Fall 2003
|
History H106, Civil War to the Present ( Tuesday
and Thursday, Professor:
Philip Scarpino Phone: 274-5983/5840 Email: pscarpin@iupui.edu Office
Hours: Mon. and Wed. |
Looking Backward Discussion
Questions |
History 106 is a survey of American history that
covers the period from the end of the Civil War (1865) to the present. This course critically examines the
transformation of a traditional American society into a modern American nation. In analyzing this broad theme, we will
consider a variety of political, social, and economic topics that address the
development of the U.S. as an urban, industrial nation and as a world
power. We will focus our attention on
ordinary people, as well as on prominent leaders. At the end of this class, you should be much
better equipped to answer two basic questions for yourself: What is the meaning of America? What does it mean to be an American?
This section of H106 is a
open only to students enrolled in the
The following books are required for this class:
class=Section2>
1. Mary
Beth Norton, et al, A People and a Nation, Vol. Two, 6th edition (2001).
2. Edward
Bellamy, Looking Backward (Originally published 1888).
3. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of
Wrath (1939).
4. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962).
Each of the last three books (two novels and one
non-fiction) provide first-person interpretations of
key themes in modern
Tentative Exam Schedule:
First Exam October 9 25 percent
Second Exam November 13 25 percent
Final December 11 25 percent
(3:30-5:30, CA-221)
Class participation 10 percent
Readings Quizzes* See reading assignments 15
percent
*I will count the two highest of three quiz
scores.
Students will earn participation points in two
ways: (1) [Up to 50 of a possible 100
points for participation.] During the
course of the semester, students will have the chance to make group
presentations to the class, in Cavanaugh 221, and they will take part in group
exercises/reports at the cultural resource institutions that we will visit on
some Friday afternoons. I will evaluate
those presentations and will base my assessment on the degree to which the
presentation addresses the problem or task assigned, as well as the clarity and
content of the presentations. (2) [Up to
50 of a possible 100 points for participation.] You will earn 50 participation
points by having no more than one unexcused absence for the Friday afternoon
field trips. I will deduct 5
participation points for each unexcused absence from a Friday afternoon field
trip, above one. Absences are excused if
you talk to me in advance or if you provide documentation afterwards. The institutions that we will be visiting
have agreed to provide considerable staff time to make your experiences there
worthwhile. These visits are a key
component of this class. They only work if you attend.
Testing procedures: About one week before each scheduled exam, I
will place four or five essay questions on the history department’s home page http://www.iupui.edu/~history/ and on Oncourse,
http://www.iupui.edu/ (click on Oncourse
in the upper right corner and follow prompts).
On the day of the exam, you will be given two of these questions, and
you will be required to answer one. I
will schedule extra office hours before each test, and I invite you to take
advantage of them.
Class Policies:
1. Attendance. The university and the
School of Liberal Arts now require that instructors take attendance and that
they report the names of students who stop attending class but who have not
officially withdrawn. My policy on attendance has two parts: (1)
I will take attendance in class [field trips covered separately, above]; (2) I
will subtract 2 points from your final grade average for every unexcused
absence over four. Excused absences
require that you talk to me and/or provide documentation. I believe strongly that learning is greatly
diminished if a student fails to attend class.
2. Grading. I will be very reluctant to give a grade of
Incomplete (I). I will assign
Incompletes only to students who have successfully completed most of the course work and who have been prevented
by significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all of their
assignments. I USE A GRADING SCALE THAT
COUNTS HEAVILY FOR IMPROVEMENT.
3. Cheating and Plagiarism. My policy on
cheating and plagiarism is to assign a zero to the work in question. For further information, consult the IUPUI
Campus Bulletin, 2002-2004:
4. Use of Voice Mail and Email. I have twenty-four hour voice mail and
email. You are most welcome to use either. Please
note: If you leave a phone message,
speak slowly, provide a number where you can be reached, state when you will be
at that number, and I will try twice to return your call. Also
note: If you miss an exam or a quiz or an appointment,
it is your responsibility to contact me and reschedule. Simply leaving a message for me to get back
to you does not absolve you of that responsibility.
Class field trips (All
scheduled
Friday,
September 5, Benjamin Harrison House.
Friday,
September 12, Benjamin Harrison House.
Friday,
September 26,
Friday, October 10,
Historic Landmarks Foundation of
Friday, October 31,
Friday,
November 7,
Friday, November 14,
Several of these places
are within easy walking distance of campus: Indiana Historical Society,
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana,
Directions will follow
as the dates approach.
Goals, Expectations, and Outcomes:
The “Principles of
Undergraduate Learning” reflect the University’s commitment to key elements of
a quality education. You can find these
Principles posted on the Department of History’s Home Page: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/ . You will note that there are a number ways in
which this class embodies the educational goals and expected outcomes
articulated in the “IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning”: We will emphasize the development of
analytical ability and of reading and writing skills, rather than just the
memorization of facts. Nonetheless,
there is a body of factual material that we will expect students to
master. Exams will have a significant
essay component. Analysis of the range
of choices that confronted people in the past and assessment of the
consequences of acting on those choices invites consideration of ethics. The class will look at the interplay between
various racial, ethnic, and cultural groups in the context of the historical
development of a modern
urban/industrial nation.
Over the course of the twentieth century, Americans shaped and reshaped
their surrounding environment. They did so using available energy and
technology and acting upon attitudes and values embedded in their culture.
Skills
routinely stressed and tested in H106 will include analytical thinking and
interpretation, as opposed to memorization and regurgitation of
information. I expect students to be
able to process information from lectures, readings, and discussions, to reason
clearly, and to think logically and critically.
Writing is
the most common way that historians and students of history communicate the
results of their work. Good writing is
clear and focused; it uses examples to illustrate concepts; and it pays
attention to content, as well as grammar, spelling, syntax, and other skills
stressed in the basic English composition
classes. Effective oral communication is
also an important outcome of a liberal arts education. Discussion will provide students with an
opportunity to sharpen their ability to speak clearly in front of others.
History is a study of changing human
experiences over time, and historical writing is often concerned with
process. Ask yourself: What did we start with? What happened? What did we end up with? Historical writing should convey an
understanding of process and a sense of chronology. I will not insist on the memorization of
large numbers of dates, but I will expect that you know key dates and the order
in which things happened. You will need
to be clear about who the actors were.
For example, don't write "they" or "the people" when you mean factory workers in the late 19th century
or civil rights activists in the 1960s.
One of the really exciting things
about a class like H106 is that it can simultaneously help you to understand
the past and the present. At the same time,
because H106 covers
modern American history, it is easy to fall into the trap of
judging the past against your own values and experiences. While we are certainly not obliged to like or
admire everything that our ancestors did, we should try to understand their
actions in the context of their own time.