WINTER CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 2.

UNITED STATES HISTORY
History 17B Online (3 units)
Section 25997

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)

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 due date listed below to request the option. 
5. ***Plagiarism/cheating will be treated as automatic failures for the assignment 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 on the Angel server.

You may take the QUIZZES whenever you wish provided that you complete quiz chapters 17-25 by SATURDAY,  January 12 by 11:55 pm, and quiz chapters 26-32 by WEDNESDAY, January 23 by 11:55 pm.  You MAY NOT make-up a missed quiz after the due dates.  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 two week period). 

Quiz questions will be drawn from the assigned reading in the textbook (and, when relevant, online readings).  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/0073385468/student_view0/index.html. 

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

Threaded Discussions

Every week will feature 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 SUNDAY, JANUARY 13.  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.

How to Read the Lectures

WEEKS I and II (January 2 - 12)

- 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

Readings:  Text (Davidson, et. al.), Chs. 17, 18, 19, 20  

- 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
- A New Deal for America

Readings:  Text, Chs.21, 22, 23, 24, 25

QUIZZES:  Chapters 17-25 due on Angel by January 12 at 11:55 pm.

MIDTERM:  January 11-13 (availability ends SUNDAY, 1/13 at 11:55 pm)

DISCUSSIONS:  Racism in America (1/2-1/12)
                              Individualism (1/2-1/12)
                              Tax Cuts and Government Regulation (1/6-1/12)
                              FDR's New Deal (1/6-1/12)

WEEKS III and IV (January 13 - 24)

- America and the Second World War
- 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

DISCUSSION:  "The Problem That Has No Name" - Still a Problem?  (1/13-1/19)

- 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

DISCUSSION:  King vs. Malcolm X (1/13-1/19)

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

PAPER:  Schrecker Paper Due FRIDAY, January 18 by 11:59 pm.

QUIZZES:  Chapters 26-32 due no later than Wednesday, January 23 on Angel by at 11:55 pm.

DISCUSSION:  Reagan:  How Should We Remember Him? (1/19-1/23)

FINAL EXAM:  JANUARY 23 (Wed.) - 25 (Fri.) (Availability ends 1/25 at 11:55 pm)

This course officially ends on 1/24, but I'm willing to extend the Final Exam to Friday the 25th.