UNITED STATE HISTORY SINCE 1865
(History 2112-01 and 02)
Instructor: Cita Cook Fall Semester 2004
Office: 3210 TLC (770-836-4555) email: ccook@westga.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, 1:30-4:30; Tuesday, 2:00-5:00; other times, by appointment
Class Meetings: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:00-10:50 and 11:00-11:50, 102 Pafford
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn basic developments in the history of the United States, from the end of the Civil War to the late twentieth century. In their exams and other assignments, they will demonstrate knowledge of how men and women, as individuals and in groups, affected the development of American society, what problems they faced, how they tried to overcome those problems, how this all varied for people in different circumstances, and how it has affected the lives of Americans today. In all assignments, they will demonstrate improvement in reading, analyzing, and writing about history.
TEXTBOOKS (in a packet together)
The Enduring Vision by Paul Boyer, et al., Volume II, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin
Enduring Voices, edited by James J. Lorence, Volume II, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin
Atlas of American History, Houghton Mifflin and Rand McNally
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
I. Class Attendance, Participation, and Short Assignments - 5% of the semester grade
A. Class Attendance: The typical class will involve a combination of lecture, discussion, and occasional videotapes. Some of the information and ideas of the course will be presented or explained only in class, so you should decide what note-taking system works best for you. Do NOT try to write down everything that is said or presented on an overhead transparency. It is much more useful to listen carefully enough to understand what is being said. Students who are determined to write everything down without thinking about what it means usually do not do well in the class. Let me know if you need help on how to avoid this mistake. Except for the first few classes, you do not have to bring the textbook to class, but you will need to bring the atlas and the documents from Enduring Voices for whatever chapters we are covering.
Regular attendance is required. You are allowed 5 unexcused absences. Every other absence without a validated serious excuse approved by the instructor will lower your semester grade by up to 2 points. Chronic unexcused tardiness will also lower your grade. If you have to miss a class, you are responsible for discussing with me whether it is excused and for arranging to get any handouts, to find out what was covered in class, and to make up missed assignments.
You should average at least six hours of study a week for the class (two hours for every hour in class). If you are doing this and still feel confused or overwhelmed, make an appointment to meet with me or to discuss your concerns by telephone. Too often instructors find out too late about problems that could have been solved fairly easily with earlier notification.
B. Weekly Reading and Comment Sheets: Required reading will be assigned each week for the textbook and the documents book. Each assignment will include a list of study questions and identifications to indicate what you should be learning from the reading and what you need to study for the tests. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ANSWER THE STUDY QUESTIONS IN WRITING and I do not have time to correct attempts to do so. Many of the answers will be found in only one or two paragraphs, but sometimes they require summing up the key points from a number of pages. If you write down answers, always do so in your own words rather than copying or trying to memorize the exact words of the text; that is the only way you can tell if you really understand the material. Memorization without the ability to explain the material in your own words does not work in this class. If you are not sure of the answer to any of the questions, please ask about them in class and/or in your comment sheets.
Everyone is required to hand in a casual comment sheet that is from one-half a page to a page at least once every two weeks,. They can include such things as questions about the reading or class; topics (or even words) you did not understand; any thoughts or feelings inspired by the history, and anything else you think I might want to know. These also offer an opportunity to comment on your reactions to the assigned readings in the document book. DO NOT TRY TO SUMMARIZE THE MATERIAL; INSTEAD, GIVE YOUR PERSONAL REACTIONS AND QUESTIONS. Think of these comments as a way to think about the reading and the class without worrying about whether what you write is “right” or “wrong” as well as a way to let me know what is going on in your mind. Although the comment sheets will not be graded, the credit for participation will depend, in part, on your following these directions correctly. They will be handed back so you can receive feedback and use them for review.
II. Homework Assignments - 5% of the grade
There will be several writing exercises assigned as homework, usually involving particular skills and/or analysis of issues arising from some documents. These exercises will be designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge needed for the tests and essay. They may be handwritten as long as your writing is clearly legible. Some will be required and some optional. Grades on optional assignments will be included only if they raise your average.
III. Essay on a Set of Historical Documents - 15% of the semester grade
A 3-5 page paper is due on at the end of the semester on what can be learned from the documents in one section in the documents book (one set of documents - not one chapter). Specific instructions will be handed out at least a month before the assignment is due. Do not try to start on it before then. This paper should be typed or printed unless you have special permission to do it in handwriting. I will not accept any papers sent by email attachment or on disk. Please do not put them in a folder - I’ll only throw it away.
IV. Tests - 75% of the semester grade
There will be four tests, including the final examination, based on both the reading and the class lectures. Three of the tests will count 20% of the semester grade; the lowest test grade will count 15%. Nothing will be on a test that does not involve information required for the study sheets, but some questions may be worded differently and may combine information from more than one chapter. Each test will involve a combination of short-answer, identifying, and short outline/mini-essay questions. The final exam will cover only material from the required chapters that were not included in the other tests.
V. Extra Credit - up to 3 points of the semester grade
Extra credit will be given for doing a good-faith attempt of optional homework assignments (½ a semester grade point for each) and for one or two page reports about outside lectures, movies, plays, or museum trips that clearly relate to the history we are covering in class. (one point per assignment or event).
VI. Academic Honesty
All work handed in at the State University of West Georgia should reflect only the work of an individual student. This does not mean that students should not study together, only that they need to work alone when doing the final version of an assignment. Any use of the ideas, information, or words of anyone else, including paraphrasing of the words and ideas, without crediting them is plagiarism and is a crime. A direct quote of the words (even only a few words) of someone else must be in quotation marks as well as have a note of its source. Any clear evidence of plagiarism or any other kind of cheating on a test or any other graded assignment will result in a permanent zero for that assignment (after consultation with the student). See the section on the Honor Code in the Catalog or Uncatalog.
SCHEDULE
This schedule is tentative. Pay attention to the weekly assignment sheets and class announcements for any changes in the details of what you are expected to read when. The exact test dates may change, but they will not be any sooner than the dates mentioned below.
1. August 23, 25, 27 - Political Reconstruction (Chapter 16A)
2. August 30, September 1, 3 - Economic Reconstruction (16B)
LABOR DAY. HOLIDAY - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
3. September 8, 10 - Transformation of the West (17)
4. September 13, 5, 17 - Industrialization (18A)
TEST I ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
5. September 20, 22, 24 - Responses to the Problems of Industrialization (18B, 19)
6. September 27, 29, October 1 - Late Nineteenth Century Politics (20)
7. October 4, 6, 8 - Progressive Era (21)
8. October 11, 13, 15 - Expansion and World War I (22)
TEST II ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15
9. October 18, 20, 22 - The Twenties (23)
10. October 25, 27, 29 - The Depression and the New Deal (24)
11. November 1, 3, 5 - World War II (25)
12.November 8, 10, 12 - The Cold War and Red Scare (26)
TEST III ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12
13. November 15, 17, 19 - The Fifties (27)
14. November 22 - The Sixties (28)
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, NOVEMBER 24 AND 26
15. November 29, December 1, 3 - The Late Sixties (29A)
16. December 6, 8, 9 (Thursday) - The Seventies and Eighties (29B and 30)
ESSAY DUE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9
FINAL EXAM (TEST IV) :
For the 10:00 class: Friday, December 17, 8:00-10:00AM;
For the 11:00 class: Monday, December 13, 11:00-1:00