Senior history majors must submit the following documents related to oral and written exams:
I. The "Statement of Coursework and Exams" will provide the advisor's name, a list of classes taken and planned, indication of the field for the written portion of the major exam, the title of the oral exam, and the signatures of the advisor and the faculty responsible for the written and oral examinations. Click here for a sample page.
The "Oral Examination Paragraph" will be your first chance to put your ideas for your oral exam topic down in writing. The paragraph explains your comparative topic and identifies the historical question you are interested in answering. You should state this as a question in your paragraph. Write a 100- to 200-word description of your comparative project, explaining the particular issues which you will be examining, specifying the three regions you will be examining, and identifying the time periods involved. While your knowledge, based on your classwork, may be uneven now, your approach must be balanced, exploring all three areas equally. An example from a student from several years ago can serve as an illustration. The student decided to focus on the Cuban Missile Crisis looking at the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba, asking how domestic policies and conditions in each of the three countries impacted their reactions to the crisis. This topic could easily have resulted in a bias towards US foreign policy, or a focus on the two superpowers. However, the student carefully examined domestic policies in all three countries, without emphasizing one more than another.
The signed "Oral Examination Paragraph" must be appended to the signed "Statement of Coursework and Exams" and is due to the Department Chair no later than Friday, October 19, 2007, by 4pm. Please provide copies of your paragraph to your three examiners.
II. The "Oral Examination Proposal and Bibliography" will be a 5-6 page typewritten paper that examines your comparative topic. It builds on and develops the points initially set out in your "Oral Examination Paragraph." The bibliography should indicate the relevant materials that you have identified on your topic as well as the ones you used in the paper. This will include materials assigned in classes and your additional research. This paper is due at the end of History 401 (see syllabus). (December candidates will write this paper as paper 2, prior to Thanksgiving break, if they are currently taking 401; they will write the second paper in December. See hist 401 syllabus.)
III. The "Initial Outline of the Oral Presentation and Bibliography" should reflect your preliminary research. At this point, you must have completed enough research to have an idea of what material will be covered in the presentation. The outline is not to exceed one page, with one-inch margins and a legible typeface no smaller than 12 points, i.e., the outline is a guide to the presentation, not a narrative to be used by the student. The bibliography should indicate the relevant materials that you have identified. This should include materials assigned in classes you have taken as well as the results of additional research as needed. This document must be signed by all three professors. The signed outline and bibliography are due by 4pm on the first Friday in November (11/2/2007) for fall candidates and the first (occasionally second) Friday in February (2/8/2008) for spring candidates, to the Department Chair.
IV. The "Final Outline" is the actual document that you will use during the oral examination. Like the initial outline, it will not exceed one page, with one-inch margins and a typeface of at least 12 points. The outline should cover the major points of the presentation and may provide some of the details to be discussed. In order for this outline to be an effective guide to the oral presentation, most of the research must be completed before the outline is written. The signatures of all three professors must be obtained before the outline is handed in. No further changes will be allowed in this document. Note that in unusual cases supplementary materials (for example a map or an image) may be permitted. Such materials should be submitted to all three professors no later than the Tuesday before the final outline is due; they will jointly approve (or not) the addition. The signed final outline is due by Noon the day before Thanksgiving break for fall candidates (11/14/2007) and the Friday before spring recess for spring candidates (3/7/2008) to the Department Chair.
NOTE: FAILURE TO TURN ANY OF THESE DOCUMENTS IN BY THE DEADLINE WILL RESULT IN A FAILURE OF YOUR ORAL EXAM. See Whitman College Catalog, “Senior Assessment in Major Study,” for implications.
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