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Department of History

Assessment

Writing for the public: 20%

  • 1000 words, due Monday, Week 5
  • Write a 1000-word blog entry, aimed at the public. For example, you could write with other students in the department in mind, or with your family in mind. Based on readings and seminar discussions from Weeks 1-4, the blog should discuss how the history of medical humanitarianism in Africa can be useful in understanding or guiding contemporary medical humanitarianism. You should be focusing on past examples -- not on the present or recent past -- but identifying themes that you think are still relevant today. This can be a broad overview, or you can focus on specific themes, but you should use concrete examples from the readings to demonstrate your points. The blog should have citations, according to the History department's guidelines. You should draw on at least three different sources.
  • Since this is an unfamiliar assignment type, if you send me a draft by Tuesday, 30 January, I will respond by Friday, 2 February to let you know if you're headed in the right direction.

Essay: 60%

  • 3000 words, due Week 10
  • Topic: This essay will be on a topic of your choice, but the topic must first be approved by me, in order to ensure that it's a feasible essay choice. The topic must relate to the history of medical humanitarianism within Africa, but other than this you are free to focus on topics as they interest you. One suggestion for choosing a topic would be to pick an issue that is currently relevant to medical humanitarianism in Africa, and talk about what history can tell us about the causes and/or possible solutions to this problem. You can also consider each week's seminar questions, and while they alone are probably not suitable for the essays, they may provide you with some ideas to follow. The essay is similar to the blog entry, but it does have to be much more specific, employing case studies that you've read about in primary or secondary literature, and not only broad statements about humanitarianism and colonialism. I do strongly suggest that whatever your essay topic, you consider within it the perspectives of Africans, and specifically the African people involved in the case studies you're drawing on.
  • Citations: I am not giving you a minimum number of secondary sources or primary sources that you need to use. You should use as many or as few are necessary to support your arguments. Do bear in mind, however, that in a 3000-word essay, you're unlikely to be able to support your arguments well by using only two sources, for example. All material drawn from secondary and primary sources should be cited according to History department guidelines.
  • Primary Sources: There is no requirement that you use primary sources, and you will not be penalized for their absence. If there are primary sources readily accessible that are relevant to your topic of choice, then it might strengthen your essay considerably to use them, but you will not be penalized for an absence of primary sources, particularly in cases where the university does not have primary sources readily available for your essay topic. This is something we can discuss when we meet individually about your essays. One database with easily accessible primary sources is the Church Missionary Society periodicals. Here's how you can access the database:
  • Go to the library catalogue, and type in 'Church Missionary Society'. The first result will be 'Church Missionary Society Periodicals: Modules I & II'. Click on this link and follow the URL to the Library Login page. After you sign in, you'll be taken to the Database's main page. You can word search for relevant topics here. You will find the best results if you are specific, for example searching for specific diseases, health issues, or countries.

Group project: 10%

  • Groups:
  • Arguing for Malaria interventions: Yemi, Emmanuelle, Ella, Jack
  • Arguing for HIV/AIDS interventions: Arifa, Georgia, Amy, Lucy
  • Arguing for NTD interventions: Olivia, Nia, Rosalind
  • Arguing for Poverty interventions: Rebecca, Phoebe, Fionnuala
  • Will take place in class Week 9. It will be a four-way debate, arguing whether health in Africa could most effectively be improved by interventions into 1) HIV/AIDS, 2) Malaria, 3) Neglected Tropical Diseases, or 4) Social and/or economic interventions that would improve health by reducing poverty. I will assign groups and topics in advance. Most of the debate will draw on sources from required reading, but it would be a good idea to do a little bit of extra reading on your assigned topic. There are suggestions for further reading in each week's webpage, and you can also talk to me you'd like assistance in finding a particular kind of information.
  • At the beginning of the debate time, I will give each team about 10 minutes to confer. Each team will then have approximately five minutes apiece to present their positive arguments. If you want to take a bit longer, you certainly may, but you will also have opportunities to argue your position in rebuttals and concluding remarks.

    While I expect that each team will come with critiques of the other positions prepared, I will then give each team a few minutes to confer and formulate responses to the arguments that have been presented. There will then be a round of critiques of each position.

  • Each team will then have another brief opportunity to confer, and then to present rebuttals. After each team has had the opportunity to present rebuttals, there will be further opportunity for less structured dialogue – so for example you can respond with a counter-argument to a rebuttal that another team has offered, and they may respond directly to you.

  • After this period of less formalized discussion, each group will then present a final closing statement/argument, and the debate will be finished.

  • Marking will not be based on who the “winner” of the debate appears to be. Marking will be based on how well you have prepared for the debate; the thought that you have put in to your arguments, critiques, and rebuttals; whether or not your arguments make sense and are supported by evidence or reasonable speculation; and your participation in the debate itself. The more effort you put into preparing your argument, critiques, and possible counter-arguments to critiques in advance, the better off you will be in the debate itself. You are absolutely entitled to express opinions in the debate, but you can expect that if you make a statement such as, “Stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa will best improve the health of Africans because the disease kills more people than any other,” other teams might respond by using past evidence to demonstrate that vast financial resources have been spent on HIV/AIDS, and the problem has not necessarily abated, so why should we suppose it will in the future? Be prepared to make arguments – or rebut criticisms – with concrete evidence from class readings, discussion, or outside sources.

Oral participation:10%

  • Oral participation will be assessed based on contributions in small and large group discussions in class. I'll check in with you about your participation halfway through the term.