Guidelines for Term Papers in Seminar “Master Global History Foundations II: Theories and methods” (winter term 2021/22)

General information on the term paper…………………………………...………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Structure and content of the term paper…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
Formal design………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Evaluation of your source…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Sequence of steps for the preparation of academic papers (generally)…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Evaluation criteria for term papers…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Suggestions for resources to find fitting sources…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

1. General information on the term paper

Short written paper / kleine Hausarbeit (6 ECTS) [to be handed in either in English or German]

Select a written document from “the Middle Ages” (written/produced between 500 and 1500 AD) – see list with suggested resources below.
1. Gather as much information and research literature as possible on your research object (= “source”).
1. Present your research object and the obstacles you might be facing in working with it in the last session of our seminar on 8 February (max. 10 minutes!)

Text volume (without title page, bibliography etc.):

not less than 10 and not more than 15 pages

Literature to consult:

Deadline:11 May 2021 at 6:00 pm CET (three months processing time) (Extension only possible on presentation of a medical certificate!)

Besides the translation (and edition) of your source, consult and discuss at least 10 research articles and chapters on your source (ideally not older than 30 years) and at least 5 auxiliary resources (lexica, general works of reference, handbooks, introductions etc.).

2. Structure and content of the term paper

· Please send a complete PDF-version of your paper to: kristin.skottki@uni-bayreuth.de Front page

Lecturer, title of the course, semester of the course (e.g. Winter 2021/22), topic of the paper, name of the author with matriculation number, study program & semester of the author, module for which the paper should be credited, email address, date of submission of the paper

· Table of contents Main text

1 Introduction

Justification: Why did you choose this research object?
1. Methodology: What research literature and auxiliary resources were you able to use? (and which not

– what were the reasons? Language, accessibility etc.); which methods did you use to examine your source?

Hypothesis: In what sense can your research object be a valuable source for a global history approach to the so-called Middle Ages?

2 Prof. Dr. Kristin Skottki (Juniorprofessor for Medieval History, University of Bayreuth)Email: kristin.skottki@uni-bayreuth.deHomepage: https://www.mittelalter.uni-bayreuth.de/de/index.html Skype: „Kristin Skottki officially“ Research part

ContextualizationI: analysis of the source with the help of the W-Questions (see template below): also discuss, if/which questions you were unable to answer
- Interpretation I: What kind of image of the world is created in your source?
- Contextualization II: How does the image of the world created in your source fit to its historical environment as portrayed in recent syntheses on the time and space of creation of your source? How can possible divergences be explained?
- Transmission and perception: What do we know about the transmission, real audiences and afterlife of your research object? Was it a rather popular text or rather an obscure one? Does it have a colonial past? What is the history of preservation/rediscovery of your source? How did it end up in the collection/archive/museum etc. where the original is to be found today?

3 Conclusion

Re-evaluation of hypothesis: Is your research object a good source for a new, global understanding of “the Middle Ages”?
- Desiderata: What kind of questions does further research need to address to enable helpful research on your source?

· Bibliography/List of sources and literature

Internet resources must also be listed bibliographically correct with reference to the date on which the website was accessed. Only titles that have actually been used in the work may be listed here (the ones used as quotations, paraphrases or references to further literature). Possibly annexes (but only if they are also discussed in the text)

3. Formal design

DIN A4 format
Thrifty margin setting (1.5 cm everywhere, 3 cm on the right margin); full justification
Page numbers
12-point font; Times New Roman or Calibri
Spacing: after paragraph 6 point, otherwise single-spaced
For your annotations and bibliography use a common citation style for historical research, for example the MLA 8 Citation, see here: https://www.mendeley.com/guides/mla-citation-guide

No plagiarism!! Plagiarism is a serious form of intellectual theft.

Plagiarism is the unlabelled or inadequately labelled incorporation of third-party intellectual property – regardless of its origin (i.e. also from the Internet) – into one’s own work. Unauthorized exploitation under presumption of authorship exists if facts, arguments or specific formulations are taken over, paraphrased or translated without reference to the source.

At the end a declaration must be made:

“I hereby declare that I have written the work autonomously and that no other sources or aids have been used other than those indicated. In places in the work where I used other people’s works either in wording or meaning, I have in any case indicated and labelled the source. I am aware that a term paper that is proven to be plagiarism will be graded ‘insufficient’ (5.0). I am aware that the discovery of a case of plagiarism will be reported to the examination office and may be punished by exclusion from further examination performances”. [Please date and sign!]

4. Evaluation of your source

Use this template to classify the source:

Prof. Dr. Kristin Skottki (Juniorprofessor for Medieval History, University of Bayreuth)Email: kristin.skottki@uni-bayreuth.deHomepage: https://www.mittelalter.uni-bayreuth.de/de/index.html Skype: „Kristin Skottki officially“

After answering/discussing the W-questions:

Connect your findings with answers to these questions:

What did the creator of the source know about the topic? (temporal and spatial proximity to the topic)
What could he/she know about the topic? (sources at hand, epistemological framework)
What could he/she write about the topic without transgressing the framework of the genre?
What could he/she write about the topic without losing credibility in the eyes of the intended audience and/or the commissioner/dedicatee of the source?

5. Sequence of steps for the preparation of academic papers (generally)

Step 1: Content indexing of general information

Since there is a lot of literature and often many sources on each topic, you need to delimit and structure the wealth of information so that you only have to work on the literature and sources that really fit the aspects of your research question(s).

These four criteria of limitation should serve as an orientation repeatedly:

Space – time – actors – contents (Where – When – Who – What?)

Where did the events/phenomena take place?
In which epoch and at which time exactly did the events/phenomena take place?
Who are the actors of the events/phenomena?
Which topics, contents, concepts, terms are important for understanding the events/phenomena?

Handy tips on how to proceed:

Create a kind of mindmap! Note down important actors (persons, groups), important events and developments and important spaces/places in the concrete frame of your topic.
1. Always make a note of the information you have obtained from whichever work – always prepare an excerpt for each article, book, etc. Write down core statements, theses, important quotations (with the concrete page number!)

In order to keep an overview, it is best to note down all titles consulted (including your excerpts) in a literature administration program like Citavi, Zotero etc.

Step 2: Search for research literature in the according online bibliographical databases

Look here for current (maximum from the 1990s) research literature on the individual components of your topic. The following online databases are particularly suitable for this purpose:

RegestaImperiiOPAC(=RIOpac): http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_de/
- International Medieval Bibliography (= IMB): http://rzblx10.uni- regensburg.de/dbinfo/dbliste.php?bib_id=ub_bt&colors=&ocolors=&lett=fs&Suchwort=international+medie val [only available if you’re connected with EDUROAM or UniBTProxy add-on in your browser via VPN client!]

Watch out! Be creative when entering search terms:

not too general, not too specific
try out different combination possibilities
Avoid typographic characters (?,/: etc.)
Search only names and nouns (avoid words like “and”, “or” etc.)
Enter word stem with Asterix to cover word variants (e.g. Jew* instead of Jewish)

Then check the availability of these titles in the catalogue of our UB Bayreuth and the connected interlibrary loan network and get the relevant titles.

Step 3: Search for research literature in the bibliographical references of the research literature (snowball system) When you have copies of the according titles: Also evaluate the bibliographic references in the current research literature! This is because some titles may be highly relevant to you, even though you did not find them in the bibliographical databases.

Step 4: Only use relevant and academically reliable research literature!

How to detect these criteria:

Expertise of the author (professional career and position, research interests, publications).
Reputation of the publication organ (publisher, series, journal, etc.)
Topicality of the article (publication date, consideration of current research debates)
Verifiability (detailed citation of sources and literature used, footnotes/annotations, and detailed bibliography).
Reflexivity, honesty and comprehensibility (disclosure of difficulties and desiderata, presentation of contradictory interpretations, identification of own and other positions)

More handy tips:

For an appropriate interpretation of medieval sources, appropriate auxiliary literature should be used to index terms, places, dates etc.
Every selection must be justified – this applies not only to the subject of your study, but also to the terms used. The more clearly you can show that everything you write is based on conscious decisions for or against certain possibilities, the more academic and successful your work will be.

6. Evaluation criteria for term papers

Criterion

The content is appropriately presented. Language and argumentation testify to the author’s awareness of hermeneutical problems and his/her ability to work autonomously with an academic (historical-critical) issue.

The language is chosen appropriately for an academic work – not a colloquial language, but also not unnecessarily convoluted writing! A clear distinction is made between terms and concepts on the source level and terms and concepts on the academic analysis level (e.g. “paganism” is source language, but inappropriate on the analysis level –

instead, you should write “people of other faiths, non-Christians” etc.). All terms and concepts are clearly defined and, if necessary, problematized – e.g. with the help of lexicon/encyclopaedia articles. Tip: In the Middle Ages people (usually) did not have surnames. Authors of medieval sources should therefore be mentioned by their “first” name! FOR EXAMPLE: Bernard of Clairvaux is called Bernard for short (NOT “Clairvaux” or “of Clairvaux”).

The research performance is adequate to the task. Relevant sources and research literature were researched autonomously.

There is a clear formulation of the question on which the work is based. There is a common thread running through the entire work and it is taken up and answered convincingly at the end.

The structure and “design” of the work is well thought out. Redundancies, jumps in argumentation and contradictions are avoided.

There are one or more theses/strings of argumentation and they are stringently weighed in the work.

Summaries (paraphrases) and evaluations (analysis/interpretation) of contents and results from both the original sources and the research literature are comprehensible and logical; the work shows sovereignty in dealing with texts (of others).

Quotations are used sparingly but pointedly. Paraphrases, like quotations, are reproduced only with precise references (footnotes) and with the author’s name mentioned.

Your own arguments, detailed explanations, illustrations and justifications are plausible and linguistically appropriate. The difference between the interpretations and judgements of others and your own is always clear.

The bibliography (sources and literature listed separately) and the bibliographic references in the footnotes are consistent and correct.

7. Suggestions for resources to find fitting sources

7.1 Metasites (directing you to other sites):

GlobalMedievalStudies from Georgetown University Library: https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/medieval/primarysources
- Handlist of Online Medieval Sources in Recent English Translation (Yvonne Seale): https://yvonneseale.org/blog/2019/08/08/handlist-of-online-medieval-sources-in-recent-english- translation/
- the Global Middle Ages Project (G-MAP): http://globalmiddleages.org/about

7.2 Resources for (digitized versions) of original sources:

Bryan C. Keene (ed.), Toward a global Middle Ages. Encountering the world through illuminated manuscripts, Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum 2019.
- Project Museum with no frontiers: https://www.museumwnf.org/Gallica of the Bibliothèque nationale de France: https://gallica.bnf.frOnline catalogue of the British Library: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues-and-collections#
- Digital Library of the Munich DigitalisierungsZentrum: https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/

7.3 Translations of edited sources

GlobalMedievalSourcebook of Stanford University: https://sourcebook.stanford.edu/
- Medieval History Texts in Translation (Graham Loud): https://ims.leeds.ac.uk/archives/translations/
- Internet Medieval Sourcebook (Paul Halsall): https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/sbook2.asp

See also extensive lists here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_translations_from_medieval_sources

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Theories and Methods