AMERICAN HISTORY II: U.S. History since 1865;
H106 - Spring 2010, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 P.M. to 10:15 P.M. Cavanaugh Hall 225
Instructor: Dr. Paul A. Buelow; Office Hours: Tues.. 10:30-11:30 A.M. & by app’t.
Phone/voice mail: History Dept.; fax: 317/278-7800; e-mail:
COURSE DESCRIPTION. One of the fascinating aspects of the study of history is the ability to examine change and continuity by looking at what was past, what was present, and what would be in the future in the lives of individuals, groups, and institutions. This course will study the United States since the end of the Civil War through the history of geographical expansion, industrialization and economic development, urbanization, immigration and migration, civil rights, cultural change, and government intervention. Celebrating unity of identity as well as diversity of culture and background, the course promotes inquiry concerning
1) the relationship between individuals, society (groups), government in American history
2) the role of ideas in American history
3) interactions between the U.S. and other nations
COURSE OBJECTIVES. Conforming to IUPUI’s “Principles of Undergraduate Learning” (see http://www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm), 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by graduation, assignments for this class are designed to help develop reading and communication skills by analyzing historical documents and concepts.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 helpful to every person. The study of history fosters such thinking, writing, and speaking by engaging students in considering 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. Students should come to class having read the material listed for that day on the syllabus, and having formulated questions they would like to answer.
TEXTS. 1) Tindall & Shi, America, A Narrative History, vol. 2, 8th ed. 2010.
2) Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, 2004, Henry Holt.
These books may be purchased at the Cavanaugh Hall bookstore. A copy of each will be put on reserve in the library. Please bring texts to class as instructed.
ATTENDANCE. Regular attendance is expected. Students earn one point for each attendance. Please consult with the teacher about unavoidable absence due to illness (doctor’s note required) to prevent needless point-loss.
LATE OR MISSED WORK. Material handed in after the due date will be given reduced credit.
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, whose policy on plagiarism is 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 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/dos/code.htm. Please talk with your instructor if you have questions about what is or is not plagiarism.
WITHDRAWALS AND INCOMPLETES. If you decide to drop this class, please note 1) deadlines apply, and 2) 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 without submitting a signed drop slip (even if that student has told the professor that she or he plans to withdraw). About incompletes, IUPUI’s policy is that they are for students who have completed almost all of the course requirements and have been prevented by significant or unanticipated events from finishing the class. Documentation of these events may be required.
CLASSROOM WISDOM & ETIQUETTE.
· Come to every class session. You can learn quite a lot 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.
· Practice taking useful notes as you read your texts and as you participate in class.
· Questions in class are welcome at any time, but private conversations are not. Please turn off or mute cell phones, pagers, and beepers before class begins.
· Use a method to read your texts! I recommend the SQR method. That is, S: Quickly survey the reading assignment, noting bold-faced headings and terms in the text; examine the illustrations and their captions; Q: think about what you already know about this topic and design a question for your reading to answer; R: read the selection with a piece of note-paper next to your open book to record an answer. You will be amazed at how your level of interest increases, along with comprehension. (Bring your question to class to see if others were thinking the same things!)
· In the case of disabilities, please call the office of Adaptive Educational Services in CA001E (phone 274-3241).
The IUPUI Writing Center (CA 427; 274-2049; grammar hotline 274-3000) can be a great help in working on your writing assignments. Save all assignments on disk, make backup copies, and print (and keep) at least one draft of your paper before you submit it in final form. This class will use ONCOURSE as a forum for communication. Students should access ONCOURSE regularly.
MAJOR WRITTEN WORK. One paper written with the aid of primary sources which you will find. A detailed description of this assignment will be issued separately.
H106 Spring 2010 Schedule (subject to change with notice).
Week / Readings & Assignments1 / The plan of the course; Review of U.S. History to 1865; Reconstruction
2 / The South and the West after the Civil War
3 / Big Business and Big Labor
4 / The Emergence of Urban America
5 / “Gilded Age” Politics and Agrarian Reform; America as a “Empire”
6 / Progressivism
7 / America and World War I (the “Great War”); Mid-term Exam
8 / Modernity: America and the 1920s; The Republican Party Returns
9 / Boyle, Arc of Justice discussion and in-class writing assignments based on the book.
10 / The Great Depression: From Hooverism to the FDR’s New Deal
11 / Isolationism to Global War
12 / Issue Analysis Paper Due; World War II
13 / Truman’s Fair Deal and Containment: The Beginning of the “Cold War;” American Society and Culture, 1945-1960; The Eisenhower Years
14 / New Frontiers and the Great Society: JFK and LBJ: Vietnam War; Civil Rights Movement; Black Power Movement
15 / 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s: Rebellion, Reaction, Conservative Resurgence; Liberal Change; Conservative resurgence
16 / Final Exam (timed: 120 minutes)
Subject to change with notification, the assessment categories in this class and point values (all points given equal weight) are as follows:
Classroom participation (students earn one point for each class session signed in 30 pts (5%)
Writing Assignment based on Arc of Justice 40 pts (20%)
Mid-term exam (multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay) 50 pts (25%)
Final exam (multiple-choice, short-answer, essay) 60 pts (25%)
Issue analysis paper (see separate instructions) 50 pts (25%)
Totals: 230 pts-(100%)
Grading scale—A: 90%-100% (A+ = 98-100; A = 93-97; A- = 90-92); B: 80-89 (B+ = 88-89; B = 83-87; B- = 80-82); C: 70-79 (C+ = 78-79; C = 73-77; C- = 70-72); D: 60-69 (D+ = 68-69; D = 63-67; D- = 60-62); F: below 60%. Keep in mind that each type of category above is weighted according to the percentages you see to the right, so a sum of points earned divided by total possible will not give an accurate grade. Note that the Oncourse grading program rounds upward only in the hundredths place. This means that a student earning 79.88 percent of the total possible points will round up to 79.9 and receive a C+ rather than an 80 and a B-.
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