Research Paper

Research Paper Assignment on the History of the Contemporary World

The Assignment

Write a short research paper (7-10 pages).

You may approach this in a couple different ways. You may:

  • Examine a current event in the world news and put it into historical perspective
  • Examine an important theme in contemporary world history and put it into historical perspective

The only requirements are that you examine a topic outside of the United States and Europe – and that I 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:

  • Paper idea (Start of week 11) – but you are encouraged and welcome to bring your ideas to me before this!
  • Paper proposal and bibliography (End of week 11)
  • Notes, outline, and initial draft (week 13, before Thanksgiving)
  • Presentation to class (week 14)
  • Final paper due (end of week 14)

Length

Seven to ten pages in length (2100-3000 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 current event in the world news and put it into historical perspective?

For this prompt, you would choose a current event from the world news and do research in historical sources (works by historians and other scholars) to help us make sense of it. So, you might look to the recent disputed elections in Kenya, or the recent protests in Iran, or floods in Australia, or Venezuelan migration, or anything else that interests you. Then you would do research to help us understand this issue with a historical perspective.

Identify a long feature article or a set of three or four articles from BBC News, The Guardian, PRI The World, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, or other reliable news sources (see the links for News under Course Resources).

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 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 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 does it mean to examine an important theme in contemporary world history and put it into historical perspective

For this prompt, you would choose an important theme in world history – looking to our readings and discussions and your own interests – and do research in historical sources (works by historians and other scholars) to help make sense of it. So, you might look at the theme of political instability in post-colonial states, or immigration in Latin America, or religious diversity in South Asia, or youth movements in the Middle East, or something else. I would encourage you to focus on one particular context, whether regional or national. Then you would do research to help us understand this issue with a historical perspective.

Here too you could look to current events. You might identify a long feature article or a set of three or four articles from BBC News, The Guardian, PRI The World, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, or other reliable news sources (see the links for News under Course Resources).

Do some research to put this issue into historical perspective. Review your notes from lectures and discussion. Look to the history of the country or region — or to the theme — 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 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 through a historical perspective. Your paper should have an introduction to the theme at hand, a thesis that explains the importance of history in understanding the theme, background on the topic 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 theme you are examining and the general direction of your argument.

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 news item or the theme you are examining – 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 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
  • a bibliography of your news article(s) and relevant secondary sources (which should include at least a relevant chapter from the textbook and two recent articles from peer-reviewed scholarly history journals

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 from peer-reviewed 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.

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.

Resources

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

Criteria of Evaluation

  • Do you present an interesting event from the recent news of the world or theme in contemporary world history – 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 have a strong conclusion?
  • Is your paper well organized?
  • Is your paper well written (in fully developed paragraphs; in clear, precise, direct prose)?
  • Is your paper free of errors of grammar or spelling?
  • Is your paper formatted correctly?
  • Have you responded well to feedback?