SUMMER CLASSES BEGIN JUNE 3.

UNITED STATES HISTORY
History 17B Online (3 units)
Section 28009

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

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 second 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.

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 (and online readings when noted).  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.html.  Once 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 lowest scored quiz will be doubled as Extra Credit and added to your total score.  

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 HERE.  This paper is due by 11:59 pm (PST) on the due date listed below.

Threaded Discussions

Every week will feature one to two threaded discussions. Click on the Discussions icon on the Angel page (under the Lessons Tab) and 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.  It is important to participate on a regular basis in each of these discussions (which will be the basis of your participation grade in the course).

Pass/No Pass Option

Students wishing to take this class with the PASS/NO PASS grade option must inform the instructor IN WRITING no later than SATURDAY, JUNE 15.  Requests for this option WILL NOT be accepted after this day.  See the WVC Catalog under "Academic Regulations and Standards" for more information about this option.

Week 1 (June 3 - 8)

- Introduction:  What is History?
- Race and Segregation in Post-Civil War America
- How the West Was Won (and Lost)
- Progress and Conflict in the New Industrial Order
- Coming to America:  The New Immigration, 1880-1924

Week 2  (June 9 - June 15)

- The Conflict Between Urban and Rural America
- Progressivism and the Reform Impulse in America
- Expansion and Imperialism:  The Rise of an American Empire
- The Roaring Twenties
- The Great Depression

Week 3 (June 16 - June 22)

- A New Deal for America
- America and the Second World War

Week 4 (June 23 - June 29)

- Cold War Containment
- A Cold War Home Front
- "A Date with the Family":  Postwar Prosperity in America
- The Era of Reform:  New Frontiers and Great Societies

Week 5 (June 30 - July 6)

- The Civil Rights Movement
- The Tragedy of Vietnam
- Coming Apart at Home:  America's Youth Rebellion
- The Paranoid Style of American Conspiracy History
- The Age of Disillusionment:  America in the Seventies

Week 6 (July 7 - July 11) - NOTE:  THIS WEEK ENDS ON THURSDAY but the Discussions are due by WEDNESDAY!!

- The Reagan Revolution
- Race and Ethnicity in Modern America
- Clinton and the Culture Wars
- America and the World