COMPS for CLASS OF 2010 only

The first day of winter term in all three Comps classes: a 10-15 page section of your comps, first class requirement. 

Please remember that you need IRB approval before you can begin any oral history comps projects or other types of human subject research: https://apps.carleton.edu/governance/institutional_review_board/

"Practical Advice for Writing Your Dissertation, Book, or Article," by Liena Vayzman, AHA Perspectives, December 2006, http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2006/0612/0612gra1.cfm

Money for Research: https://www.carleton.edu/campus/DoC/priv/forms/pdf/StudentFundRequest.pdf

COMPS DIRECTORS, WINTER TERM, 2009-2010

Professor Clifford Clark, History 400-01
Office: Leighton 206, x4208, cclark
Class meetings: CMC 328, TTh 10:10-11:55 am

Professor Victoria Morse, History 400-02
Office: Leighton 203B, x4210, vmorse
Class meetings: Leighton 303, MWF 9:50-11:00 am

Professor Annette Igra, History 400-03
Office: Leighton 207, x5240, aigra
Class meetings: Leighton 202, TTh 3:10-4:55 pm

We consider self-awareness about methods and assumptions to be at the very center of the History major. It is emphasized in the freshman seminars, the junior colloquium, the senior seminars, and many of the topical courses in the department. Moreover, what distinguishes comps from most papers and exams is the centrality of this concern about method. In comps therefore you are expected to show an understanding of the methods of historians: the kinds of questions different historians ask, the kinds of sources they use, and, in turn, the ways in which their questions, sources, and the time period in which they work affect the conclusions they reach. In planning your comps, please keep the question of method foremost in your mind. We expect to see you conduct a self-conscious appraisal of the importance of the questions you are asking, a consideration and critique of approaches that other historians have taken to these questions, and a justification of your approach as compared to theirs.

The comps will be written in a special seminar with the company, support and criticism of other students and with one of the comps directors. In addition, each writer will work with one faculty member who will act as content advisor. Writers should consult with their content advisor throughout the process.

The Comps Paper. Students will write a paper, between 7,500 and 10,000 words in length, that will treat a tightly focused research problem in a field of history. All papers will use primary sources and will locate their problem in its historiographical context. The nature of the research topic, the abundance (or otherwise) of primary sources, and the language skills of the writer will dictate the balance between the use of primary sources and the contention with historiography. The model for the comps essay is the journal article.

First Class requirement (January 4th & 5th, 2010): You should come to the first class with a 10-to-14 page section of your comps in hand. This should be a coherent draft of one new segment of the comps (not an unchanged portion of your 395 paper). It will serve as the basis of discussion with the comps director and with your fellow writers. Ordinarily this section will either be an analysis of a selection of your major primary sources or an overview of the historiography as it relates to you central question/thesis.

In addition, we wanted to remind you that this 10-to-14 page section must use standard footnotes. The Department requires that you use the format described in Chapter 16 in the 15th edition of "The Chicago Manual of Style." It is now online through the library webpage: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html. If you need examples of how to cite different kinds of sources please use the section about “The Mechanics of Citation” in the History Department website under “Study Aids,”  http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/history/study/citations/.

The Seminar. In the seminar, you will complete the comps as you discuss problems in interpretation and writing. The members of the seminar will read and critique one another’s work as the term proceeds. The final two weeks of the term will be devoted to the defense of final drafts. Your content advisor will be present when you defend your final comps paper.

During the course of writing, you will consult with your content advisor, who will be your primary resource outside the seminar. She or he will help you with matters connected to the substance of your argument. You can expect to show your content advisor up to TWO different drafts of your paper as it progresses toward completion. Think carefully about what substantive improvements you have made before you ask your content advisor to read the second draft. Indicate clearly in the draft the places where revisions have been made.

Comps directors and content advisors should receive drafts as well as the final copy of the paper in HARD COPY. It is up to you take care of formatting and printing your paper. Use double-sided printing whenever possible. Please do not send your paper as an e-mail attachment as it will routinely be returned to you to print out yourself.

Remember that comps seminars are seminars like any other. Participation in class and fulfillment of class obligations will affect the grade you get for your comps.

Comps grades. Comps grades are ONLY awarded at the end of Spring term: Pass (P), Pass with Distinction (D), and No Credit (NC), unless a major is off-phase and graduates a different term. Please don't panic at the end of winter term when you see your transcript - comps grades are recorded for all students at the end of Spring term only. Everyone receives a grade of Continued (CI) at the end of Winter term.

Distinction in the History Major. The Registrar's Office may award Distinction to a History Major only if two mandatory requirements are accomplished: 1) a grade of Pass with Distinction in the Integrative Exercise, and 2) a grade point average of at least 3.5 in all courses taken in the major (History) department. Distinction in the major is awarded by the Registrar's Office, not by the History department.

Additional Information, 2009-10
Credit for comps. A student receives six credits for History 400. These credits count toward the 66 credits required for the History major.

Off-campus deadline dates.  Deadlines for seniors who are off campus. If you will be off campus during fall term, you are still expected to meet the fall-term deadline. Whatever term you plan to be away, it is particularly important that you stay in close touch with your content advisors or with the comps director.