History 2112-02
The United States Since 1865
Summer 2005
Professor: Steve Goodson
Place and Time: Pafford Building, Room 206; Monday-Wednesday 6:00-8:45
Office: 3224 TLC Phone: (678) 839-6042 History Department Office: (678) 839-6508
E-mail: hgoodson@westga.edu Website: http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/
Office Hours: MW 4:00-6:00; TTH 4:30-5:30; or by appointment.
Course Description and Goals: This course will survey the social, political, cultural, and economic history of the U.S. since the Civil War. After taking this course, students should be aware of the major events, trends, and personalities of this period, and should have as well a greater understanding of the forces that molded the lives of ordinary men and women. Students should also come out of the course with a broader conception of what history is and how it is relevant to their own lives.
Exams: There will be one midterm exam and a final exam. Exam questions will be drawn from lectures, readings, class discussions, and any other material presented in class (films, music, handouts, etc.). The final exam will not be cumulative. Make-up exams will be given only if the student presents a written doctor’s excuse. It is the student’s responsibility to let me know in advance if he or she will have to miss an exam.
Attendance and Participation: Class participation will be an important component of each student’s grade. Students are expected to do the required reading in advance of each class session. In order to encourage students to do the reading, there will be unannounced quizzes. There may also be short in-class or out-of-class writing assignments that will figure into the attendance/participation grade. A student’s attendance record will play an important role in determining his/her final grade. Students are expected to arrive on time and to remain until class is ended. Please turn off cell phones before entering the classroom. Inappropriate classroom behavior (talking, for example) will not be tolerated and will severely damage a student’s final grade. Plagiarism (presenting the words or ideas of another as your own) will result in failure of the course.
Paper Assignment: Each student will be required to write an oral history paper (3-5 pages typed) based upon an interview with an older relative or acquaintance regarding one of the major historical events we will be covering this semester. These papers will be due on July 26.
Evaluation: The exam on which you receive the highest score will account for 35 percent of your final grade, the other exam for 30 percent, the oral history paper for 15 percent, attendance/participation for 10 percent, and the quiz average for 10 percent.
Tips for Success: 1. Come to class 2. Take notes 3. Do the assigned reading 4. Ask questions 5. Come to see me in my office if you need to 6. Remember that I don’t give you a grade – you earn your grade.
Please Note: I cannot be responsible for your overall GPA or for your general academic standing or for the status of your HOPE scholarship. Those things are up to you. All I can consider when computing your final grade is how you performed in this particular course!
Reading List:
Morton and Duncan, First Person Past: American Autobiographies, vol. II
Markham, Boe, and Corey, The American Journey: U.S. History Through Letters and Diaries, vol. II
Ernest J. Gaines, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Tentative Class Schedule
Date, Topic, and Required Reading:
June 6 – Introduction
June 8 – Reconstruction – FPP: Tunis Gulic Campbell
June 13 – Industrialization, Immigration, and Social Change – FPP: Andrew Carnegie
AJ: 9 (IWW Fight), 12 (Technology)
June 15 – Industrialization, Immigration, and Social Change, continued – FPP: Mary Antin
June 20 – Race and Reform – FPP: Booker T. Washington, Anna Howard Shaw
June 22 – World War I – AJ: 14 (Ambulance Driver), 15 (Home Front)
June 27 – War’s Aftermath and the 1920s – AJ: 11 (Married and Professional Life), 13 (African American Migration), 16 (Anti-Lynching), 17 (College Woman’s Diary)
June 29 – Midterm Exam
July 4 – No Class
July 6 – The Great Depression and the New Deal – AJ: 18 (Dust Bowl Diary)
FPP: Woody Guthrie
July 11 – World War II – FPP: Monica Sone
AJ: 21 (Detention Camp), 24 (Combat Diary), 25 (Los Alamos)
July 13 – The Postwar World – AJ: (Homefront Diary), 23 (Shipyard Welder), 28 (Domestic)
July 18 – The Civil Rights Movement – AJ: 19 (Politics and Civil Rights), 27 (Letters From Mississippi)
FPP: Anne Moody
July 20 – The Civil Rights Movement, continued – The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
July 25 – Vietnam – FPP: Ron Kovic **** Papers Due ****
AJ: 30 (Letters From Vietnam)
July 29 – Final Exam – 6:00-8:00 p.m.