The
History 271 – Fall 2004
TuTh
12:30 – 1:45 pm, Sierra Hall 279
Instructor
Dr.
Thomas W. Devine
Office
Hours:
Teaching Assistant: David Seva
The
following books are at the Matador Bookstore.
Any other readings will be provided in class.
1.
James Henretta, et al., America: A Concise History 2nd edition**
2.
David Nasaw, Children of the City
3.
Russell Baker, Growing Up
4. Anne Moody, Coming
of Age in
5. Nelson George, Hip
Hop
To
subvert the system and save yourself some money, you might consider buying used
copies of the books. You are likely to
find used or discounted copies at the following web sites: www.bookfinder.com; www.amazon.com;
www.half.com.
** - If you happen to
find a used copy of the first edition of the textbook at a
significantly lower price (as is often the case), you should buy it – the
differences from the first edition to the second do not justify the difference
in price.
Requirements & Grading
First Paper [Due 30
September or 28 October] 15%
Second Paper [Due 16 November or 2 December] 15%
Midterm Examination
[Tuesday, 19 October] 25%
CLICK HERE FOR MIDTERM STUDY
QUESTIONS
Final
Examination [Thursday, 9 December] 25%
CLICK HERE FOR FINAL STUDY QUESTIONS
All grading will be done on the +/ –
system. Any assignment not turned in
will be counted as a “zero” in calculating the final grade.
Spirit of the Course
Someone,
probably a frustrated student, once said, “History is just one damn thing after
another.” Unfortunately, many history
courses are taught in such a way that one can easily reach this grim
conclusion. In this class, however, you will not simply be
memorizing a series of facts and regurgitating them for exams. Although we will
be learning a good deal about what happened in the
One
way of making sense of a large amount of material is to identify major themes that recur
throughout this period of our country’s history. By looking at a series of events through the
lens of a theme, it becomes easier to see how these events are linked. A coherent “big picture” begins to emerge.
Moreover, this process can reveal connections between the past and the present
that we might not have seen otherwise.
Though there are obviously many themes from which one could choose, I
have structured the course around four in particular:
1.
The expanding role of government in citizens’ lives.
2.
The persistence of tensions between the various groups
that make up American society.
3.
The
4.
The continuing conflict over what constitutes a “good
society.”
These
themes will be running through the lectures, the readings, and the various
audio-visuals we will be using. Be on
the lookout for them. They will provide
a framework for your understanding of the material and will be the focus around
which exam questions are based.
Beyond
“making sense” of recent American history, the course will also encourage you
to develop your analytical skills – skills that are invaluable if you are to
succeed in any number of career paths.
Throughout the semester you will be critically examining historical
sources – both primary (produced at the time of the historical event in
question) and secondary (produced after the fact). Using evidence presented in these sources,
you will be formulating arguments for a particular position (and evaluating the
strength of others’ arguments based on the same evidence). In short, you will
be doing what good historians (and journalists, and lawyers, and businessmen,
and advertising executives, and marketing researchers, and informed citizens)
do.
Finally,
the course will provide you with ample opportunities to improve your
writing. We will be working on how to
write a coherent, logical essay that takes a particular point of view and makes
a persuasive case for it – another skill that will serve you well in the world
beyond History 271. In fact, it’s not a coincidence that many employers say
they like to hire History majors with MBAs – they know that History students
have been trained to think critically, analyze data effectively, argue
persuasively, and write clearly – all skills in high demand in today’s job
market.
Class Participation
Though this course
will include some lectures, it is not a “lecture course” – the emphasis will be
on discussion and classroom interaction rather than listening to the
professor. Class participation is
important and will count heavily in your final grade. Have the reading done BEFORE you come to class and be ready to discuss it – simply being
“present” will not earn you a high grade. Since not everyone is comfortable
speaking in front of others, your performance on the quizzes (five announced,
one unannounced) will also be considered in calculating your participation
grade.
Midterm and Final Examinations
The Midterm
and Final Examinations will consist of 5-7 short answer questions and a long
essay. You will have a choice of topics
for the long essay. A week or so before each exam, I will distribute review
questions that will help you study for the short answer questions. The Final
Exam will not be cumulative. You are responsible for bringing a blue book to
the midterm and the final.
Paper Assignments
The
two paper assignments will focus on the supplementary readings. Generally, there will be a choice of topics,
which will be handed out two weeks before the due date. You will write your first paper based on one
of the first two assigned books: Children of the City or Growing Up. You will write your second paper based on one
of the last two assigned books: Coming of Age in Mississippi or Hip
Hop America. If you wish, you may do
both first paper options and I will count the higher grade. Likewise, you may do both of the second paper
options and I will again count the higher grade. Those who do all four papers
will be reported as Sadists.
~Papers must be FOUR
complete pages with reasonable margins in New Times Roman font.
~You
may email me your paper as an attachment. In fact, I encourage you to do this
since it is the best way to insure that your paper does not get lost.
~Late papers will be penalized unless you have a seemingly
legitimate excuse or can formulate one entertaining enough to make me laugh out
loud.
Your
paper grades will be based on the quality of your ideas and how effectively you
present them. Though I will make grammar and spelling
corrections on your papers, you are not being graded on grammar and
spelling per se. Still, a poorly written
paper usually fails to convey ideas effectively, so in this sense good writing does
matter. There is no way of separating
“the writing” from “the ideas.” Keep
your graded papers and refer back to my corrections so you do not make the same
mistakes again.
If
you do not have much experience writing papers, you should make use of the
You should not
hesitate to ask me for assistance. I
have extensive experience in teaching writing skills and am willing to work
with you on an individual basis to improve your essays. Similarly, the TA is
also available to help you with your writing.
Surviving History 271…
This is an
introductory GE course, it isn’t Rocket Science. As one student evaluation put
it, “If you do the reading, study for the tests, and pay attention in class,
it’s pretty easy to do well. On the
other hand, if you don’t do the reading, don’t come to class, and don’t study,
you’ll probably fail.” That pretty much sums it up.
Attendance
Since active student participation is crucial
to the class’s success, you
are expected to be at every meeting. I do take attendance. Frequent absences will dramatically lower
your course grade.
If
you are a person who rarely attends class and relies on copying notes from a
friend, you would be best served by registering for another section of History
271.
Common Courtesy
Since
I assume your parents have taught you good manners, most of this should go
without saying, but I put it in writing here so that there will be no
misunderstanding. Please turn off all
cell phones and pagers while you are in class.
Please arrive on time and do not walk out in the middle of class unless
it is an emergency or you have spoken to me about it ahead of time. Refrain from using crude language in class
and in your papers – it is only an advertisement of ignorance. Do not talk or
read the newspaper in class since it is rude and a distraction to your
classmates who are paying good money to be here. If you are acting rudely,
don’t be surprised if I ask you to leave the room. Save yourself the
embarrassment – act courteously.
Academic Honesty
This, too, should go without saying, but, unfortunately,
academic dishonesty is a fact of life. Do not lie to me about why you missed
class or failed to turn in an assignment. It is unnecessary and it insults my
intelligence. Do not cheat on quizzes or
tests. I will catch you and you will
receive an automatic zero for the assignment.
Do not plagiarize from written sources or from the web. Since plagiarism is always obvious and
easily caught, it is better to hand in your own work and get a C- than someone
else’s and get an F. If you have
plagiarized in the past and gotten away with it, it was not because the
professor didn’t know what you were doing, but because the professor did not
think you were worth the effort it would take to prove plagiarism. Be advised: I do think you are worth
the effort. Any and all plagiarized
assignments will receive a grade of zero and put you in jeopardy of failing the
course. If you are unsure what
plagiarism is, please consult with me or the teaching assistant BEFORE
handing in an assignment.
If
you are feeling overwhelmed, find yourself falling behind, or are having any
problems outside of class that are adversely affecting your performance in
class, be sure to let me know. Do not
wait until the end of the semester when it will be too late. I am more than willing to work with you to
insure you “survive,” but I need to know you are having difficulties. Do not assume I will allow you to withdraw
from class late in the semester simply because you are doing poorly. Come to see me or send an email as soon as a problem
arises and we can work something out. If
you are struggling academically, I will gladly give you extra help.
Contrary
to what you may have heard about professors in large state universities, I go
out of my way to be available for students on a one-on-one basis, so if you
need advice or help, even if your problem is not directly related to the
course, do not hesitate to email me or set up an appointment. Students who make the
effort to get to know their professors end up getting far more from their
college education.
Unit One: 1865-1900
“Building the Foundations
of Modern
Major Topics
1.
The legacy of Reconstruction on race relations.
2. The modernization
of the
3. The significance of
growing divisions between capital and labor and the government response to
these divisions.
4. Who defines what
“progress” is? Who benefits from “progress?” Who suffers?
Questions
1. To what extent did
Reconstruction improve the life of African-Americans in the South? Why have
people (both at the time and in hindsight) been so critical of Reconstruction?
2. In what ways are advances in technology,
westward expansion, and urbanization linked?
How did each help bring about the other?
3. Why did
labor-management relations grow increasingly strained during this period? What
did the government do to ease or worsen these tensions?
4. How did industrialists such as Vanderbilt and
Carnegie define “progress?” How did
workers and Populists define “progress?”
How did their visions of what constituted the “good society” differ?
Schedule
The reading listed
for each day should be completed BEFORE you arrive at class.
Tues. 24 Aug. Introduction: An explanation of course objectives,
mechanics, and procedures.
Thurs. 26 Aug. “Reuniting the
Tues. 31 Aug. “Reconstruction’s
Legacy: What exactly got Reconstructed?”
Thurs. 2 Sept. “Lightin’
Out for the Territories: Westward expansion and the vanishing Frontier”
Tues. 7 Sept. “Industry and Labor:
Poor Fellers, Rich Fellers, and Rockefellers”
Thurs. 9 Sept. “Life in the Big City:
The Challenge of Urbanization and Immigration”
Tues. 14 Sept. “The
Era of Good Stealings: Gilded Age Politics and the
Rise of the City Boss”
Thurs. 16 Sept. “A Workingman’s Democracy? – The Farmer-Labor
Response to Industrialism”
**Begin reading Nasaw, Children of the City **
Unit Two: 1900-1945
“War, Reform, and the
Rise of Mass Culture”
Major Topics
1.
The
2.
The expanding role of government (primarily the federal government) in people’s
everyday lives.
3.
The relationship between war and social change.
4. The development of
“mass culture” and its effects on American society.
Questions
1. Did the
2. What did reformers
during the Progressive and New Deal eras hope to accomplish, and how were their
strategies for achieving their goals similar or different? How did each group
envision the role of government and what constituted a good society?
3. What is the
relationship between war and social change? Does war provide an opportunity for
creating a more equitable and just society?
Or does it prevent such advancements and put further limits on liberty
and opportunity?
4. What do we mean by
“mass culture”? Did the rise of a new mass culture break down divisions of
class, race, region, and gender? Or were there ways it enhanced these
divisions? Did mass culture create a generation gap?
Schedule
Tues. 21
Sept. “The New Empire and
its ‘Splendid Little War’”
Thurs. 23 Sept. “Rebellion
Against Victorianism: The Rise of a New Mass Culture”
Film: “
Tues. 28 Sept. “Toward a Managed
Society: The Progressives’ Response to Industrialism”
Thurs. 30 Sept. “Growing
up in the Progressive Era”
QUIZ
#2 on Children of the City
**PAPER
ASSIGNMENT DUE**
Tues. 5 Oct. “Over There and Over
Here: American and the Great War”
Thurs. 7 Oct. “Saving the World for Democracy: Woodrow
Wilson and the
Tues. 12 Oct. “‘Flaming Youth:’
Flappers, Sheiks, and the Roaring ‘20s”
James R. Petersen, The Century of
Film:
“Our
Dancing Daughters” (1928)
** Begin reading Baker, Growing Up **
Thurs. 14 Oct. “Keeping Cool with Coolidge: American Society in the 1920s”
Tues. 19 Oct. MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Thurs. 21 Oct. “What went wrong? – The Origins of the Great
Depression”
Tues. 26 Oct. “Happy
Days Are Here Again? – Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal”
Thurs. 28 Oct. “Something will come
Along – One Boy’s view of Depression America”
QUIZ
#3 on Growing Up
**PAPER
ASSIGNMENT DUE**
Tues 2 Nov. “The World at War:
World War II at Home and Abroad”
**Begin reading Moody, Coming of Age in
Mississippi, Chapters 1-4, 10-12, 18-end**
Unit Three: 1945-2004
“Cold War, Social Change,
and New Challenges”
Major Topics
1. The significance of
anti-communism not only as a guiding force in the formulation of American
foreign policy but also as a central element of postwar American culture.
2. The rise and
decline of postwar liberalism and its accompanying view that an activist
federal government can and should solve the problems of society.
3. The strategies of
social movements as they sought to bring about reform.
4. The new challenges
facing the
Questions
1. How did tensions
between the
2. If you were a
“liberal” in postwar
3. How did the civil
rights movement change American society?
In what ways does the rise of hip-hop reflect these changes?
4. How has the end of
the cold war and the aftereffects of the 9/11 attacks affected the
Schedule
Thurs. 4 Nov. “Anxiety,
Anti-communism, Affluence, and Alienation: American in the ‘50s”
Tues. 9 Nov. “The Rebel Fifties: Bohemians, Beats, Brando,
and the King”
Film: Clips from “Rebel Without a Cause,” “The Wild One,” and “Elvis 1956”
Thurs. 11 Nov. “Shall We Overcome?
The Struggle for Black Equality”
QUIZ
#4 on Coming of Age in
**PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE**
Tues. 16 Nov. “A Promising Time: The
Sixties Before
Thurs. 18 Nov. “Countercurrents and
Counterculture: A Society in Turmoil”
Tues. 23 Nov. “The Exhaustion of
Liberalism and the Ascendance of Ronald Reagan”
Thurs. 25 Nov. THANKSGIVING
Tues. 30
Dec. “Prurience
and Prosperity: The
Thurs. 2 Dec. Youth Culture in the
Post-cold war World
QUIZ
#5 on George, Hip Hop
**PAPER ASSIGNMENT
DUE**