Reference no: EM133843285

Case: All students must submit a minimum four-page prospectus of their intended research paper project for approval by the instructor no later than 9 March. I give students as much latitude as possible to pursue topics that they are genuinely interested in: it results in better papers! So, you can propose any historiographic study of military or diplomatic history (perhaps one connected with a desired capstone research agenda?). You can also choose one of the historiographical issues and debates covered in seminar. You can also write a paper on a specific aspect of diplomatic theory and/or practice or a paper on military theorists and their impact on military history. Nonetheless, it is the prospectus writer's responsibility to demonstrate the appropriateness of their proposed research paper to the course, its contents, and themes. The purpose of the prospectus is to assist you in generating a realistic and feasible research agenda that you can complete and get a good grade for! So, it is for your benefit. For me, it allows me to understand where you want to go, to assist you in refining your topic into one that is feasible and meaningful, and thereby getting you off to the best start on your topic and as early as possible! Place Your Order Now!

Over the first part of the semester, you should develop and refine research agenda in consultation with the instructor. At the center of all historical enquiry, is identifying a central research agenda that you want to examine and the historiography associated with it. Once you have identified the focus of your research agenda, you need to develop a short list of the most relevant titles that have shaped the historiography of this research agenda. This you can do by checking bibliographic references from the books in the class, via online literature searches, reviewing reference sources, browsing in libraries, looking for historiographical review essays in journals, and consulting with the instructor for suggestions and guidance. You will develop a short list of titles you intend to examine in your historiographical review. You can ‘lump' multiple sources into a single historiographical school and treat that school collectively (i.e., you could examine one representative example). You goal is to accurately identify the major interpretative trends over time relating to your research agenda and seek to suggest reasons for those interpretive changes. You can develop a basic grasp of the literature by examining book reviews online or from journals, examining review articles (articles written by experts reviewing the literature), and by obtaining and reading the most influential interpretive secondary source books and articles themselves. If you are going to focus on an aspect of diplomatic theory or practice (or a specific diplomatic crisis), you will likewise want to identify the most important works written on or related to the focus of your research.

Your prospectus should be a synopsis of your planned paper. It should explain what the focus of your historical/historiographical research paper is. You should also outline the literature you have identified to date and plan to use and discuss you preliminary understanding of what divergent interpretations the secondary sources you have identified offer. You should include a brief annotated bibliography of the major secondary sources you have identified/plan to analyze and briefly assessing (in a couple of sentences) their perspective/contribution to the historiography on your research agenda.