Over the course of this semester, you will be developing research projects related to the history of women and gender in medieval Europe. These projects involve three steps: Source Analysis, Proposal, Final Project.
You have numerous options in developing your research projects, depending on your interests and strengths. You can choose your own topic as well as the final version of your project (research essay, podcast, teaching tool, or artistic representation).
I have provided some suggestions for topics on the “Resources” page of our course website available here:
Assessment of your project
This project is based on two types of assessment (many thanks to Nina Pak Lui for generously sharing her assessment criteria):
A) Formative Assessment
The Source Analysis and Proposal will not be graded. Instead you will receive feedback on these assignments designed to help you move forward with your project. These assignments are required because they are designed to help facilitate the process of learning and prepare you to succeed on the final summative research project.
One component of each assignment is a self-assessment, designed to help you track your own learning. We will provide a rubric to structure your self-assessment and help you answer the following questions: What am I learning? Where am I now? Where am I going next
B) Summative Assessment
The culmination of your research journey is your final project which will form the foundation of your grade in this aspect of the course. You must complete the Source Analysis and Proposal for your culminating project to be graded. Your grade will be based on what you produce for your final project and your formative learning (in particular, the Source Analysis) focusing on strengths, growth, and achievement.
You will also submit a self-assessment of your work, structured according to a provided framework. This self-assessment will be used to determine the final grade for your project.
But why am I using this framework to assess your research project?
Many of you may be asking this question! This framework is a practice known as “ungrading”. As a professor, one of my least favourite tasks is assigning students grades. I enjoy reading your work, engaging in discussion with you about the ideas we’ve been exploring in class, and hearing your voices as scholars. In particular, I relish watching you grow and learn over the semester. But grading forces me to judge you according to often arbitrary guidelines and it doesn’t facilitate the PROCESS of learning or allow me to recognize it in assessment.
My goal with using this framework to assess your research projects is to allow you space to develop and grow as scholars, without attaching specific weight to the work you do along that journey.
Part One: Source Analysis
DUE DATE: May 12th
The first part of your research project is analyzing ONE primary source (historical source from the time period you are studying) and ONE secondary source article (written by modern historians about your topic) in a question and answer format.
This aspect of the project is designed to help you formulate the questions/framework that will make up your proposal (Part Two). It is also structured to provide a foundation for your later project and help you develop/affirm the skills of historical source analysis.
For details:
Part Two: Proposal
DUE DATE: May 19th
For the second step of your research project, you will put together a proposal of your intended project and a brief annotated bibliography of potential sources (primary and secondary). The goal of this step is to help you develop/test your ideas and find resources.
For details:
Part Three: Final Project
DUE DATE: June 14th
The final step of your research project is demonstrating the knowledge that you’ve gained from the source analysis, proposal, and further research via your chosen output: research essay, artistic representation, teaching tool, or podcast episode.
Final projects will be submitted on our course website, using a tool that easily formats your submissions, including photographs and other media.
For details:
Resources
To help you develop your projects, I have provided a number of resources and suggestions in the “Resources” tab on the course website menu. These include suggestions for topics and potential primary sources (historical documents), tips on reading historical primary sources, and how to find academic articles and books.
See: