AMERICAN HISTORY II:
Fall 2004, Tuesdays and
Thursdays,
Instructor: Dr. Paul A.
Buelow; Office Rm.313K Hours: Tu.
Th.
e-mail: Use ONCOURSE or pbuelow@iupui.edu
COURSE
DESCRIPTION. This survey class will approach
an understanding of the history of the
1) relationships between the individual,
society (groups), and government in American history;
2) the role of government in American
history; and
3) interactions between the
COURSE
OBJECTIVES. Conforming to IUPUI’s
“Principles of Undergraduate Learning” (see http://www.iupui.edu/~history/ugprinciples.html), which all students
are expected to have mastered by graduation, assignments for this class are
designed to help develop reading and communication skills by analyzing historical
documents and concepts. Logical
thinking and effective communication are skills helpful to every person. The study of history fosters such thinking,
writing, and speaking by teaching students to consider a document or argument in
its time/space context and its philosophical and political foundations.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS. Lectures provide an
outline of topics as well as specific information, but discussion provides a
way to solidify understanding. Come to
class having read the material listed for that day on the syllabus, and think
of a question or two you’d like to explore in class.
TEXTS. Henretta, James, David Brody, and
Lynn Dumenil.
Fernlund, Kevin J. Documents to Accompany America’s History,
Fifth Edition, Vol. 2: Since 1865. Boston 2004.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920’s.
These books may be purchased at the Cavanaugh
Hall bookstore. A copy of each will be
put on reserve in the library. We will
use documents during class time, so bring the Fernlund collection to class when
it appears on the schedule. The same
applies to Allen’s Only Yesterday (
ATTENDANCE. Regular attendance is expected. Students are allowed three absences in the
course of the semester with no grade penalty. You do not have to offer a reason
or excuse for these absences, but if you miss a small-group or an in-class
writing exercise, you must hand complete it on your own. After three, each
missed class reduces your participation grade (see chart below). Unavoidable
absence due to illness or other serious difficulty must be discussed, and
documentation provided.
LATE
OR MISSED WORK. Grades for assignments
submitted after their due dates will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter-grade for
each calendar day late. In normal
circumstances, no extensions will be given.
INTELLECTUAL
HONESTY. Rigorous intellectual work and
academic integrity are important for every student. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating will
result in an “F” for the work in question and possible disciplinary action by
the University, which has a policy on plagiarism stated in the IUPUI Campus
Bulletin, 2004-2006 (p.36), as follows:
A student must not adopt
or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate
acknowledgment. A student must give due
credit (normally by using footnotes, endnotes, or in-text notes) to the
originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does
any of the following:
a. Quotes another person’s actual words, either
oral or written;
b. Paraphrases another person’s words, either
oral or written;
c. Uses another person’s idea opinion, or
theory; or
d. Borrows facts, statistics, or other material,
unless that information is common knowledge.
For
more information, you can find the IUPUI Student Code of Conduct on line at: http://life.iupui.edu/help/docs/Part_3all.html. Please ask questions so
that the class can discuss what is or is not plagiarism.
WITHDRAWALS
AND INCOMPLETES. If you decide to
drop this class, please note that you must submit an official “drop slip” to
the registrar (signed by the appropriate people). University policy requires assigning an “F”
to a student who stops showing up even if that student has told the professor
that she or he plans to withdraw. IUPUI’s policy is that an “incomplete” is for
students who have completed almost all
of the course requirements and have been prevented by significant or
unanticipated events from finishing the class.
CLASSROOM
WISDOM & ETIQUETTE. Come to
every class session. Learn by listening carefully and thinking about what you
hear and read! Eat and sleep well, exercise as you can, and you’ll be in good
shape to learn! Class discussions are
more interesting and useful if students keep up with the reading (indicated on
the schedule below for each session). Please bring to class the syllabus, any handouts,
and the texts needed. Questions in class
are welcome at any time, but private conversations are not. Avoid tape-recording classes; instead, practice
taking useful notes as you participate in class and as you read your texts. In
the case of physical disabilities, please call the office of Adaptive
Educational Services in CA001E (phone 274-3241). Please
turn off or mute cell phones and pagers before class begins.
Use
a method to read your texts! I recommend the SQR model, in which you quickly
survey (S) the reading assignment,
noting bold-faced headings and terms in the text, examining the illustrations and
their captions; then think about what you already know about this topic and
design questions (Q) to answer as you
read; then read (R) the selection with a piece of note-paper next to your open
book to record your answers. You will be amazed at how your level of interest
increases, along with your comprehension.
(Bring questions to class to see if others were thinking the same
things!)
The
WRITTEN
WORK. (More complete descriptions of
assignments will be given separately and posted in ONCOURSE.)
1. In-class written
assignments. During various class sessions, students will be asked to examine
documents from the Fernlund collection (see texts, above). Individually and in small groups, students
will respond to questions concerning these documents. During
four of the semester’s classes, students will examine an issue in greater depth
using text and documents, write about it, and submit their writing on paper
during class. The instructor will assess each writing assignment based on
factual accuracy (3 pts.) and understanding of issues involved (5 pts.), and
proper grammar and spelling (2 pts.). If
you miss a session in which class did a writing assignment, see instructor for
the specific instructions during the next class session, and submit yours via ONCOURSE
or e-mail by the end of that day.
2. Presentation Assignment. Every
other week a portion of the class will be asked to draw the name of an
historical personality from a selection of names applying to the topic covered
in two weeks. The name will be
accompanied by a specific question to answer.
Students drawing a name will be expected to make a brief (three to four minutes)
oral presentation on this person, including an answer to the question. For example, during the week that the class
studies the “Roaring Twenties” a student might draw the name of a politician,
statesman, business leader, movie star or sports figure. The presentation is an
oral summary of the information you discover. Your goal is to show the class in
what ways this person was important (how did she or he affect American life?)
and to answer a question such as the following (for Charles R. Forbes, head of
the Veteran’s Bureau under President Harding): “If you had been in a position to advise the President about hiring Mr.
Forbes to head this government agency with a huge budget, what would you have
told him about Forbes’ background?”
Each
student will write a brief (two double-spaced, left-justified, proof-read pages
in 12-point type with one inch margins all around plus title page and bibliography page, where you list all your
sources alphabetically) mini-biography of his or her person with an answer to
the question given. Each student will have two
weeks in which to research and write. If you find a photo or other visual
related to your story on this individual, you may put it in a PowerPoint™ slide
and bring a disk or save the image to your computer account. Let me know if you
wish to use the classroom technology.
Upon
completion of your presentation, please submit your paper to the
instructor. Grading criteria are: 1. Factual
accuracy (10 pts.); 2. Evidence of reflection on what your research discovered
(10 pts); 3. Completeness of your answer to the question posed (10 pts.); 4. Proper
grammar and spelling (5 pts.); 5. Clear presentation (practice in front of a
mirror!-5 pts.)
3. Issue-analysis Paper:
The 1920s. The major writing assignment for this class will be a paper
of four to five pages (left-justified, 12-point type, double-spaced, with
one-inch margins all around, word-processed, and proof-read) paper analyzing an
issue of the 1920s and relate it to an issue of contemporary American life. One
resource for this paper will be Allen’s Only Yesterday, but you must
also have two or more other sources, one a
magazine or newspaper of the 1920s (see library’s holdings of on-line and microfilmed
materials), and one a magazine or newspaper of the 1980s-2000s. The paper
must use a standard format with citations (footnotes, end-notes, or in-text
notes) for all borrowed words and ideas (see Intellectual Honesty, above).
Please print your ID number—not your name—at the top of each page with the
date.
Besides developing greater skill at analysis and
communication, aims of this assignment are: 1) to work toward greater
understanding of the issues Allen discusses, and 2) to tie the issue to the
present day. Examples of topics include anti-communism; nativism
and the KKK; the sexual revolution; changes in clothing styles; mass-marketing (especially
in sports); scandals; effects of a rising stock market; prohibition; gangsters;
the stock market crash; etc. Please
confer with the instructor on your choice of topics. If you would like to submit a rough draft on
or before Nov. 10, the instructor will read it and make suggestions.
Your paper
should consist of three labeled parts,
which, along with the quality of your writing (proper grammar and spelling—20
pts.), form the rubric for assessing this assignment. They are:
A. Concise description of the event(s) in the 1920s
(20 pts.)
B. Analysis of the issue or change those events
represented in American history, including at least two (not just Allen’s)
viewpoints as well as your own
thoughts (30 pts.)
C. Parallels: what issue of the past twenty-five years is similar to the one you are
analyzing from the 1920s, how do the two compare, and what—if anything—do
parallels tell you about history? (30 pts.)
Assessment categories
(grading scale: A: 93-100; A-: 90-92; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79;
C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 63-66; D-: 60-62; F: 0-59.)
Attendance (five points off for each unexcused absence
after three).................................................... 20
pts. or 05%
Presentation on weekly topic (separate instructions)............................................................................ 40
pts. or 10%
Four brief in-class writing assignments (based on text
and documents; separate instructions)................. 40
pts. or 10%
Mid-term exam (multiple-choice, short-answer, and
essay)................................................................ 100
pts. or 25%
Final exam (multiple-choice, short-answer and essay)........................................................................ 100
pts. or 25%
Issue analysis paper (separate instructions)......................................................................................
100 pts. or 25%
Total:.............................................................................................................................................. 400
pts. =100%
SCHEDULE (subject to change with notice).
|
Date |
Topic(s) |
Readings & Assignments |
|
Th
8/25 |
Introductions,
the syllabus, overview of course. WA: “What is history?” Pick
names for presentations on 9/8. |
WA = writing assignments H = Henretta,
et al. chapters F =
Fernlund documents A = Allen
chapters |
|
Tu
8/30 |
Reconstruction.
|
H
15 |
|
Th
9/1 |
Library
resources demonstration; The American West. |
H
16 |
|
Tu
9/6 |
Capital
and Labor in the Age of |
H
17; F 17-2, 3, 4; WA |
|
Th
9/8 |
Labor
and Capital, 1877-1900; student presentations on
persons from ch. 15-17. |
F
17-6, 8 |
|
Tu
9/13 |
The
Rise of the City |
H
18; F 18-2, 6, 7, 8, 9; |
|
Th
9/15 |
Politics,
1877-1900; student presentations
on persons from ch. 18 |
H
19; Issue analysis paper topic choices due (written) |
|
Tu
9/20 |
Politics,
1877-1900 |
F
19-6 |
|
Th
9/22 |
The
Progressive Era; student presentations
on persons from ch. 19, 20 |
H
20; F 20-1, 3 |
|
Tu
9/27 |
The
Progressive Era |
F
20-4, 8; WA |
|
Th
9/29 |
The
|
H
21 |
|
Tu
10/4 |
The
|
F
21-3 |
|
Th
10/6 |
Mid-term exam (objective and essay
questions, 100 points, on material covered in Henretta, chapters 15-21;
Fernlund as assigned) |
|
|
Tu
10/11 |
World
War I and |
H
22; F 22-4, 8 |
|
Th
10/13 |
The
student presentations
on persons from ch. 22 |
F
22-15 |
|
Tu
10/18 |
Revolutions
of a different sort: the 1920s: |
H
23; A 1, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13; F 23-4, 6, 9 |
|
Th
10/20 |
The
1920s and the Great Depression; student presentations
on persons from ch. 23, 24 |
H
24; A 14; F 24-4, 5, 9 |
|
Tu
10/25 |
The
Great Depression |
WA |
|
Th
10/27 |
The
New Deal; student presentations on
persons from ch. 25 |
H
25; F 25-2, 6, 9 |
|
Tu
11/1 |
The
New Deal |
|
|
Th
11/3 |
World
War II and student presentations
on persons from ch. 26 |
H
26; F 26-2, 4, 6 |
|
Tu
11/8 |
The
|
|
|
Th
11/10 |
The
World after WWII: The Cold War; student presentations
on persons from ch. 27 |
H
27; F 27-2, 3; topic paper rough draft (optional) |
|
Tu
11/15 |
The
|
F
27-6, |
|
Th
11/17 |
At
Home in Post-war student presentations
on persons from ch. 28 |
H
28; F 28-3; 28-7 F
27-5, 7, 8 |
|
Tu
11/22 |
Politics,
1945-1965 |
F
28-10 |
|
Tu
11/29 |
The
|
H
29; F 29-1, 9 1920s topic paper due. |
|
Th
12/1 |
The
State of the student presentations
on persons from ch. 29 |
|
|
Tu
12/6 |
The
1970s |
H
30; F 30-5 |
|
Th
12/8 |
The
1980s and 1990s |
H
31 |
|
12/13 |
Final Exam. Objective and essay
questions on material covered in class, Henretta, Fernlund, and Allen; 100
points; essay portion is… |
...cumulative
over semester. (Note time: |