CORE 176: North American Indians
Spring 2000 T-Th 1:00-2:30, Alumni 209
Professor Thomas D. Hall
A. Lindsay O'Connor Professor of American Institutions
417 Alumni Hall, x7545, email:thall; web: people.colgate.edu/thall
OFFICE HOURS:  Tu 6-7; Th 3-5, & by appointment
Term Paper, Overview
Last Updated 2-27-00

Each student will write a 15 page term paper on some topic relating to American Indians, approved by me.  This page discusses the term paper assignment in more detail.  The page on Picking a Topic makes suggestions about how to pick a topic (this page).  You must pick a topic by March 7 at the latest.  You will have option of turning in a draft of your paper on or before April 27.  If you turn in a draft on or before the 27th of April I will be able to make comments for you to use in revision of the paper.  After that date, it will not be possible for me to do so.

The final version will be due at the final Tuesday, May 9th.  Students who turn in a FINAL DRAFT of their term paper on or before the beginning of the last day of class, May 4 will receive a 10 point bonus to their score.  The Term Paper is worth 200 points [or twice one reaction paper or the midterm].

WHAT IS REQUIRED?
One way to think about your term paper is as an extended reaction paper in which you, yourself, set the topic[s].  As with reaction papers, the point is to show that you thought about the issues, and thought about the course topics, and put them together in a thoughtful way.  This gives you a great deal of latitude, but carries with it a responsibility to start on it early and keep working.  Papers let go to the last minute seldom turn out well.

To start you must turn in your topic by March 7 along with at least 3 references NOT from any of the course books.  If you have more even better.  If you only have a general idea, describe that idea in a paragraph or so.  I can work with you to help refine the topic.  We have excellent resources at Case Library [see link on links page].   Futhermore, Emily Hutton, reference librarian is very well versed in Native American issues and can be of considerable help.

POINT OF VIEW:  Try to avoid falling into ethnocentric stance, that is, examining your topic ONLY from a modern, white, point of view.  The reserve reading for Week 6, is especially helpful on this:
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai.  1999.   Decolonizing Methodologies:  Research and Indigenous Peoples. New York:  Zed Press, Chapter 3:  Colonizing Knowledges.

FORMAT:
In terms of format, students should consult my page on how give references etc. [Formats and Bibliographies for Papers & Theses].  A much longer set of instructions is available, courtesy of Professor Mulhare at: http://cox.colgate.edu/emulhare/manual.html#stygui

While formatting a paper has to do with form, and not content, it is important that it be done correctly.  I will lower grades for papers that do not follow the format.  Why?  Part of doing any assignment is following the instructions, another part is learning how writing is done in various areas of academic discourse--and these differ from discipline to discipline.  The more of these you know and master the better off you are as a student and a writer.

PLAGIARISM:  Often this can be confusing.  Clearly, copying words verbatim from someone else's work and presenting them as your own is plagiarism.  This is really a form of intellectual theft.  It will result in a zero on the term paper.

Other forms, are less clear.  To prevent any possibility of such concerns, document your sources.  This can be done in any of several ways.   Where you are paraphrasing or summarizing some one else's discussion, argument, position, etc., one endnote at the close of the appropriate paragraph noting that this argument [position, etc.] is drawn from Smith (1999, Ch. 3) will be sufficient.   Where you are taking either specific words or facts, cite the specific page (Jones, 1996, p. 17).

You may use material from another course, including parts of a paper you wrote for another course.  If you do you should acknowledge this in a note:   This discussion draws on a paper I wrote for XXXX 257, Fall 1999.  However, to simply reprint an old paper, and put on a new title page is a form of plagiarism.

The point is this should be an original paper with you on the topic of the paper.  Not a rehash of something you already did.

Send comments or questions to thall@mail.colgate.edu