Dr. Kenneth Wald
You will write a substantial research
paper (10-15 pages as a rough target) that explores the politics
of Jewry on a particular theme or target. Some possibilities
include:
- religious freedom and equality in the US - church-state
separation, non-Establishment and the free exercise clause, state
financial aid for religious schools and voucher programs, prayer in
schools, Christmas trees and other public displays, employee religious
practices in schools and the work place
- the political situation of Jews in Muslim societies, past and
present
- Soviet Jewry movement in the US
- Jewish perspectives on various social & political issues
- the Court Jew in the Middle Ages
- US support for Israel - decisions, policies sought or opposed,
organization and operation of the pro-Israel community, success/failure
of such politics and activities, relations with evangelical Zionists
- black-Jewish relations - agreements and disagreements over civil
rights, affirmative action, Israel, apartheid; confrontations and
conflicts (community, occupational, political), anti-Semitism and racism
- Judaism & politics in ___________ (another country, region or
area)
- civil liberties - American Nazis, hate groups and literature,
Holocaust denial on campuses, ethnic profiling
- antisemitism - Jewish interpretation, policies and activities,
individual attitudes
- Jewish political attitudes and behavior - voting patterns,
attitudinal stabilitiy and change, specific candidates and campaigns
- Jews in public office - politicians, bureaucrats, candidates;
elections and campaign finance
- Jewish communal leadership - qualifications and selection, roles;
how they represent Jewish interests, speaking for the community
- tensions within the community - religious, ethnic, and political
differences among Jews and specific groups
These are suggestive topics and your task is to select one (or make up
your own) and write a good paper about it. The core of a good paper is
developing a central thesis or argument that is assessed by evidence.
Papers are graded primarily on the basis of the clarity of the
argument, amount and quality of the evidence provided, and the
professionalism of the presentation. You will lose points for
failing to meet deadlines (see below) and for academic dishonesty in
the form of plagiarism.
Before you undertake the paper, let me suggest first that you review
the sample papers that I've posted
here.
If you're unsure about your writing, let me strongly encourage you to
use this University of Chicago
site
for general guidance. All sources must be properly documented by a list
of references with in-text citations.
Use
only
the author-date style which is concisely described with
copious examples in the
Chicago
Manual
of
Style. In this style, you don't use footnotes for references.
Rather the the articles are cited in the text itself in parentheses
(Smith 2008, p. 35) and then listed in a list of references at the end
of the paper. The style manual above will show you how to do this.
Anything
cited
on the Web must present sufficient information so that I can look
it up. This requires providing the author's name, (if known); the
full title of the work, and the date of the document or last revision
(if available). Next, list the protocol (e.g., "http") and the full
URL, followed by the date of access. The URL is not required if you're
citing an academic journal that is available in print even if you
accessed it on the web. The web posting for journals is the exact
replica of what appears in the hard copy so no URL is unnecessary. On
the other hand, a newspaper or magazine that is reformatted for the web
(as most are) should be cited with the URL when you found it.
One of the biggest problems I've
encountered of late is what I call inadvertent plagiarism. The student
uses a source in the paper, cites it properly, but does not paraphrase
it. Rather, the student changes a word here or there but keeps the same
sentence structure. That's plagiarism. So, even if you think you know
what plagiarism is, read this short and valuable guide
from Western Washington University and follow its advice about properly
paraphrasing and correct attribution.
Here are the deadlines for the paper:
October 22
nd (Tuesday)
-
You must select a topic, write a paragraph explaining it, and submit it
to me for approval in hard copy only. These will be returned as
either approved or requiring revision. After topic approval, you may
change topics only with a written request and a written authorization
from me.
November 12
th (Tuesday)
-
Submit
a hard copy list of ten sources. At least five of these must be
academic works--articles in scholarly journals, academic books (not
assigned as class reading), feature articles in serious magazines (
New York Times Magazine, Harpers, New
Yorker but not
U.S. News,
Time and others of that ilk.) Some of these sources, such as
journal articles or longer pieces in magazines, may be available on the
web but I am very skeptical of web pages and sites unless they have
some formal or authoritative status. Don't forget to look at this guide
to sources that I have posted
here.
November 26
th
(Tuesday) - You must hand in a hard copy of the paper by 4:00 to the
Political Science Department Office (234 Anderson Hall) and submit the
paper by midnight to the
Turnitin program
which you can reach from Sakai. Although the principal purpose of this
program is to insure the integrity of your papers, you can use it on
your own to preview your paper and make sure it complies with the
UF
Student
Honor
Code.
In grading papers, I give principal weight to five factors:
- Clear statement of problem and thesis - In the first 2 pages, you
need to provide a succinct statement of the phenomena you are studying
and provide a crisp statement of your central thesis/argument. Unlike a
mystery, I want to know the outcome before I read the paper. You should
also have a pargraph that tells me how the paper is organized: "After
reviewing the origin of this institution, I will then discuss its
impact on contemporary Jewish politics in Latin America and how it has
changed over the years. The paper then explores challenges to the
institution from both internal and external forces. I conclude by
discussing whether the institution is likely to continue affecting
Jewish politics in Latin America."
- Quality of evidence and argument - Have you persuaded me of your
argument by the effective use of evidence and a strong, clear argument?
If I'm not sure what you're arguing or why you've reached certain
conclusions, the paper is less persuasive. And if you simply string
together quotations from other authors, I can't distinguish what you're
saying from them. Put the argument in your own words--quote sparingly
and paraphrase often!
- Quality of research - Your goal is to find the best sources
available on your subject, such quality being a function of the
competence of the authors, the nature of the publication outlet, your
use of proper reference styles, and the appropriate use of quotation
and paraphrase. Relying too heavily on one or two sources or
principally upon unreliable sources counts against you.
- Quality of writing - The best papers offer a clear authorial
voice that speaks simply and clearly and is expressed in writing that
follows accepted rules of grammar and spelling. Poor writing, excessive
formality, bad proofreading, and the like inhibit effective
communication. Papers should use page numbers.
- Linkage to course themes - This is a biggie. If your paper reads
like it was written by somebody who didn't take the class, then it
misses the mark. You need to incorporate the theories, concepts,
questions, and themes that are dealt with throughout the semester. Why
is this subject important to the study of Judaism and Politics? How
does it bear on some of what we've found already?
- Meeting deadlines - This is a negative criterion. You have three
deadlines for submitting a paper topic, submitting a preliminary list
of references, and turning in the thesis by hand and electronically.
Missing any one of those will cost you points.
I have a few miscellaneous rules that you should follow:
- Wikipedia is not to be used as a source. There's no way of
knowing whether the material is valuable or garbage so don't use it for
anything other than links and bibliography.
- Submit your papers with page numbers.
- I have a deep loathing, perilously close to a pathological
hatred, for the use of "impact" as a verb. The English language is
replete with verbs that convey influence--affect, alter, change,
influence, induce, shape, impinge--making "impact" as a verb both
pretentious and unnecessary. Don't use it that way.
- Staple your paper together and don't use any fancy covers.
I encourage you to see me during office hours or other times to discuss
your papers. I'm quite happy to suggest research resources and to
review early drafts of papers.The earlier you get a draft to me, the
sooner I can get comments and suggestions back to you.