“Constructing Liberty”

A Teaching American History Grant Program

January, 2012

  1. Course Information for Pre-Summer Institute Work, 2012

The “Constructing Liberty” Teaching American History Grant Program for 2012 has many parts. This document is designed to help you participate as a Fellow in the for-credit, or for-stipend work in March, April, May, and into June of 2012. The work consists of readings and online discussion. Consider this Phase I of the program. You will be registered for UWEC’s History 711 for 3 graduate credits. The bulk of your work will be done online via Desire2Learn, the UW System’s course web system.

You will receive later this spring a separate document listing work and expectations for the face-to-face Summer Institute in “Constructing Liberty” scheduled for June 11 through June 29, 2012. Your work continues in History 711 with morning classes discussing the reading you did in Phase I, and afternoon classes at the Chippewa Valley Museum where you will be registered in an additional course, UWEC’s History 691, for one graduate credit. Consider that Phase II of the Program.

You will also receive later in the summer of 2011 separate documents listing work and expectations for the academic year 2012-2013 workshop(s). Consider that Phase III.

In all, you may earn up to five graduate credits at UWEC for your work in this year’s Constructing Liberty program.

  1. “Constructing Liberty” Fellows

The partners in the Teaching American History Grant “Constructing Liberty” are CESA # 10, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Chippewa Valley Museum, Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The “Constructing Liberty” partners recruited statewide for participants for this first of three summers of the Teaching American History grant work. Many more teachers around the state applied for admission than could be accommodated. The partners admitted forty-five teachers from ten different CESA districts across Wisconsin as Fellows in the “Constructing Liberty” Year Two program

  • Thirty-three of the Fellows are participating in the “Constructing Liberty” program as special graduate students at UW-Eau Claire, earning four graduate credits for their work. They will enroll in History 711 at UW-Eau Claire. Their transcript will show History 711 as “Readings in U.S. History.” This group of Fellows will receive letter grades for their work in History 711
  • Twelve of the Fellows are receiving a stipend for their work in the “Constructing Liberty” program. This group of Fellows will be enrolled in the same History 711 class as auditors. Their transcript will show a grade of “AU” for completing the course, at which point they will receive their earned stipends.
  • The expectations and work required of both credit Fellows and stipend Fellows are identical. Only the way they receive their reward is different, as reflected on their transcripts.
  • Each Fellow is expected to participate fully in Phases I, II, and III.
  1. History 711 Assigned Reading and Schedule of Online Discussion (in alphabetical order by author)

Akhil Reed Amar, America’s Constitution: A Biography(read Chapter 12)

Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters (read Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 4, starting on p. 128, and all of Chapter 5, “Montgomery Bus Boycott,”and all of Chapters 18 through 23).

Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire, (read Chapters 16, 21-22, and 24).

Taylor Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, Part I—“Selma” (read Chapters. 1-16)

Patrick Jones, Selma of the North (read entire book)

Alexander Keyssar, The Right to Vote(read Chapters 7, 8, and Conclusion)

John Lewis, Walking with the Wind (read Chs. 9, 13-17)

Charles O. Rasmussen, Ojibwe Journeys (read entire booklet)

Online Course Book Discussion with Fellows

Week of Feb 6……………….Books are sent via surface mail and/or courier to all Fellows upon completion of the online pre-test

Week of Feb. 27…….……….Keyssar, Right to Vote, Ch. 7; and Rasmussen Ojibwe Journeys (entire)

Week of March 5…………….Branch, Parting the Waters, Ch 1, and part of Ch. 4 (starting on p. 128) and all of Chapter 5)

Week of March 12…………..Branch, Parting the Waters, Chs. 18-20

Week of March 19…………..Branch, Parting the Waters, Chs. 21-23

Week of March 26………… Branch, Pillar of Fire, Chs 16, 21-22, and 24

Week of April 2……………. Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, Chs. 1-6

Week of April 9……………. Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, Chs. 7-12

Week of April 16……………Spring Break for History 711

Week of April 23……………Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, Chs. 13-16

Week of April 30……………Lewis, Walking with the Wind, Chs, 9, 13, 14

Week of May 7………………Lewis, Walking with the Wind, Chs. 15, 16, 17

Week of May 14……………..Keyssar, Right to Vote, Ch. 8 and Amar, America’s Constitution, Ch. 12

Week of May 21……………Jones, Selma of the North, chs. 1-3

Week of May 28 ……………(note, no online work on Memorial Day)…. Jones, Selma of the North, Chs. 4-5

Week of June 4………………Jones, Selma of the North, Chs. 6-9; Keyssar, Right to Vote, Conclusion

Summer Institute begins at UWEC & CVM June 11, 2012

  1. Expectations
  • Fellows will read critically and interactively
  • Fellows will discuss the readings with each other in on-line discussion forums
  • Fellows will respond in depth to on-line questions posed by the instructors regularly in the public on-line discussion forum, and they will also pose their own questions for other Fellows to answer.
  • Each Fellow will make at least one post for discussions relating to each of the eight authors whose work we read (Note: Taylor Branch counts as three authors, once for each of the parts of his three books assigned).
  • The discussion forums will close to new posts on Friday, June 8th.
  • By the start of the face-to-face Summer Institute, all Fellows will have read all the posts to the discussion forums.
  1. More on Online Discussion: The ability to merely recite on-line discussion or the prose in a history text is not the basis of education. Learning occurs best when ideas and interpretations are shared and discussed. That is the philosophy behind the online discussion (and, really, behind the entire institute).

It is your responsibility to check the course syllabus and D2L web page often for important information.If you have trouble logging in or accessing on-line material, it is your responsibility to contact Jim or Oscar or Sheryl for assistance. Do not wait! If you are having trouble with the content or context of this course, ask questions early, often, and repeatedly!

6. 2012--Syllabus for History 711 morning class

June 11…Citizenship in the 20th and 21st Centuries; and from “Liberty” to “Freedom” in American political and cultural language (review D2L discussions on Keyssar Right to Vote, ch. 7, and Rasmussen, Ojibwe Journeys )

June 12….Origins of the Civil Rights Movement to Brown (review D2L discussions on Branch, Parting the Waters, ch. 1)

June 13: Montgomery, 1955-56 (review D2L discussions on Branch, Parting the Waters, chs. 4-5)

June 14: Birmingham, 1963 (review D2L discussions on Branch, Parting the Waters, chs. 18-23)

June 15: Civil Rights Act of 1964 (review D2L discussions on Branch, Pillar of Fire, chs, 16, 21-22, and 24)

June 18: Selma, 1965 (review D2L discussions on Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, chs. 1-16)

June 19: Voting Rights Act of 1965 and subsequent renewals by Congress (review discussions of Keyssar, Right to Vote, ch. 8)

June 20: Immigration Reform Act of 1965 and subsequent changes by Congress

June 21: Milwaukee, 1967 (review D2L discussions on Jones, Selma of the North)

June 22: Florida, 2000 (review D2L discussions on Keyssar, Right to Vote, Conclusion)

7. Key Personnel

“Constructing Liberty” Summer Faculty Director
James W. (“Jim”) Oberly
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Hibbard 713
715 836-4599
/ “Constructing Liberty” Curriculum Coordinator
Oscar Chamberlain
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Hibbard 722
715 836-5275

“Constructing Liberty” History 711 Program Assistant
Sheryl Poirier
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Hibbard 701
715-836-5501
/ “Constructing Liberty” Teaching American History Grant Community Outreach Director
Elizabeth (“Liz”) Reuter
Chippewa Valley Museum
P.O. Box 1204
Eau Claire, WI 54702-1204
715-834-7871