Table 4: History Major Portfolio Description
Institution: Saint Vincent College
Location: Latrobe, PA
Tuner: Tim Kelly
Year: 2014
Portfolio Component |
Course | Year First Submitted | Description/Notes |
Cover Letter | HI 300 Historian's Profession | Sophomore or Junior | Students write a cover letter that would accompany their application for a job. (Updated in the Junior Seminar) |
Resume/ CV | HI 300 Historian's Profession | Sophomore or Junior | Students draft their resume to accompany their letter of application. Faculty give feedback on multiple drafts. (Updated formally in the Junior Seminar, and faculty urge students to update it further in the senior year.) |
Article Review | HI 300 Historian's Profession HI 301 Junior Seminar | Sophomore Year Junior Year | Students write a review of an article in a professional historical journal, with an aim toward identifying and critiquing the central argument and sources. |
Book Review | HI 300 Historian's Profession HI 301 Junior Seminar | Sophomore Year Junior Year (Spring) | Students write a review of a book written by a professional historian, with an aim toward identifying and critiquing the central argument and sources. |
Historiographical Essay | HI 300 Historian's Profession HI 301 Junior Seminar HI 302 Senior Seminar | Sophomore Year Junior Year (Spring) Senior Year | Students write an historiographical essay in the Historian's Profession (usually taken in the sophomore year) that addresses at least six secondary sources, then write one in the Junior Seminar that addresses ten sources. Students then revise and expand their historiographical essay from the sophomore year as part of their senior thesis. |
Prospectus | HI 301 Junior Seminar | Junior Year (Spring) | Plan for the senior thesis that includes: 1) a general introduction to the topic, 2) historiographical essay on subject, 3) Student's anticipated argument and plan of study |
Senior Thesis | HI 302 | Senior Year (Fall) | Students write a thesis on a subject of their choosing (25 page minimum) as the central component of their Senior Seminar. |
Reflection Essay | HI 302 | Senior Year (Fall) | Students reflect on their experience in the major, highlighting what they found most and least useful to them (at this point). |