HIST 4033                                                                                                                             Spring 2009

Topics for Third and Fourth Papers

Posted April 20 at 11:45 AM

There are two papers remaining. Papers should be in the range of five to eight pages, double-spaced, twelve-point font.  They should demonstrate a command of the relevant course materials.  They should, of course, be written in precise, Standard English and satisfy all requirements of the University’s academic integrity policies.

Paper Three is due Tuesday April 28 at 5:00 PM.

Paper Four  is due Monday May 4 at 1:00 PM

Choose one topic from Group A and one from Group B.  It does not matter which paper you do first – you could choose to submit the paper from Group B on April 28, and the other on May 4, but be sure to choose one topic from each group.  More topics may be added, but these will remain available to you.

Group A

1. Should biology and social studies teachers get combat pay? Discuss controversies over textbooks, history and biology in American schools, identify major issues confronting teachers, and review some of the ways in which educators have tried to end,  manage,  or minimize conflict over controversial topics. Your paper should make use of relevant portions of Dixon’s book Science and Religion and Zimmerman’s book Whose America?  Feel free to include references to the documentary shown in class about the Dover case (Judgment Day) and any relevant information you gleaned from websites you visited for the website reports.  You may include other relevant course materials as well.

2. Prepare a critical review of Zimmerman’s book Whose America? Identify the topic and the author’s central thesis, and Indicate the kinds of sources on which this book is based.  What are the principal findings of the author?  What are the strengths of the book, and what may be its weaknesses?  What kind of new research would complement or correct this study?

3. Is there an intellectual case against inviting Richard Dawkins to lecture at a university?  Take it for granted that universities should be free to invited controversial speakers on any topic, but consider whether Dawkins is intellectually credible on all the issues he addresses.  Make use of materials relating to Dawkins’s book The God Delusion, especially the critique by Nicholas Lash in Theology for Pilgrims, and the broader discussion of science and religion in Dixon’s book Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction.  Feel free to incorporate material, including Dawkins’s introductory remarks, from the anthology of Modern Science Writing edited by Dawkins.

Group B

1. Is the head scarf controversy in France essentially part of a global clash of civilizations, or is it better understood as a distinctively French controversy?  Consider Huntington’s article, Bowen’s study of the French controversy, and the Esposito-Mogahed book about surveys of Muslim populations.   

2. Which controversy is more intractable: the battle over scarves and laicite in French schools, or the struggle over prayer in America’s public schools? Define the major issues at stake in each controversy, describe the major parties involved, and consider attempts to resolve or manage the conflicts.  Your paper should show a strong command of the books by Zimmerman and Bowen.  You are welcome to use other relevant course materials as well.

3. Prepare a critical review of Bowen’s book Why the French Don’t Like Head Scarves.  Identify the topic and the author’s central thesis, and Indicate the kinds of sources on which this book is based.  Pay attention to methodological issues (this author is an anthropologist). What are the principal findings of the author?  What are the strengths of the book, and what may be its weaknesses?  What kind of new research would complement or correct this study?