook, lectures, the additional readings, the ideas that we’ve discussed. But you also need to do some research in an outside source. I ask you to identify and read at least two articles or chapters from peer-reviewed books or scholarly journals of history that will provide support for your paper. You may look to other secondary sources, as well – encyclopedia articles, textbooks, historical monographs, or more articles in a peer-reviewed historical journal — but these are not required.

Citations & Footnotes

You must cite: direct quotations, examples, and the source of your information. A typical history paper will have one to three citations in each paragraph.

For citation style, please use footnotes in Chicago style (that is the go-to format for historical research). It is not hard to learn: Microsoft Word and Google Doc both have functions to insert footnotes (see insert… footnote…) that will keep your footnotes correctly numbered and formatted.

You can see Purdue Owl for examples of how to format various footnotes (to books, journal articles, web sites, etc.). I’m not so worried about perfect format and details of publication, but a good footnote should take me to the source and the particular page you are using, such as:
  • Schoppa, 63.
  • Federico Neiburg, “Inflation: Economists and Economic Cultures in Brazil and Argentina,” Comparative Studies in Society and History (2006), 604.

To cite a class presentation, you could use a footnote like this:

  • Prof. Greg Shaya, Making of the Contemporary World, 11/20/2024.
Note that you can also use footnotes to share tangents, definitions, or bibliography. Footnotes such as:
 
  • Albert Fujimori recently died of cancer in his home in Lima, Peru. See the obituary in the New York Times, September 11, 2024.
  • For the purposes of this paper, I follow the Oxford dictionary definition of populism as, “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.”
  • For the history of independence in Latin America, I’ve relied on John Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America (2001), chapter 7, “Independence.”

Bibliography

Your paper should include a bibliography. You should organize it in sections, such as News Sources and Secondary Sources. Include all the works that you’ve read or consulted in writing your paper. Here is what it might look like:

News Sources
 
“Alberto Fujimori, 86, Leader of Peru Imprisoned for Rights Abuses, Dies,” New York TImes, September 11, 2024.
 
Secondary Sources
 
Chasteen, John. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. (2001). Chapter 7, “Independence.”
Neiburg, Federico. “Inflation: Economists and Economic Cultures in Brazil and Argentina.” Comparative Studies in Society and History. Vol. 48, no. 3 (2006): 604–33.
Schoppa, R. Keith. The Twentieth Century: A World History. Oxford, 2021. Chapter 6, “Bright Triumphs, Dark Disasters, 1980-1991.”
Additional Sources
 
Prof. Greg Shaya, Making of the Contemporary World. “Environmental History and Climate Change.” 11/18/2024.

Plagiarism

Any sources that you use must be appropriately quoted, paraphrased, and cited. If you borrow more than four words in a row from a source you must put these in quotation marks and cite the source. Please review the handout, “What is Plagiarism – and How to Avoid It” posted on our Handouts page and let’s discuss any questions you have. Plagiarism counts as a serious violation of academic integrity.

AI

I have talked in class about the pitfalls of relying on AI for historical research and writing. For this assignment, you cannot use any AI tools in researching your topic or writing your paper. I will run papers through an AI check and will view the use of AI generated text as a serious violation of academic integrity.

Resources

Check out the following web pages for links and reading recommendations to help you with this assignment.

Criteria of Evaluation

  • Do you present a contemporary issue or current event – and present it well?
  • Do you provide an important historical perspective (or set of historical perspectives) on the topic at hand?
  • Do you draw upon important research in outside sources?
  • Do you connect your paper to our course – themes, materials, discussions?
  • Do you include concrete details – such as quotations – in your paper?
  • Do you cite all your sources?
  • Do you have a strong conclusion that explains the significance of your work?
  • Is your paper well organized and clearly written?
  • Have you responded well to feedback?