SUMMER CLASSES BEGIN JUNE 21.

UNITED STATES HISTORY
History 17B Online (3 units)
Section 91832

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

James West Davidson, et. al., Nation of Nations:  A Narrative History of the American Republic:  Volume 2, Since 1865 (6th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2007)
Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism (2d edition, 2001)

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. CREDIT/NO CREDIT 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 4 quizzes (35 questions each), a midterm, and a final.  ALL QUIZZES AND EXAMS ARE CONDUCTED ONLINE on the Angel server.

Quizzes correspond with that week's assigned readings.  You MAY NOT make-up a missed quiz.  Because technical problems will arise, it is important that you not wait until the last minute to take a quiz.  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). 

Quiz questions will be drawn from the assigned reading (both in the text and online) for the week.  Questions for the Midterm and Final exams will be drawn from both the lectures and the readings (study guides are posted NOW).  You can take practice quizzes at the publisher's web page for the assigned chapters at http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073406848/student_view0/. 

If you have technical problems, e-mail me well before the due date of the quiz so that I may be able to help you.  However, if you wait until the last minute to inform me of a problem, I will be unable to help you before the quiz period is over and you will forfeit the opportunity 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 Credit/No Credit grade option must inform the instructor IN WRITING no later than SATURDAY, JULY 3.  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 21 - 26)

- 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 27 - July 3)

- 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 (July 4 - July 10)

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

Week 4 (July 11 - 17)

- 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

7/16 (Friday)       Last Day to DROP with a "W"

Week 5 (July 18 - July 24)

- 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 25 - July 29) - 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