SYLLABUS
Honors United States History Since 1865
History 2685:001
University of North Texas
Fall 2011
Dr. Elizabeth Hayes Turner Office: WH 255
Meets TR in WH 214 Phone: 940-565-4526
12:30 to 1:50 p.m., 3 hours credit
Office Hours: T 2:00 – 4:00 Email is the best way to reach me
or by appointment
Course Description and Objectives:
Goal I: Students who successfully master the course will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the facts and chronology of United States History from 1865 to 1975.
Goal II. Students who successfully master the course will be able to read critically and analytically.
Goal III. Students who successfully master the course will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the steps and purpose of the historical research and writing process, including constructing organized coherent written and oral responses to questions regarding major events in American history since 1865.
The work of this course will be to discover the growth and development of the United States from the end of the Civil War through industrialization, overseas expansion, global wars, the Great Depression, and the post-World War II era. The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with basic political, socio-economic, and cultural developments in the history of the United States from 1865 to 1975. The objectives include identifying significant persons, events, and ideas from which you will be able to organize coherent essays and oral presentations demonstrating an understanding of historical causal and consequential relationships. This course combines lectures, in-class media and games, book discussions, class discussions, and in-class quizzes and exams. It was developed in part with a QEP Grant (Quality Enhancement Plan) under the auspices of the Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign (CLEAR). “The goal of the QEP is to improve student learning outcomes through enabling our students to engage with the subject matter, with the faculty, and with each other. The transformed courses represent the next generation of course redesign and are designed for the next generation college student.” From the QEP website at http://qep.unt.edu/Content/Home/index.html
Honors Course Objectives for Students:
Specific objectives have been adopted for honors courses, including the following.
1. Honors courses emphasize development of analytical and evaluative skills through readings from primary sources, journal articles and other supplementary materials.
2. Honors courses encourage students to engage in high-level thinking and learning through activities such as intensive discussion; writing in small, collaborative learning settings; and intensive research papers and projects.
3. Honors courses promote independent thinking by making students accountable for important aspects of their learning.
4. Honors courses place material in a conceptual context that illustrates its importance and relationship to other knowledge.
5. Honors courses provide enhanced opportunities for students to develop research skills and produce independent, original research or creative products as part of the course requirements.
6. Honors courses include innovative approaches to course content and teaching so that honors courses can serve as campus-wide prototypes.
Textbooks:
Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States
Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery
John Hersey, Hiroshima
Bruce Watson, Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy
Resources: These are provided by the university.
“What’s the Deal?” board game, supplied by the Center for Learning Enhancement,
Assessment, and Redesign (CLEAR) and the Active Learning Initiative.
Class Webpage: Vista/ CE6 My Blackboard class website:
This class is supported by a supplemental website through My Blackboard, Vista/ CE6. To access the website go to the UNT Home page and click on Blackboard or go to www.ecampus.unt.edu . Click on University of North Texas. Log in with your EUID and AMS password. Click on History 2685:001 Fall 2011
On this website you can access:
1. The syllabus
2. Primary documents
3. Power point lectures
4. Announcements from the instructor
5. Email
6. Calendar
7. Gradebook
8. Turnitin
9. Assignment folders with instructions for papers
10. Possible questions for the Midterm and Final Exams
If you have any difficulties contact Vista Helpdesk Information: Email: . Phone: 940-565-2324. Visit in person ISB Room 119. Refer to the Blackboard home page; https://ecampus.unt.edu/webct/entryPage.dowebct
Assignments and Projects:
1. Read the textbook (Zinn) chapters and primary documents (in a folder on the
webpage) as assigned.
2. Read the three assigned books (Up From Slavery, Hiroshima, and Freedom
Summer ) and write a four-page essay on each one. See the syllabus for due dates.
Send your essay to Turnitin and also hand in a printed copy on the due date. Do not send papers via email. Late papers will result in a loss of 5 points per day. If a paper is four days late it will have accumulated no points, so be on time with your
work.
3. Participate in the New Deal Project. This project allows you to assume the character of a person living during the 1930s and discover how people from different states and different occupational circumstances survived the Great Depression (or not). It involves playing a game, "What's the Deal?" as an introduction to the
1930s. A written assignment will follow the game.
Exams and Quizzes:
Midterm Exam: October 6
Final Exam: Dec.13 - 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Quizzes: The quizzes will primarily consist of objective questions (multiple choice) based on the readings and the primary documents as found on the class webpage. They will not be announced, so you should be prepared anytime to take a quiz. The primary purpose of the quizzes is to encourage and reward keeping up with the assigned reading. You must take good notes over the lectures and follow the assigned reading in order to do well on the quizzes.
Midterm and Final Exams:
These will be a combination of multiple choice and essay exams (short and long essays). The final exam will NOT be comprehensive.
Grading:
Midterm and Final Exams 200 (100 points each)
Four unannounced textbook/document quizzes 80 (20 points each)
New Deal Project/“What’s the Deal?” essay 50 points
Three four–page book essays 150 (50 points each)
Total possible points in this course = 480
Grading Scale: A= 480-432; B=431-384; C=383-336; D=335-288; F=287 or below.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance matters; be there for every class More than three unexcused absences will result in the loss of 10 points from your total score. For those who miss NO classes there will be 10 points extra credit. This policy does not allow for illness or necessary absences. Attendance is required for the days of book discussions and the “What’s the Deal?” game. Check the syllabus for dates. If you have an unavoidable absence (illness, employment requirements) on those days mentioned above, you will need to provide documentation in order for it to be an excused absence. Unexcused absences on required attendance days will result in the loss of 10 points per absence.
Late Papers or Other Missed Deadlines:
Essays or papers must be turned in during class the day of the discussion, as cited in the Assignment section of this syllabus. If you turn in your essay after the class has met, it will be counted as one day late, losing 5 points for that day and every day thereafter. If there is a legitimate reason for missing a deadline, proper documentation (doctor’s note, employer’s note) must be presented to the instructor. If you get sick and miss a paper deadline, you MUST be seen by a physician or by a nurse at the student health center, and you must bring that excuse in order not to lose points. If your employer insists that you miss class on the day of a discussion or required attendance, ask for a written statement to that effect.
Turnitin
In order to deter plagiarism, which is the copying of others’ words (usually a sentence or a sequence of three or more words) as found on the internet or in printed/media sources, you must submit the completed paper/essay to Turnitin, which is on the class website. Click on the Turnitin folder, click on the project icon for the assignment and paste your report from a word file into the space provided. SAVE YOUR WORK. Turn in a printed copy the day of the book discussion
UNT is committed to the fundamental values of preserving academic integrity as outlined at http://www.unt.edu/csrr/development/integrity.html. The instructor reserves the right to utilize electronic means to help prevent plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all assignments are subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.
Assignments submitted to Turnitin will be included as source documents in Turnitin’s restricted access database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism in such documents. The terms that apply to the UNT's use of the Turnitin service, as well as additional information for students about submitting assignments, are described at http://web2.unt.edu/cdl/TurnItIn/index.cfm?M=Students&SM=Access
How to Pass this Course:
The best way to pass this course is to take the reading, the lectures, and the writing
assignments seriously. Take notes in class on the lecture. Participate in your discussion
group. Come to the exam review sessions. Prepare for your exams at least one week in advance by going over the lecture outlines, notes, and the textbook until you feel thoroughly familiar with the material. You should not be reading the textbook the night before the exam; you should be studying your lecture outlines, notes, and study guide. Take advantage of help offered by the History Help Center, located in Wooten Hall, Room 220. This center provides help to students enrolled in history courses at the University of North Texas. Ask a question in class, especially when something is not clear. Use your notes to formulate questions about change over time in American history. And finally – Relax, Enjoy.
A Word about the Honesty Code:
The University of North Texas maintains an honesty code, which is an essential element of the institution’s academic credibility and integrity. It is the student’s responsibility to become familiar with the code as found in the UNT “Code of Student Conduct and Discipline” and abide by it. Academic honesty is the foundation upon which the student builds personal integrity and establishes a standard of personal behavior. A violation of the honesty code is any activity that compromises the academic integrity or subverts the educational process of the university, including but not limited to, the following examples:
* Providing or receiving information for unauthorized use during exams, quizzes, or other graded work.
* Failing to report incidents of academic dishonesty.
* Using unauthorized notes, books, or other disallowed materials to aid in answering questions during an examination.
* Serving as or enlisting another person to take a test in the student’s place or to do any academic work for which the student will receive academic credit.
*Plagiarizing (using another person’s work without acknowledgment).
* Changing answers or grades and attempting to claim instructor error.
* Any other conduct intended to obtain academic credit fraudulently or dishonestly, which a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances would recognize as dishonest or improper in an academic setting.
In addition there are honesty code requirements for this history course. Students must not use any notes, outlines, or verbal information during exams. Students must return all exams and quiz materials to the professor after the exam has been given. Any academic dishonesty during an exam or failure to return printed exam materials will result in a zero on that exam and possibly immediate dismissal from the course. Any plagiarism in a written report will result in a zero on the report and possible dismissal from the course. Once a student begins an exam, the student may leave the room ONLY with permission of the instructor or forfeit finishing the exam.
Etiquette:
There are standards of etiquette for university classes. Turn off all cell phones, beepers, and pagers. If you use a laptop in class, use it only for taking notes. Surfing the internet, texting, or any other activity not related to the lecture or class activity distracts not only you but also others in the class. Be respectful of the learning environment and save your surfing, texting, and phoning for later.
DO NOT BE LATE FOR CLASS, but if you are unavoidably detained, come in quietly. If you have a job or a commitment that makes you perpetually late, come and discuss this with me. DO NOT LEAVE CLASS EARLY, but if you must leave early, do not disturb the other students. Teaching history and learning history require enormous amounts of concentration on the part of the professor and the students. Try not to interfere with this process.
ODA Statement:
The University is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws concerning reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Any student with special circumstances covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act should register with the Office of Disabilities Accommodations (ODA), Suite 318A, University Union Building, and inform the instructor of this course of requests for accommodation within the first week. Responsibility for obtaining verifying information from the Office of Disability Accommodation rests with the student. ODA Website is http://www.unt.edu/oda/. The ODA telephone number is
940-565-4323. Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate the special needs
of students with disabilities.
Assignments
Honors United States History Since 1865
Aug. 25 Introduction to the course, Reconstruction
30 Reconstruction and Economic Modernization, Chap. 11
Sept. 1 Economic Modernization continued
6 Workers, Immigrants, and Nativists, Chap. 11
8 Urban America, Chap. 11
13 Politics in the Gilded Age (Guest lecturer Deborah Kilgore), Chap. 11
15 Read Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (no class)
20 Discussion: Washington, Up From Slavery Required attendance. First book essay due. 22 Imperial America, Chap. 12
27 Imperial America continued
29 The Progressive Era, Chap. 13
Oct. 4 The Progressive Era continued
6 MIDTERM EXAM
11 WWI, Chap. 14
13 WWI continued
18 The Twenties, Chap. 15
20 The Twenties continued