Nationalism In France Civic and Ethnic Nations Research Paper
Description
The Final Paper is the synthesis of your work on a chosen nation with the course texts and class work.
The idea is to apply ideas of nation and class from the course more generally to your specific, chosen nation.
You are not expected to write a definitive paper based on an exhaustive reading of additional material.
Instead use all of the class (collective work– texts, class work and individual work – previous papers, discussion board posts) and apply it with suggested hypotheses and ‘educated guesses.’
You may look to additional sources, academic journal articles, documentaries etc. for more material, but apply it to the frameworks of the course.
Particularly the first text, What is a Nation? Cross-examines the idea of nations in Europe in the 19th century.
The essays look at civic nation, ethnic nation, and others. Where does your chosen nation fit? And how well?
The essays also critique rigid views of types of nation and discuss exceptions, gray areas, nuances, etc. Does your chosen nation fit here?
Class work has also introduced Marxism, the European socialist movement, and the Communist Revolution in Russia.
Class is often viewed as an opponent to nation for social mobilization and organization. Sometimes, however, this too is over-simplified.
Where does your chosen nation fit in terms of narratives of class and nation?
Remember, the idea is not to write an exhaustive, encyclopedic description of your chosen nation from 1789 to 1945, rather…
To write a discussion that shows me that you have done individual work on your chosen nation and built an argument about how it fits or does not fit in the course.
Essentially, when I read your paper it should be clear to me that you have dabbled in your chosen nation, and have applied that knowledge to the class work and discussion to give your own context to each.
This paper is longer, but not much longer. Think of each paragraph as the context to a specific example or idea.
A paragraph or two (or within paragraphs) should also demonstrate your critical reading
