Final Paper

This paper will take considerable work, most of it on your own. You will need to choose a medieval subject. I would like you to pick something that relates to urban history, but I will construe that as broadly as possible.

There are various ways you can develop your paper.

First, you can look at an issue historiographically. Read both books and articles on a subject and formulate a thesis on the "state of the question."

Second, you can look at a topic and look for both primary material and secondary material that helps you formulate a thesis about the topic.

Third, you can find a single, long, primary source or collection, and read that source and secondary material that helps you understand the source, and formulate a thesis about the significance of your chosen text.

We will have a meeting with a research librarian in the first weeks of class, and she will assist you in figuring out your project. You will need to have a very clear topic selected and provisional bibliography by MARCH 20. On (or near) April 3 you will have an individual meeting with me to discuss your paper in depth. You will do a 20 minute graded presentation on one of the last two days of class. The paper is due on our final exam day (to be announced).