Indiana History
History
A363/Summer 2003
10:30-12:45, MTR
Instructor: Jason S. Lantzer
Email: jlantzer@indiana.edu
Course Description and Goals:
A363 is a course in Indiana History. It aims to look at the major themes, events, and personalities important in the development of the Hoosier State from its prehistory, to its “discovery” by Europeans, to its settlement by American pioneers, to its emergence as an important agricultural, political, and industrial state, right up to the present. We will especially look at to what extent Hoosier’s are an evolutionary, rather than a revolutionary people, and what this has meant for the state and the nation. My hope is that you will come away from the class with a deeper understanding of not only Indiana history but also of History in general, and how the past continues to shape the world we live in today.
Required Books:
Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons
Leonard J. Moore, Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in
Indiana, 1921-1928
James H. Madison, A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America
Reading assignments are designed to provide useful context for lectures and discussions. Additionally, The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Klansmen, and A Lynching in the Heartland will be the basis for book reviews (see below).
Attendance:
It is expected that you will attend class. Punctual and consistent attendance is a key component to success in college, as it is in one’s career, and it will be valued highly in this course. Should you ever need to miss a class for religious or health reasons, try and let me know ahead of time. Making up assignments/tests, as well as getting any missed notes is your responsibility.
Grades:
There will be two exams in the class, a midterm (worth 30%) and a final (worth 35%), which will be based on the assigned readings and lectures. The exams, which are non-cumulative, will be made up of essay and short answer questions.
Of your remaining grade, 20% will be comprised of writing a 2-3 page book review (details of which will be explained to you in class) based on the aforementioned Tarkington, Moore, or Madison books. Graduate students, however, are required to do two book reviews.
The remaining 15% of your grade will be based on a 3-5 page paper to be written on a topic of your choosing, but based upon the resources of the Conner Prairie Rural History Project, especially the oral histories. For graduate students, the paper should be 5-8 pages in length. You may find the histories at http://www.ruralhistoryproject.org.
Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated.
Grading is according to the standard A-F scale: 100-90=A, 89-80=B, 79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F.
Class Schedule:
The selections from The Indiana Way and Road to Statehood are tied directly to the lecture of the day. Because of the nature of the summer class, however, you will want to start reading The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Klansmen, and A Lynching in the Heartland well in advance of when we will be discussing them in class.
June 30: Introduction/What is a Hoosier? (No reading)
July 1: Indiana As Middle Ground (IN Way, C. 1)
July 3: The Beginning of Indiana (IN Way, C. 2, 4; Road)
July 7: Hoosier Pioneer Migration (IN Way C. 4; Road)
July 8: Becoming a State (IN Way, C. 3; Road)
July 10: Making it Indiana (IN Way, C. 5, 6, 7)
July 14: Indiana and the Civil War (IN Way, C. 10)
July 15: Midterm
July 17: Indianapolis Walking Tour and Trip to the Statehouse
July 21: The Hoosier Golden Age of Literature (IN Way, C. 8, 11; Mag. Amb.)
July 22: The Hoosier Golden Age in Politics (IN Way, C. 9, 11)
July 24: Hoosier Reformers and the Klan (IN Way, C. 14; CK)
July 28: A Hoosier Lynching (LH)
Citizen
Klansmen Paper Due
July 29: Emerging Modernity in Indiana (IN Way, C. 14)
Lynching
Heartland Paper Due
July 31: Conner Prairie Day
Aug. 4: Hoosiers All (IN Way, C. 12)
Conner
Prairie Paper Due
Aug. 5: Indiana Today (IN Way, C. 13, 14)
Aug. 7: Final