LET-GESB2101-CEH
Research Lab
Course infoSchedule
Course moduleLET-GESB2101-CEH
Credits (ECTS)5
Category-
Language of instructionEnglish
Offered byRadboud University; Faculty of Arts; History;
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator
S.J. Edouard, MA
Other course modules lecturer
Lecturer
S.J. Edouard, MA
Other course modules lecturer
Contactperson for the course
S.J. Edouard, MA
Other course modules lecturer
Examiner
S.J. Edouard, MA
Other course modules lecturer
Academic year2021
Period
PER 2  (08/11/2021 to 30/01/2022)
Starting block
PER 2
Course mode
full-time
Remarks-
Registration using OSIRISYes
Course open to students from other facultiesNo
Pre-registrationNo
Waiting listNo
Placement procedure-
Aims
After completing the course, you are able to
  • formulate a relevant, well-defined explanatory research question on the topic of the course
  • critically review literature and scholarly debates on this topic
  • search, select and interpret archival sources, using tools such as research guides and archival inventories
  • identify and explain relevant research methods
  • apply source criticism, relevant concepts and research methods in their own source analysis
  • present and discuss their research, both orally and in writing, in a historical essay with a clear argumentation structure and adequate annotation
  • peer-review other students’ written and presented research, and apply feedback on your own work 
Content
As the title of the course already suggests, historical sources and research methods used by historians to study, understand and interpret past events are central in the course Research Lab. Examining both literature and primary sources, you follow all the steps of the research cycle: from mapping scholarly debates on a specific topic and formulating a research question to analysis and interpretation of sources and literature to answer this question in a well-written scientific essay. 
 
In the first weeks of the course, you get acquainted with various primary sources and tools, techniques and methods for historical research. You critically review literature and scholarly debates on a certain topic. In the second part of the course, you conduct archival research. You delve into an archive of their choice, studying the archive along and against the archival grain to discover the mysteries, surprises and treasures that archives contain. At the end of the course, you present your results both orally and in writing. The essay is part of your essay portfolio (in Dutch: schrijfdossier).
Level

Presumed foreknowledge

Test information

Specifics

Required materials
Book
ISBN:9789462986398
Title:Writing history! A Companion for Historians
Author:Jeanette Kamp, Susan Legene, Matthias van Rossum, Sebas Rümke
Publisher:Amsterdam; Amsterdam UP, 2016

Instructional modes
Lecture

Remark
Only one lecture in the first week

Seminar
Attendance MandatoryYes

Tests
Presentation
Test weight20
Test typeOral exam
OpportunitiesBlock PER 2, Block PER 3

Minimum grade
5,5

Paper
Test weight80
Test typeProject
OpportunitiesBlock PER 2, Block PER 3

Minimum grade
5,5