History 2710 Hybrid

History 2710 Hybrid

updated 19 October 2011

History of the United States since 1877
A chronological survey of American history from Gilded Age to recent times.
K.L. MacKay kmackay@weber.edu ext. 6782
Questions are always welcome, either via e-mail (kmackay@weber.edu)or in meetings with me. (When contacting me through email, begin the subject line with History 2710 so that I will notice your message right away.)

Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission"

This course is designed to give a general overview of U.S. history since 1877. Emphasis will be on the meaning of events:

why things happened as they did,

how people viewed the changing times in which they lived,

the consequences of their words and actions, and

continuity and change over time.

This course will be reading and writing intensive. Readings include original source materials, scholarly essays, and scholarly internet sites. Writings will include discussion forums, short response papers, short essay quizzes, and critical analyzes.

In-Class Schedule

Final Exams

Discussion and Response Paper topics

Syllabus:
Learning Goals | Texts | Activities in Support of Learning | Grades
Learning Goals:
Students will learn history, acquire knowledge of basic facts, events--especially of significant questions and major themes in American history, 1490s-1877.

Students will hone their skills in reading, thinking, writing. Students will learn how to learn, how to reflect on their own learning style.

Students will gain a historical perspective by which to understand the present. Students will gain an understanding of how historians think and interpret the past through the lens of the present.
Students will consider a wide variety of historical sources and learn about how historians go about "recovering the past."
     The value of History is, indeed, not scientific but moral:  by
     liberalizing the mind, by deepening the sympathies, by fortifying the
     will, it enables us to control, not society, but ourselves. . .it
     prepares us to live more humanely in the present and to meet the
     future. -- Carl Becker
Texts:

Zinn, A People's History of the U.S.

Von Drehle, Triangle

Edleman, Dear America

other texts as assigned

You might find helpful:

The Outline of American History (1994) which has useful summaries and short biographies.

The learning modules posted from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

American Memory Timeline

Free University Online (CLEP Exam preparation) has modules in U.S. History.

Activities in support of learning goals:

Discussion Forums. (15 points each) For each unit of study, there are discussion forums. You are required to usually make 3 posts per forum. Two should be substantive response to the posted topic and one should be a response to the post of a classmate.

2 quizzes (80 points and 200 points) These will be randomized from a list of posted topics. These quizzes must be taken on Chi Tester at WSU testing center or under proctored conditions.

Response Papers. (10 points each) There will be a variety of topics. Choose 6.

Oral presentations. (10 points each) There will be a variety of topics. Each 5 minute presentation must be accompanied by a handout of no more than 1 page. You must do #6, choose 2 additional.

2 Analyzes of Scholarship. (15 points each.) You will critique 2 pieces of scholarship in formal papers (2-3 pages), typed, free of gross spelling and grammatical errors. You may analyze the scholarship of 2 different topics in U.S. history since 1877, or you may analyze a single topic through 2 different scholars. You may connect your analysis to required oral presentation.

Grades:

Grades will be a percentage of points possible-not "on the curve."

Points will be taken off assignments turned in late.

3 exams = 180 points

7 discussion forums = 105 points

6 response papers = 60 points

3 oral presentations = 30 points

2 Analyses = 30 points