SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

IUPUI

 

 

 

 

Instructor:  Dr. Martha Taysom

H106  IUPUI

American History since the Civil War (II)

Email: mtaysom@indiana.edu

Fall Semester, 2001

Class time: Saturdays 12:00 - 2:40 p.m.

Office hours by appointment

 

 

 

This course is designed as an introduction to the history of the United States since the Civil War.  No background in United States history is required for enrollment.

 

We will study post-Civil War America, corporate capitalism and the rise of the consumer culture, the uneasy status of religion in a secular culture, cultural radicalism and feminism, wars, the uneasy spirit of the 1960s, the outsiders in American life, presidents, and film as a genre for studying American history.

    

 

 

Students are expected to keep up with the reading in the text and to finish The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  Students are required to take two in-class midterms (20% each; total of 40% of the final grade) and a take-home, comprehensive final (30@), write one paper, 5-7 pages double-spaced on Malcolm X (20%), and attend class (10%).  If you wish to replace either of the midterms by writing a second 5-7-page paper, you may do so, but you must let the instructor know by November 7 that you intend to drop one exam grade and replace it with a paper.

 

 

Exams:  Two mid-term exams are in your schedule.  The final exam will be a take-home given out at the last class on December 8 and it must returned to me in CA 217 by 2:40 p.m. Saturday, December 15. The final exam is comprehensive.

 

 

 

 

 

You are required to write one paper (5-7 pp. Double-spaced) on The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  Please prepare your papers with care, giving attention to style, grammar, and organization, in addition to content.  Students who are worried about the writing skills--and even students who are not worried--should consult a style guide, and have another person read the paper for clarity and grammar.  Remember that a spelling and grammar check on the word processor is not without problems. 

You must be very careful to cite your sources--even sources from the Internet--and avoid copying anyone else's work.  The instructor and the university take questions of academic integrity very seriously, and the penalties may be severe. 

 

If you choose to write a second paper (in place of one of the midterm exams), the paper topic will be something on your own American family.  You may choose how you wish to write the paper, but you might want to consider the first group (or person) in your family to become an American.

 

 

 

Keep in mind that 10% of your grade is attendance.  I will take attendance every class period, and you must be on time and remain in class to the end of the class period. If you have more than three absences without written excuse, your grade will drop one grade.  For example, if you have earned a final grade of "B" on the exams and the paper, but have missed three or more classes, your grade will drop to a "C." If your grade is on the fence, your record of attendance could make a difference either up or down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 25              Chapter 17.

 

September 1           Chapter 18.

 

September 8           Chapter 19.

 

September 15          Chapter 20.

 

September 22          Chapter 21.

 

 

September 29           Chapter 22.

 

October 6               Chapter 23.

 

October 13             Chapter 24.

 

October 20             Chapter 25.

 

October 27             Chapter 26.

 

November 3             Chapter 27.

          

 

 

November 10            Chapter 28.

 

November 17            Chapter 29.

 

 

 

November 24            Thanksgiving Break

 

December 1              Chapter 30.

 

December 8              Chapter 31.  Take-home final given out.