Spring 2004
History H106, Civil War to the Present
Monday and Wednesday,
For
readings and study guides see Oncourse!
Professor: Philip Scarpino Office:
503R Cavanaugh
Phone: 274-5840
Email: pscarpin@iupui.edu
Office Hours: Monday 11-12:15;
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
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. (See also: Goals,
Expectations, and Outcomes, at the end of this syllabus.)
The following books are required for
this class:
1.
Mary Beth Norton, et al, A People and a Nation, Vol. Two, 6th
edition (2001).
(Note: Publisher has substituted a
two-volume hard-back edition for the same price as the one-volume paperback; IUPUI’s bookstore has promised that they will buy the
volumes back.)
2.
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (Originally published 1888).
3.
John Steinbeck, The
Grapes of Wrath (1939).
4. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962).
Tentative Exam Schedule:
First Exam February 25 30 percent
Second Exam April 7 30 percent
Final May 7 30 percent
(
Readings Quizzes* See reading
assignments 10 percent
*I will count the two highest of
three quiz scores.
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).
I will schedule extra office hours before each test, and I invite you to
take advantage of them. The semester
exams and final will be in the lecture room.
Quizzes will be given in the discussion sections.
Class Policies:
1. Attendance. The university
and the
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. Office hours. If you have questions or problems related to
this class, I invite you to take advantage of my office hours or to make an
appointment.
4. 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:
5. Use of Voice Mail and Email. You can reach me on “regular” email or on Oncourse. My phone
number is on the top of this syllabus.
THE BEST, FASTEST WAY TO REACH ME IS ON “REGULAR” EMAIL. 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.
Goals, Expectations, and Outcomes:
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. We will not insist on the memorization of
large numbers of dates, but we 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.