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HISTORY 110 Research Training Essay

Due Friday 10 May, 2013, 4pm, Arts Faculty.

Value:30%

Length: 1300 words. Do not count footnotes or bibliography in the word length. (Plus or minus
10% the word count is acceptable.)

You are expected to use the text book up to and including p. 212. However, if you wish to use
readings beyond p. 212, you are welcome to do so. In addition, you are required to use three
academic articles or books only. Do not exceed this number. This is not meant to be a
wide- ranging research essay, it is a research training exercise. You are assessed on the value
not the number of items you select. More details on how to search and select will be given
in a lecture.

How to cite
Footnotes only will be accepted.
When providing a footnote from the textbook, please provide:
1. For references from boxed sections, the title of the section and if applicable the name
of the primary source author, first name first;
2. Then for all references: the title of the weeks chapter
3. Then HIST110 Textbook 2013 (in italics) and then very importantly
4. Page number.

Citing your three book or article references, you need to follow the History Style Guide
which may be found at:
http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@arts/documents/doc/uow019609.pdf
(or search history style guide on the UOW site). Marks will be deducted for incorrect
citations.
You may also revisit lecture outlines if you wish. Please cite these using the week number,
lecture topic and name of lecturer.

Essay questions

1. Religion. What kind of factors which facilitated peaceful cohabitation between religious
groups in the period we have studied? What factors led to breakdowns in relations? Give
examples that refer to at least two religious groups.

2. The Ottoman Empire. How did social policies, both within the governing elite and in
wider society, contribute to the distinctive nature of (and possibly to the long-term
stability) of the Ottoman Empire?


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3. Medicine. How did medicine in the period c. 1000-c.1600 differ from across the world?
What similarities, if any, were there?

4. History of warfare. What aspects of warfare affected relations between human groups
(such as tribes, nations, empires, religious groups) for the period and places we have read
about? Refer to more than one region and time.

5. Politics and government. What factors served to sustain large-scale political systems in
the period c. 1000-c.1700 and what kind of factors contributed to decline and
fragmentation?

6. Women, gender and society. Provide examples of womens social roles, with reference
to both positives and negatives associated with being a woman in the regions and times
we have studied. Use examples from more than one of the societies you have studied to
date.

7. Education. What kind of power did education bring in the societies about which you
have read? Discuss more than one example in your answer.

8. Reasons for change. What do you see as some of the most significant reasons for change
in the period you have studied? Justify your answer with reference to specific changes in
specific regions. (For this question, make your choice on the basis of the textbook
readings, then follow up with research on specific issues that interest you.)

9. What it means to be governed. How did some individuals and/or groups exercise power
and authority in relation to others, for the period and regions you have studied to date?
(This can include at the familial level, in institutions, in a region, nation or religious
group. It can consider the different kinds of people who held positions of power, how
they got there, and how power was enforced, e.g., taxation, negotiation, enslavement,
religious law, vows, etc. For this question, make your choice on the basis of the textbook
readings, then follow up with research on specific issues that interest you.)