FALL CLASSES BEGIN 1/28/13

 

West Valley College

Spring 2013

UNITED STATES HISTORY
History 17B Online (3 units)
Sections 24979, 24980

Tim Kelly, Ph.D.
Office Hours:  M/W 2:00-2:30; T/Th 12:30-1:00 and by appt.

Office:  SS/LA 1E
(408) 741-2546


WELCOME!!!

Don't know much about American history but fed up with the conventional ways of learning it?  Well then you've come to the right place.  Who says history has to be boring?  You will embark on a fascinating exploration of the making of modern American society.  Through multi-media web lectures, readings, e-mail discussions, music, posters, and film clips, this course will investigate the post-Civil War years of American history by examining a wide variety of topics, including racial and ethnic politics, popular culture, reform movements, and diplomatic history.

History 17B is a survey of the political, economic, social and cultural development of the Unites States from Reconstruction to the present.  Topics covered include Reconstruction, Native American culture and western settlement, Industrialization, the Progressive Era, World War I, the Twenties, the New Deal, and World War II.  Also covered are domestic, social, and foreign policy issues of the post-World War II period from the 1950s through the 1990s,  including reform movements, Vietnam, the Civil Rights and other ethnic movements, the Feminist Movement, popular culture, and post-Cold War foreign policy.

Required Texts

Davidson, et. al. U.S.:  A Narrative History, Vol 2 (ISBN 978-0-07-723621-2) referred to as Text in this syllabus.
Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism (2d edition, 2001, ISBN:  9780312393199)

You will also have additional reading materials (documents and web pages) that are online.

General Course Policies

  1. Print out this syllabus as evidence for transfer to a four-year institution.
  2. Participation on the group discussion board and COMPLETING THE ASSIGNED READING by the beginning of each topic are essential to passing this course.
  3. Tutoring is available at no charge at Tutorial Services.  It is provided by qualified, trained students who have been recommended by the faculty.  Contact Tutorial Services in the Library Building or call 741-2038.
  4. PASS/NO PASS option will only be granted if the student e-mails the Instructor before the end of the sixth week to request the option.  
  5. ***Plagiarism/cheating will be treated as automatic failures for the course and offenders will be referred to the CSSO for disciplinary action.  Familiarize yourself with the campus policy on cheating detailed in the College Catalogue under Student Conduct Code, 5.8.19 Policy on Cheating.  (You will find examples of what plagiarism is and how to avoid it at http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html.)***
  6. West Valley College makes reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities.  College materials will be available in alternate formats (Braille, audio, electronic format, or large print) upon request.  Please contact the Disability and Educational Support Program at (408) 741-2010 (voice) or (408) 741-2658 (TTY) for assistance.

Pass/No Pass Option and Dropping

Students wishing to take this class with the Pass/No Pass grade option must inform the instructor in writing no later than the end of the SIXTH WEEK.  Requests for this option WILL NOT be accepted after that time.  See the WVC Catalog under "Academic Regulations and Standards" for more information about this option.  

In addition, students who wish to be dropped from the course are responsible for doing this on their own.  I will not do this for you.  If you stop logging on to Angel but your name is on my roster at the end of the semester, you will receive an "F" in the class with no opportunities to change this to a "W."

Quizzes and Exams

You are required to take 16 quizzes (the two lowest scores being dropped and added back into your total as Extra Credit), a midterm, and a final.  ALL QUIZZES AND EXAMS ARE CONDUCTED ONLINE.  You will have 15 minutes to complete 10 questions (once you begin the quiz, you must complete it within 15 minutes by 11:55 pm of the due date).  You MAY NOT make-up a missed quiz.

Your Midterm and Final exams will be essay format and will be explained in Study Guides posted on the lecture web page.

Quiz questions will be drawn from the assigned textbook for the week.  Questions for the Midterm and Final exams will be drawn from both the lectures and the readings.  You can take practice quizzes at the publisher's web page for the assigned chapters http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073385468/student_view0/index.htmlOnce you take the quiz, the system will give you an immediate score; however, you can only fully review your quiz for the correct answers once the quiz period is complete (i.e., at the end of the week).

IF A PROBLEM OCCURS:  Students are encouraged not to wait until the last day to take a quiz (which will be available for the entire week).  If a problem occurs with the system or your computer (and let's face it - such problems DO occur from time to time), contact me ASAP.  I will help you solve the problem.  If, however, you wait until the final day (or worse, the final hours) and a problem arises, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to help you before the deadline (you take that risk upon yourself by waiting so long to take the quiz).

Extra Credit

Your two lowest scored quizzes (which includes a missed quiz scored as zero) that are dropped will be added back into your total score as Extra Credit.  The incentive here is to take ALL of the quizzes (not just the 14 required) and do the best you can on them all.  

Paper

You will write and submit one 3-4 page paper on Ellen Schrecker's book The Age of McCarthyism.  More details about the paper can be found on the Lectures page.

Threaded Discussions

Every one to two weeks a threaded discussion will be posted. Click on the Discussions icon on the Angel page under Lessons, read the topic statement, and then post your comments. You may respond to the instructor's statement or any other comment made by other students.  You must participate in each of these discussions in order to receive credit for your participation.  More instructions are posted on Angel.

Course Requirements                                                                                 Grading Policy:   Grades are awarded on a Standard Scale:
1. One 3-4 page paper 
2. Midterm Exam
3. Final examination 
4. Fourteen Quizzes 
5. List-Serve Participation
(250 pts)
(260 pts)
(300 pts)
(140 pts)
(50 pts)


C
D
F
1000 - 900
899 - 800
799 - 700
699 - 600
599 and below

Dates to Remember
February 10:
February 10:
March 3 - 9:
Last Day to Add
Last Day to Drop w/out a "W"
Midterm
March 9:
April 13:
April 26:
Last Day to Request P/NP Option
Schrecker
Paper Due

Last day to Drop with a "W"

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE:

Saturday, May 18 - Wednesday, May 22 (Availability ends 5/22 at 11:55 pm)

How to Read the Lectures

Complete the assigned readings first.  I have written these lectures with the assumption that you already understand the topics from the assigned readings.
Read the outlines provided on each Week's page to get familiar with the general themes of the lecture.
Don't wait until the last minute to read the lectures, and give yourself plenty of time to digest them.  These lectures take one hour and 25 minutes to give in class.  You should allow yourself at least the same amount of time.
The lectures are full of links highlighted in BLUE that will give you more information about the topics I discuss.  You are encouraged to follow these blue links.  
You ARE required to follow any RED links and read the material provided.

For more information about this online course format, go to http://instruct.westvalley.edu/kelly/.

Course Outline

Week 1  (Jan 28 - Feb 2) 

Introduction:  What is History?
Race and Segregation in Post-Civil War America

Readings:  Text, Chs. 17, 18 (pp. 354-361), 21 (pp. 434-435);  Online:  Wells-Barnet, "A Red Record"; Washington, "The Atlanta Exposition Address"; DuBois, "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others"

Angel Quiz Ch 17 Begins (closes Saturday of Week 2 at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  Washington vs. DuBois (closes Saturday of Week 2 at 11:55 pm)

Week 2  (Feb 3 - 9)

How the West Was Won (and Lost)
Progress and Conflict in the New Industrial Order

2/10 LAST DAY TO ADD
LAST DAY TO DROP W/OUT A "W"

Readings:  Text, Chs. 18 (pp. 361-end), 19

Angel Quizzes Chs 17, 18, and 19 (all three close Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  Individualism (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm )

Week 3  (Feb 10 - 16)

Coming to America:  The New Immigration, 1880-1924
The Conflict Between Urban and Rural America

Readings:  Text, Chs. 20, 21;  Online:  Sinclair, "Living and Dying in Packingtown, Chicago"

Angel Quizzes Chs 20 and 21 (close Saturday at 11:55 pm )
Angel Discussion:  Sinclair's The Jungle (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 4  (Feb 17 - 23)

Progressivism and the Reform Impulse in America
Expansion and Imperialism:  The Rise of an American Empire

Readings:  Text, Chs. 21 (review pp. 435-445), 22, 23

Angel Quizzes Chs 22 and 23 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  American Foreign Policy (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 5   (Feb 24 - March 2)

The Roaring Twenties
The Great Depression

Readings:  Text, Chs. 24, 25;  Online:  Steinbeck, "The Grapes of Wrath"

Angel Quizzes Chs. 24 and 25 (close Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  Tax Cuts and Government Regulation (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 6  (March 3 - 9)

A New Deal for America
MIDTERM (includes Week 6 Lecture AND reading)

Readings:  Online:  Brinkley, "The New Deal and the Idea of the State" (pp. 85-112)

Angel Midterm (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
NO DISCUSSION ASSIGNED
3/09 LAST DAY TO REQUEST "PASS/NO PASS" OPTION


Week 7  (March 10 - 16)

America and the Second World War
The Good War:  WWII and American Society

Readings:  Text, Ch 26; Online:  "African Americans and WWII:  A Fifth Column?"

Angel Quiz Ch 26 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
NO DISCUSSION ASSIGNED

Week 8  (March 17 - 23)

America, the Holocaust, and the Atomic Bomb:  A Racial Perspective
Cold War Containment

Readings:  Text, Ch. 27; Online:  "Truman's Decision to Drop the Bomb"; "A Survivor's Account of the Hiroshima Blast"; "Hiroshima:  Was It Necessary?"; Kennan, "The Long Telegram"

Angel Quiz Ch 27 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  Kennan's "Long Telegram" (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 9  (March 24 - 30)

A Cold War Home Front

Readings:  Schrecker, pp. 1-133,  pp. 262-274; Online:  McCarthy, "Communists in Government Service"

NO DISCUSSION OR QUIZ ASSIGNED

March 31 - April 6 - SPRING BREAK 

Week 10  (April 7 - 13)

"A Date with the Family":  Postwar Prosperity in America
War of the Generations:  Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s and Adult Opposition To It

Readings:  Text, Ch 28 Online:  Coontz, "'Leave it to Beaver' and 'Ozzie and Harriet':  American Families in the 1950s"; "Up From the Potato Fields"; Friedan, "The Problem That Has No Name"

Angel Quiz Ch 28 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  1950s Family:  How Traditional Was It? (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm

SCHRECKER  PAPER DUE - SATURDAY, April 13

Week 11  (April 14 - 20)

The Era of Reform:  New Frontiers and Great Societies
The Civil Rights Movement

Readings:  Text, Ch. 29; Online:  King and Malcolm X Readings

Angel Quiz Ch 29 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  King vs. Malcolm X (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 12 (April 21 - 27)

The Tragedy of Vietnam          
Coming Apart at Home:  America's Youth Rebellion  

Readings:  Text, Ch. 30;  Online:  "Peasant Experiences in the Vietnam War"; "The My Lai Massacre"; "The Port Huron Statement"

Angel Quiz Ch 30 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
NO DISCUSSION ASSIGNED
4/26  (This is a Friday!!) LAST DAY TO DROP w/a "W"

Week 13   (April 28 - May 4) 

The Paranoid Style of American Conspiracy History
The Age of Disillusionment:  America in the Seventies

Readings:   Text, Ch. 31;  Online:  Hofstatder, The Paranoid Style of American Politics;  and skim through the info on the following web site:  The Kennedy Assassination <http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm>

Angel Quiz 31 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
NO DISCUSSION ASSIGNED

Week 14  (May 5 - 11)

The Reagan Revolution
Race and Ethnicity in Modern America

Readings:  Online:  "40th President Rode Boundless Optimism"; Cooper and Goldin, "Some People Don't Count"Obama's 3/18/08 Speech on Race in America; Yen, "Whites No Longer a Majority in U.S. by 2043"

NO QUIZ ASSIGNED
Angel Discussion:  Reagan (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Week 15  (May 12 - 18)

Clinton and the Culture Wars
America and the World

Readings:  Text, Ch. 32; Online:    President Bush's Address to Congress after 9/11; Fisk, "Mr. Bush is Walking Into a Trap"

Angel Quiz Ch 32 (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)
Angel Discussion:  Post 9-11 Foreign Policy (closes Saturday at 11:55 pm)

Final Exam Schedule

Saturday, May 18 - Wednesday, May 22 (Availability ends 5/22 at 11:55 pm)